You might not have heard of Michael Gough, but you've definitely heard him.

Not to be confused with the English gentleman who played Alfred in the older "Batman" films, the veteran voice actor has been lending his vocals to cartoons and video games for over 20 years.

Though he doesn't play video games, he's done the voices for countless characters, including Osmund Saddler in "Resident Evil 4," Deckard Cain in the "Diablo" series, Private Carmine in "Gears of War," Johnny Sasaki in "Metal Gear Solid 3" and "MGS 4," Heimdall in "Too Human," Captain Price in "Call of Duty" and "CoD2" as well as Shrek in the licensed movie games to name just a few.

I recently called up Mr. Gough (pronounced "goff") to talk about his expansive voice-acting career, what he thought about how much Michael Hollick made for playing Niko Bellic in "Grand Theft Auto IV," and what we can expect from the return of fan favorites Deckard Cain and Carmine... Read more...

"Being a part of the 'Too Human' development has been quite an experience. From the mythical tales of 10 or 20 years of production to the passionate personalities and forum rants that have captivated us all –it has been one hell of a ride. It's different being deep within the ocean of the industry, knowing that only the top inch of water, so full of fervor, speculation and passionate personalities, is what the world will ever see. I hope the game does well simply because it was made by many good people who stood as a team, genuine in their intent to offer the world something fun they could be proud of."

--"Too Human" art director Carman Dix, answering my question about what it's been like to work on the recently released Xbox 360 action RPG.

Related Posts:
Three ‘Too Human’ Developers Discuss Game’s Reputation, Breakthroughs and Criticisms (Denis Dyack Not Included)
‘Too Human’ Developers Share Impressions Of Denis Dyack

I recently had the opportunity to e-mail the creators of Xbox 360 action role-playing game "Too Human" a few questions about the game they just spent the last four years making. I asked not to talk to the game's lead creator, the widely-quoted Denis Dyack, because I thought it would be interesting to hear from other people on the team at development studio Silicon Knights.

We talked about:

• How the game's rocky journey in the public eye -- from its maligned E3 2006 debut to recent controversies -- affected the development team.
• Which aspects of "Too Human" they are most proud of.
• Why the game's creators made an action game that maps combat to an analog stick rather than to buttons.
• How they settled on the number of levels and enemies in the game -- and what they say to people who think there are too few.
• And more

And they said stuff like:

The public perception of what "Too Human" was I don’t think scratched the surface of what was really going on here internally.

Check it out… Read more...

Later today I'll have a longer post containing a trio of interviews I had with Silicon Knights developers about "Too Human." When I set the interviews up, I requested that SK founder and outspoken "Too Human" front man Denis Dyack not be among my interviewees.

I've interviewed Dyack about the game plenty already -- and so many of us have heard from him. What do other members of his studio think about "Too Human?"

But first: What do other members of Dyack's studio think about him?

All three developers provided the following answers about Dyack over e-mail... Read more...

Xbox 360 action game "Too Human" does two things well, but if those two things have nothing to do with each other, then do these two successes add up to one stumble?

I spent 15 hours playing through "Too Human" this weekend, dying more than 90 times, leveling to a human-aligned bioengineer class of skill-rank 29. I conquered thousands of the game's enemies and, despite plenty of nagging issues with the game, felt hungry to go back for more.

Say what you will about the game, but it's clear to me that its developers had at least two key things they wanted to attempt:

1) They wanted to translate "Diablo"-style loot-collecting gameplay from its native mouse-driven control scheme to a twin-stick control configuration that requires physical skill to command effectively.

2) They wanted to tell a story of cyber-Norse god Baldur, using four major environments and a hub world to gradually illustrate how Baldur relates to everyone from the grunts fighting for him to the women in his life past and present. By the end of the game, Baldur has been revealed as a distinct character who occupies a distinct and thematically rich position in his world.

We can debate how successful the goals were achieved, but clearly these were the two key attempts, one of them based in gameplay and the other set in story. But having played the game for 15 hours I have had a similar reaction as I have to many other games that push gameplay and story: Disappointment that the two don't seem to have much to do with each other accompanied with an uncertainty that they could be much more tightly connected.

Most of the gameplay in "Too Human" is divorced from the story, succeeding or failing on its own without the narrative having any bearing on it. Most of the story and character development -- with the exception of chatter overheard during battles -- is drawn from non-gameplay cut scenes.

So often this is the case with video games. Their parts can succeed separately. But is that alone a success? Is that the norm?

Is there something about games that just won't allow them to combine the qualities we may demand from them together? After all, how could good loot-collecting gameplay be used to reinforce storytelling? How could good storytelling improve twitch-based combat and stat-driven upgrading of abilities?

Can a game be considered a creative success even if it fails, pun intended, to braid gameplay and story/theme/character together?

