Remember Too Human? If you answered yes, it might be because the game had a comically long development cycle, with 9 years between its 1999 announcement and its eventual 2008 release. During its long, long development hell, developer Silicon Knights switched platforms twice, moving from the Playstation to the Gamecube and finally to the Xbox 360. What’s even more interesting in hindsight is that Silicon Knights, the same Canadian studio behind Eternal Darkness, originally intended for the game to be the first part in an epic trilogy.
After Too Human’s somewhat disappointing launch, many gamers probably figured it was the last they would see of a technologically advanced Baldur, expecting the franchise to die off like 2005’s “first-part-in-a-trilogy” Advent Rising. Acording to Industry Gamers, however, the cyberpunk Norse gods still have work to do. They recently contacted Denis Dyack, president of Silicon Knights, about the future of the series. Dyack responded by saying, “We intend to finish the trilogy but no comment beyond that… You know, there’s very public litigation around that”, in reference to SK’s ongoing legal battle with Epic Games over their licensing of the Unreal Engine.
Timing can be strange sometimes, as just last week fellow editor Justin Mienkiewicz and I were playing Too Human and pondering whether or not we would ever see its continuation. I think it would be wise to remain skeptical until an announcement by Silicon Knights, but apparently there may be life in old Baldur yet. Let’s just hope that they improve the gameplay for any planned sequels.
