Black Forest Games and THQ Nordic have given me the chance to relive a part of my gaming past with the revamped Destroy All Humans! that surely will gain a bigger audience full of old and new fans.
Some brief history of Destroy All Humans!, the game came out in 2005 from Pandemic Studios and THQ(before the name change) that was a nod to the cold war era alien invasion films and comics of the 1950s that also parodied 1950’s society that mirrored attitudes in the US at the time in ’05. I played and loved the hell out of that game back in the day, so when it was announced they were revamping it, I had to see if it held up.
Destroy All Humans! is about an alien named Cryptosporidium-137, or Crypto, a clone, is tasked to go to earth to harvest human brainstems that contain DNA of their species to help further their cloning which is how the species were able to survive since they can’t reproduce.
Now, onto the game itself! The controls for the game might come across intimidating but there are tutorials and an “Invasion guide” that you can go back to if you need help remembering but once you get them down, you’re good to go.
When it comes to sound, holy crap, I’m very happy that they kept the old voiceover audio for Crypto, Pox (Crypto’s superior voiced by Richard Steven Horvitz), and the NPCs as they were funny and well done then and still are now!
The art is still bright a colorful as it was back in ’05 but the textures have improved a lot! The update on Crypto’s appearance is truly impressive, and you can unlock his original outfit too along with others by completing tasks during missions or free plays.
The overall gameplay holds up. Complete retro sci-fi pandemonium with a comedic twist, fun weapons, and abilities that takes the enjoyment to a whole new level. Picking up enemies with your mind and throwing them, making heads explode (and harvest brains for points and health), use anal probes wrong… yes, you read that right. It’s this type of insane gameplay that made me love the hell out of this game then and now!
The only real issues I’ve found with Destroy All Humans! is some of Pox’s dialogue has been cut when you buy upgrades as well as the dialogue that plays when your “wanted level” goes up. Another issue that I’m surprised is in this (as it was in the original too) is the weird clicking and audio issues that seem to occur when you’re in the flying saucer OR walking around in a disguise.
Overall, Destroy All Humans! has stood the test of time and with the polishing up by the devs to improve textures and graphics, it will stand against the tests of time even longer. On my scale of 1-10, the fun gameplay, improved art/graphics, original soundtrack and voiceovers, and replayability overshadow the sound glitches and missing dialogue that really has no effect on the story/gameplay. Destroy All Humans! is one giant step on mankind’s boredom and is a 10/10!
Destroy All Humans! will start it’s probing July 28th on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.