Platform Reviewed: PS4
Platforms Available: PS4, PS2
Publisher: THQ Nordic
Developers: Pandemic Studios
Release Dates: November 1, 2016 (PS4), June 21, 2005 (PS2)
MSRP: USD 19.99
Destroy All Humans!, a PS2 game which was released from 2005 has been remastered for the PS4. The game centers around an invasion on planet Earth, from the Furon Empire. The game revolves on two aliens on a mothership that are causing great distress and problems for Earth.
First we have Cryptosporidium-137 (aka Crypto), the main protagonist and the character which you are playing as, who is a Furon alien invader and the central agent of his species’ operation in harvesting Furon DNA from the human race to ensure their species’ survival. Then there’s Orthopox (aka Pox) who is the high ranking fleet commander of the Furon Empire, a scientist and a superior officer to Crypto. The invasion takes place in the 1950’s in a fictional version of America. Crypto wants to rescue Cryptosporidium-136 from the captivity of the U.S. Army, whereas Pox wants to harvest enough Furon DNA to stock and make more alien clones.
You, being Crypto, begin your adventure on Earth in a farm where you search to find out who are the dominant life forms in this planet. In this stage we are introduced to the tutorials in which consists of dialog windows that cut short Pox’s attempts at explaining the very topic of said dialog boxes. Thankfully, the tutorial scenes are not long and quite fun when you get to the action oriented parts.
The story advances through mission completion, which are given by Pox on the mothership. The campaign is really linearly structured, but the best part is that you have the freedom to ignore the main objectives and engage into side missions or run amok the place and it even lets you revisit earlier areas that you have played.
While going on a rampage in the area, the game also has an alert system, much like Grand Theft Auto’s “wanted level” which denotes how much attention Crypto has attracted. Depending on the alert level, police, military, and eventually the an ultimate government entity known as will attempt to defend civilians from Crypto. The fun comes from the variety of weapons and upgrades you get from Pox to bring destruction to our civilization, such as the Zap-O-Matic, the Disintegrator ray, The Orthopox AP-77 Anal Probe and many more as you make progress with the game; and being an alien invading a planet, you also get your very own flying saucer, which is equipped with death rays and abduction rays. The plot is really well made as well even though there are some clichés.
The Destroy All Human! soundtrack of the game really puts you in a world of ‘50s and the remastered graphics are bearable and gives you more of the presence of being in a old sci-fi movie. It has great cut scenes and excellent layout. The humor in the game highlights much of the destruction and violence contained in the game which makes it even more enjoyable. The comedy in this game is frequently shown and makes it worth listening to. The voice actors in this game are excellent, especially to the fact that Orthopox is voiced by Richard Steven Horvitz, who is known as the voice of Invader Zim.
Destroy All Humans! Is an enjoyable game but it is not without it’s problems and issues. The fact that there are no checkpoints in missions is really time consuming and annoying, so if you get to the last step or part of a level and fail, you will need to return to the mothership and start the entire level again. One other issues is that the game sometimes does not clearly tell what you need to do. Missions also get repetitive overtime and also does the speech of the people you scan. It’s a bit hard dodging missiles when you are on the saucer, but a bit of practice helps. I would recommend to enhance the stealth in the game a bit more.
In any case, Destroy All Humans! Is a straight up fun and hilarious game to play regardless of it being released in 2005 on the PS2. The plot is well made, voice actors did an excellent job, It has an engaging gameplay and the graphics fit perfectly the style of the game. There may be a few problems like missions being repetitive or the lack of direction, but If you are one of those people those would want to take a trip down memory lane, I would recommend you to play this game.
Review Written by: Hazel Pinote
This review is based on a review copy provided by the developers/publisher.