Next: For the first time in a year I have nothing on tap to play on my Xbox 360 or PS3. Perhaps I'll give my two Wii leftovers a try: "Order Up" and "Blastworks."

Okay, so maybe we're not great at making our own box art (hey, you try squeezing in as many names as you can), but we do regularly take it upon ourselves to judge new releases solely on their appearances, regardless of their content.

First up, the much-talked about "Too Human" ...

"Too Human" (Xbox 360)
What the Box Tells Us: This guy isn't just human, he's too human. So much so that his eyes and the veins in his forehead glow bright blue. Wait, what?
Pros: The glowy blue veins are a point of interest...
Cons: But nothing else is. I can barely see the shadowy figure and the mountain/Cloud City background.
Love It or Leave It: Leave it. Read more...

I've had little time for "Too Human" since I received a finished copy from Microsoft on Friday. I was able to give it just 100 more minutes through last night. (Blame the distractions of a "blazing" new PC.)

So I'm merely re-playing parts of the Xbox 360 action-RPG that I already played and wrote about on June 30.

The content of the game appears unchanged. I still don't know why the first cut scene only plays if you let the game idle. I still think the troll-riding looks cool the first time. I still like the right-stick combat that allows you to chain lengthy attack combos with a series of tilts toward each enemy, buttons left free for other things. And I still say this game is only for people who are willing to pause the game a lot (In my first 100 minutes I hit the start button more times than I did any other face button, because I was compulsively pausing to upgrade my armor and weapons every 20 seconds).

What I've also discovered is that I'm in more of a "Too Human" mood these days.

I consider "Too Human" to be the anti-"Braid," a game that champions collecting and action over level design elegance and brain-teasers.

Yes, even though I gave the game only 100 minutes, I'm appreciating and enjoying it. It's mid-August. I know the epics are coming this fall. I'm happy to play something I know will be short. It's four days since I finished "Braid," so I'm happy to chase down that mentally stimulating game with something that's constant action. I consider "Too Human" to be the anti-"Braid," a game that champions collecting and action over level design elegance and brain-teasers. The game is dessert.

It's a good week to be a cyber-Norse hunter/gatherer/barbarian. I'm in a "Too Human" mood. (And so the "Viva Pinata 2" review code sits, waiting for me to re-discover my urge to garden)

Next: Today's the day I finally play "Rock Band 2." I hope they don't expect me to be good at it, just because I work where I work.

Denis Dyack loves his games with an undeniable passion.

As "Too Human" nears its August release date, Dyack has stepped up his media presence and brought "Too Human" to the conversational forefront.

You may have heard about his "Too Human" post on popular gaming forum NeoGAF, where he called out his own community and asked them to pick a side -- for or against.

Last year at E3, I asked former Microsoft Game Studios head Shane Kim (who's since been promoted) what he thought of Dyack's unconventional public relations methods. This year, I had an opportunity to ask the new head of MGS, Phil Spencer, the same question. "Too Human" isn't far off.

I wanted to know what he thought about Dyack's recent comments to the public.

"I've never tried to shut down someone's passion for a game," he told me and a crowd of journalists at lunch yesterday. "I think that's part of what ["Too Human"] is about."

Read more...

I would like to begin this post by first thanking Kotaku's Michael McWhertor for helping me obtain a set of Willful Assault Plate Leggings today.

I got them while playing an hour of "Too Human" co-op with the man during working hours. Since the weekend when we tried Silicon Knights' Xbox 360 exclusive action game -- and then published hotly debated impressions -- we've been trying to find time to link up.

I'm sure he'll give his side of things on Kotaku (Update: he did). But I want to make clear from my vantage here at MTV is that playing "Too Human" via co-op is what I hoped it would be: better than a phone call.

Read more...

How similar are "Too Human" and "Diablo III"? Before fans of either series hurl harsh words at us, bear in mind that we didn't make the comparison first. Both recent and early impressions of Silicon Knights' "Too Human" have said that the upcoming Xbox 360 title's loot, skill tree and combat systems are similar to that of past "Diablo" titles. Some previews even proclaimed that "Too Human" is "Diablo III" before the Blizzard game was even announced.

While in Paris this past weekend, I asked "Diablo III" lead producer Keith Lee what his reaction was to these comparisons to "Too Human."

He denied having heard much about it:

"I haven't heard much about other games being similar to 'Diablo III,' but what I can say is that no other company can make 'Diablo' the way we do, and I think you'll be very excited to see it get released. I don't really know too much about the other games that are being compared with 'Diablo.'"

I haven't had a chance to play the most recent build of "Too Human" (though Stephen Totilo has). Now that "Diablo III" is official, what do you think? Is "Too Human" trying to fill "Diablo"'s shoes on consoles? Could it be better than "Diablo III"? Or is there no comparison?