Too Human Losing its Engine?

Reports on the internet say yes. Microsoft says... nothing.

The spectacle that was the Electronic Entertainment Expo had the up side of letting the best games shine, but it also opened up not-so-good games to a solid drubbing by the media.

Such was the fate for Too Human, the first part in a new trilogy by Silicon Knights, the creators of Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. Now the developers have reportedly revealed that they are chucking some of the software tools they've been using, which will probably push the game's release way back.

The news comes by way of comments made by an unnamed source to the Advanced Media Network site. The source said the developers were struggling to get Epic's Unreal Engine 3 - a popular software tool coders use to build their games - working on the Xbox 360. The comments have been confirmed by further unnamed sources cited by news site 1Up.

According to AMN, Silicon Knights is taking the game off Unreal Engine 3 and will instead create a new game engine of its own. If this turns out to be the case, the game will probably be delayed well past its current spring 2007 release window.

Unreal Engine is a popular middleware too used for making games. BioWare is using it to make its new space-themed RPG Mass Effect, and Epic is using it in the development of Gears of War - not surprising, since Epic created Unreal Engine 3.

Microsoft declined to comment on the veracity of the reports.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games