Too Human is the title of an upcoming game in which the player will be taking on the role of Baldur, one of the Aesir. However, these gods are not all they are told to be in the mythology. Instead of being actual supernatural creatures, they are cybernetically enhanced humans. Baldur [son of Odin] is seen as being insufficiently advanced, and is thusly labeled "too human."
Wikipedia informs me in its article:
In Too Human, the Norse gods are cybernetically enhanced humans. Baldur, son of Odin, is one of these gods and it is his duty to protect the human race from an onslaught of an advancing machine presence determined to eradicate all human life.
The story chronicles the ongoing struggle between cybernetic Norse gods, the invading machine presence and mortal men, it features many Norse gods and characters from Norse mythology including Thor, Loki, Odin, Heimdall, Freyja, and Mimir. Yggdrasil: the tree of life acts as a gateway to an alternate world known as Cyberspace that is accessed through the advanced technology of the gods.The human gods are using cybernetic implants to supplement their own abilities, thus becoming more machine like. Conversely, the advancing machine army is harvesting human blood and limbs in an attempt to become more human.
Until the game is released, later this month, there will be little more for me to say about it. Also, I do not have a 360, the creator's platform of choice, and will have to wait to steal...er...borrow my brother's in order to have a chance to play. The game is being released in trilogy format, further slowing my understanding of it's use of the actual mythology. What I ask here is this:
By bastardizing mythology with technology and turning it into a video game, are we exploiting our cultural pasts for sheer entertainment, or are we, perhaps, utilizing a modern medium to bring our culture's elder foundations to a new generation? Or is it both?
In conclusion, I leave you this, because it was the only non-mature trailer I could find that was of decent quality.
And I thought it was funny.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Very intriguing. It's curious that the game uses technology as the prime undercurrent--as opposed to the supernatural--turning the divine-mythical element into a more understandable element that's close to our own mundane (realistic) world of growing technology. Thus faith in the transcendent and supernatural is turned into an explainable and (eerily?) possible man-made futuristic view--perhaps even a warning note about technology and humanity's future, a la The Matrix).
I also noticed that, in the video, the world seems to be a type of post-apocalyptic world of ice, snow, and winter; this might allude to the Eddas (specifically the poetic Voluspa), in which the Norse conception is that the world will end in ice, leaving only a few characters--Baldur included, although Thor and the majority of the Aesir are supposed to die--in the aftermath. While the supernatural has been down-played into scientifically-technologically explainable ideas, the central mythic elements still exist: the Aesir as central to the narrative; Mimir, the head of wisdom; and Yggdrasil as the center of space-time.
I think, in answer to your question, this game is both the designer's way of using (for their entertainment money-making schemes) a cultural past (a bastardization?) as well as handing something on in their own way. But this doesn't necessarily bode as a negative way to bring Norse literature to pop culture. Along the same lines, really, how many LoTR fans have recently turned to actual medieval literature; or how many viewers of the various Beowulf movies have gone on to explore the actual Anglo-Saxon poems? The list goes on, as a central question about (neo-)medievalism and its effects on culture. The question, I think, (for all (neo-)medievalism, with this as a prime case study) becomes something like this: "Does it matter the medium or motivation, as long as the cultural wealth is passed on?"
Two questions to your final questions that can be asked, however, are, "Is cultural wealth truly being passed on? And how long will it take these bastardizations of cultural wealth to degrade into products as innocuous as insipid as Hannah Montana?" That pop-culture-attacking probe aside...
I am not saying that I disapprove of the exploration of literature and other cultural remnants through a modern or creative lens. On the contrary, I find the innumerable ways that people discover the ancient worlds to be fascinating, especially in the ways they put down roots to connect with such things. In this game specifically, the technology is the key. It plays on the dreams of flight and superpower, I would say, much as the idea of Batman or Ironman do, but in a more distant sense. Even Halo toys with the concept of humanity advanced to a point of near-invunerability.
I can only hope that this story and game will provide yet another entrance into the Eddas and other rich sources for the people that play...and I'll try to forget the statistics saying that more people play video games than read. I'll plug my ears and lie to myself.
Post a Comment