With everything that is happened this year, perhaps an alien invasion was inevitable. Destroy All Humans has been remade by Black Forest Games and published by THQ Nordic. The original came out 15 years ago and this remake puts you back in control of an alien who has come to earth with destruction and chaos on his mind. It might be easy to take over Earth, especially since if you have the right tools.
Cryptosporidium 137, or Crypt for short, is on a rescue mission. One of his species have been caught by the humans and Crypt intends to rescue him. His fellow alien Orthopox-13, or Pox, wants to extract brain matter from the humans. The setting is 1959 America and Crypt will cover all of it as he searches for his missing comrade and harvesting the humans. In the shadows, a secret organization is making plans to stop him.
The story might sound dark, but it is really a setup for comedy. Destroy All Humans is a parody of those B movies and it embraces it at every turn. The gameplay is putting you down in sandbox levels and letting you go crazy. You fling cows, disguise yourself as a human and use… um.. “medical” devices to further your research. Crypt keeps a running commentary on how easy the humans are to destroy. His voice is an impersonation of a famous actor, but it works instead of being cringe.
The remaster kept everything that gamers loved about the original game while adding a fresh coat of pant. Don’t expect new story content or modes (don’t expect it,but maybe..). This is all about Crypt and his path towards world domination. The charm of the original game is that even if you are killing humans, the game portrays it as more cartooney then real. Think GTA, if it was a 1950’s alien movie.
The humor might be a dividing line for players. Nothing truly offensive. Think South Park in the early days before they sharpened their humor skills. The first joke is Crypt and Pox thinking that cows must be the dominant life form on Earth. It gets sillier from there. Most of the jokes land, but some might make you roll your eyes.
Destroy All Humans follows the recent trend of remakes that just polish up the graphics and leave the gameplay alone. If you have never tried it, this is a great version to experience Crypt for the first time. Breaking physics will make you laugh as you slingshot cows into the distance. Just make sure to watch your brain stem.
9/10
Available on PC, Xbox and PS4