Review

Destroy All Humans! (2020)

It’s refreshing to play a game that doesn’t require me to punch in work-like hours in order to enjoy it. With today’s trend of longer somehow equates to better, nearly every AAA game is stuffed to the brim with filler content. Which is why I was so excited when we got our review code for Destroy All Humans! Finally, a linear game – albeit with an open world design – that won’t take forever to complete.

Destroy All Humans! is a great example of why fun games will always stand the test of time. Developed by Black Forest Games, this remake sports old mechanics, an ok-ish story, and some questionable jokes – some of which haven’t aged well. That said, it still offers an entertaining experience.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Another remake, Dre?” And I get it. If it isn’t FF7 Remake or something from Capcom or Waypoint, is it really worth it? Well, that depends on how you feel about retreading old ground. Destroy All Humans! still tells the story of Crypto, an alien that visits planet Earth during the 1950’s. There are some jabs at what used to be; folks fearful of communists invading the US, uninformed media, questionable leadership. Actually, that sounds right timely…

The story is meant to be comical. Crypto is out to steal DNA from humans in hopes of saving his race. He’s also there to find out what happened to his clone; he’s people need our DNA to create a means of sustaining life without having to clone each other. It’s a whole thing. As he goes about his mission, he’ll run into various NPC’s, including stereotypical enemies ranging from bucked teeth farmers with shotguns to Men in Black agents.

The dialogue is clearly dated. And not because the game is set in the 1950’s. I still found much of it funny though. It’s hilarious how blissfully ignorant the game’s NPCs are. They’re just so willing to believe whatever they’re told as long as it makes them feel safe. Crypto ruins all of that of course.

Destroy All Humans! doesn’t offer players a large, robust world (thank goodness). This isn’t GTA 5 or a random Ubisoft game. Black Forest Games stuck to the original developers, Pandemic Studios, designs. In that, they made excellent use of the open spaces that were offered. 1950’s America is fully realized; the environments are detailed and feel realistic, in a fictional sort of way.

What I loved most about this game, besides the corniness of everything, was how it wasted no time getting things moving. After the first cutscene, we are thrown into a world feeling superior to everyone else. Crypto’s futuristic weapons and special abilities (like telekinesis) make him a tough opponent. That doesn’t mean that the enemies are pushovers. They can kill you if you aren’t careful, especially late in the game. It’s just that you often feel like you have the upper hand in any given scenario.

This is compounded by the fact that Crypto is almost constantly improving. Most open world games require investing in side missions to level up. Destroy All Humans! rewards players after completing story-based content; it keeps things properly scaled as you progress through the game. Reading people’s minds, stealing their likeness (for a disguise), blasting them from your flying saucer – its fun being Crypto.

I never thought I would enjoy being the bad guy this much. The game does make the humans seem worthy of being vaporized though. There is a scene, where I had to use Crypto’s Holobob ability to steal the appearance of a mayor. The goal was to go on stage and calm down the public, deflecting their attention away from “alien invasion” and towards communists. Because who else would they blame during the 1950’s? There’s also the time when I read a person’s mind and they made mention of wanting to invent a device that could send and receive illicit photos. I mean, who would think of something so gross, right?

The Destroy All Humans! remake features some new bells and whistles. Better control scheme, updated graphics, extra abilities, missions and so on. It’s still a 15-year-old game though. And while that’s beneficial when it comes to respecting the player’s time (gameplay wise), there are some problematic areas. Cringeworthy moments and dialogue that I won’t mention here. It wasn’t enough to deter me from playing, but one should recognize how things have changed over the years before purchasing the game though.

As it stands, Destroy All Humans! is filled with simplistic action and comical shenanigans. Much of what was here years ago is still present, a few upgrades notwithstanding. The plot and dialogue is mostly the same as well (for better or worse). Fans of the original game should enjoy the remake. Newcomers probably will as well.