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Silicon Knights' Denis Dyack

Taking on Epic, reviewers and the internet.

The furore surrounding the long-awaited release of Too Human hasn't been pretty, but it has given outspoken Silicon Knights chief Denis Dyack a platform on which to ignite debate on subjects he feels have dogged the title throughout its development.

The impact of technology on interpersonal communication and, specifically, opinion forming; the dangers inherent in the industry's traditional model for revealing games; the working practices of professional games reviewers - each has become a burning issue for Dyack as work on the Xbox 360-exclusive action-RPG drew to close.

Some of this, as far as he is concerned, has been out of his control: he squarely blames Epic for making public the two firms' legal dispute over the Unreal engine. Some of this, he has manufactured himself: the studiedly provocative and now infamous forum post in defence of Too Human, for instance, thrust the game back into the spotlight and prompted heated discussion on the nature of forum culture.

Dyack argues that the game's convoluted, protracted development is irrelevant: all that matters is the end product and the consumer experience. To a point he's right, of course, but the process cannot be separated from the product, and the tale of Too Human's development is every bit as dramatic as that of its serpentine cyber-Norse narrative.

Released today in North America, and due on the 29th August over here, the president of the Canadian studio at last gets his wish for gamers to make up their own minds. Eurogamer has delivered its verdict on the game today.

As the game went gold earlier this month, we caught up with a typically forthright Dyack in London to discuss all of these issues in detail, and his excitement at finally getting the game out of the door. You can watch the highlights in the video below, or read on for the full transcript.

Baldur's brass.