Destroy All Humans! was a fun game that released back in 2005 for the PS2 and original Xbox consoles. Despite being a popular game, the franchise laid dormant for over a decade with the last title released back in 2008.
Well thankfully, the franchise is back as THQ Nordic bought the rights to the series and has now released an all-new remake of Destroy All Humans! This new remake has been nearly built from the ground up as developer Black Forest games have released it for newer platforms such as the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Since the 2020 version of Destroy All Humans! is a remake and not a remaster, this new iteration of the game looks far better than it did on Xbox and PS2. While much of the audio in the remake has been left untouched, it’s the visuals of the game that has had the biggest makeover.
Usually, some remakes and remasters don’t look all that different to their original counterparts. I remember playing Saints Row: The Third remaster earlier this year and the game still looked like it belonged in 2011.
Destroy All Humans! on the other hand, is a proper remake as the character models and cutscenes have been improved by a very large margin. Not to mention the game’s environments look nice the bright as they take full advantage of the new hardware it has been built on.
I played the game on my Xbox One X and I was impressed by how much different it looked like compared to the original game. Even though the visuals have had an upgrade, the gameplay has been left relatively unchanged after all these years.
Before I talk about the gameplay though, let’s discuss what this game is about for newcomers that did not play the 2005 original. Alien invasion stories are usually cliche because the extraterrestrials are the bad guys and the American military are the good guys. The stories usually end with the humans fighting back against the aliens and the aliens never coming back.
What I like most about Destroy All Humans! is that the player takes control of the aliens this time around. We see the story from the aliens’ point of view for once and the player has to aid them to conquer Earth.
The two main characters of the game are Cryptosporidium 137 (“Crypto” for short) and his boss Orthopox. Orthopox needs Crypto to find out what happened to his clone that crash-landed on Earth over a decade ago. At the same time, Crypto has to also harvest human DNA in order for their species (called Furons) to not go extinct because they lack reproductive organs.
Another thing I admire about the game is its 1950’s American setting. All of the humans act like stereotypes and it’s humorous to roam around the neighborhood scaring them all as you walk around as Crypto. The towns you visit are very detailed as you can admire and destroy things like a carnival, drive-thru cinemas, and many military bases just to name a few.
In terms of gameplay, Destroy All Humans! is more than just your average third-person shooter game. The Furons have a lot of great technology unavailable to current day humans and this makes the many missions in the game quite enjoyable and diverse.
For example, Crypto has access to something called the Holobob and this ability allows him to disguise himself as any human he sees. Thanks to this ability, he can use this to infiltrate areas unavailable for him to enter in such as the aforementioned military bases.
If Crypto is unable to stealthily enter areas as a human, he can alternatively mind control humans as well. This ability is usually helpful in combat as you can use it to make other humans fight on your side if things get too tough to tackle on your own.
While stealth plays a significant part in the game, it’s sadly flawed in a lot of ways. This is because many humans can see through Cryto’s disguise making this ability feel redundant at times. Not to mention Crypto lacks stealth abilities in this game because there is no cover system and he doesn’t even have the skills to even crouch on the ground!
If Crypto isn’t using stealth, killing humans is also what he does a lot in this game too. My favorite skill is his ability to levitate objects and chuck them over long distances.
He also has access to four different weapons called the Zap-O-Matic, Disintegrator Ray, Ion Detonator, and even something called the Anal Probe. The Anal Probe is the rudest weapon in the game as a laser blast enters a person’s buttocks and then their head explodes!
If Crypto is not killing people on foot, he can also create a lot of destruction inside his flying saucer too. Not all missions allow you to drive the flying saucer, but it’s satisfying to destroy buildings in it when you have the chance to.
As fun as this game is, the main part I don’t like about it is the repetitive missions. The combat in this game is quite outdated and Crypto’s weapons aren’t all that efficient enough to kill enemies at a fast rate.
Not to mention some of the weapons lack ammo and you have to destroy many objects to get more of them. Only the Zap-O-Matic has infinite ammo as all it needs to do is to get recharged.
Some of the most annoying missions you have to do are defend an object and these types of quests ruined my enjoyment of the game. If Crypto had access to an assault rifle or something like that, then these types of missions would have been much less frustrating to play through.
Stealth missions are also problematic because as aforementioned, there is no cover system and Crypto cannot even deflect or block bullets charging right at him. If Black Forest Games modernized the gameplay, I would have enjoyed this game more.
Destroy All Humans! Review – Verdict
All in all, Destroy All Humans! is a competent remake featuring revamped visuals and a unique premise that will surprise newcomers. The only thing holding this remake down though is boring missions and outdated gameplay mechanics.
[Editor’s Note: Destroy All Humans! was reviewed on Xbox One X platform. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]
