Back in 2005 a game called Destroy All Humans arrived. The game kicked off a series of games centered around a nostalgic 50s Alien Invasion movie theme.
Playing as Crypto; an alien who sounds like Jack Nicholson; players go around the Earth bringing mayhem wherever they go.
In 2020 the original game has been remastered and I first saw some of the game at E3 2019 and loved my hands-on time with the game.
With enhanced graphics the game takes on a new life as players are immersed in a nostalgic 50s setting which captures the best elements of pulp science fiction and Alien Invasion films.
Crypto has all sorts of abilities at his disposal such as being able to mimic humans thanks to his Holobob as well as enable humans to protect and follow him. He can also read their minds and if needed harvest their brains for much needed D.N.A.
With a title like “Destroy” in the title Crypto has a range of weapons at his ability which can fry, burn, and blast the countless enemies he will encounter. Since the game has a Cold War setting the Military, Government agents, and civilians are often fast to talk about “Commies” and espouse All American Values. The game also has some very adult humor that is delivered in a subtle way ranging from thoughts that Crypto reads to parked cars not so subtly bouncing in the local Lovers Lane.
Missions are a mixture of stealth and action as Crypto often has to find something, destroy something, escort something, complete tasks, and survive waves of enemies which naturally get harder as the game unfold s.
The sounds in the game are fun and the arsenal of weapons that Crypoto and his ship are able to deploy offers lots of variety as does his special abilities which give players options for how they play a mission.
I really enjoyed the game as the mix of humor and action was a winning formula but I did bog down on the final mission. I found my ship was not up to the task and using a Jet Pack to fly around was not going to cut it.
I was able to return to the Mothership to do side missions to harvest D.N.A. or do challenges which in turn allowed me to upgrade the weapons and abilities of my ship which made the final battle easier for me to complete.
Being able to upgrade weapons and abilities is a big part of the game as being able to grasp and throw and object at enemies is great fun as is making a brain “pop” from someone who has annoyed you.
I really enjoyed the upgraded version of the game and hope this leads to either a new game in the series or remasters of the prior games as it would be fantastic to see this series continue.
4 stars out of 5
