The trend to re-release old games in any form has been going on for a while. Publisher THQ Nordic is quite active with this and that is the party behind the remake of Destroy All Humans! is sitting. The original game appeared in 2005 and was rated reasonable at the time. It is therefore not surprising that several parts appeared afterwards. The very last part, Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon, however, did not get very good grades and it seemed that the franchise was finished. Fortunately, developer Black Forest Games has revived the series, but is it worth it? We figured it out for you.
Destroy All Humans! is an action-adventure that takes place in the 50s. As a player you step into the shoes of Cryptosporidium-137 or Crypto-137 for friends. Crypto has to clean up the mess left by its predecessor. The Furons, the kind that Crypto belongs to, would like to collect Furon DNA because its quality decreases with each generation. Strangely enough, they get this from people’s brains, which is why Crypto needs to get as much brains as possible. Unfortunately, this is not very easy, because he is opposed by the secret organization Majestic.
Destroy All Humans! consists of 24 missions in which you have to perform different types of assignments. There are missions in which you have to try to enter buildings without people seeing you. Crypto can take the form of a human, but for that he must first scan it without being seen. He can then disguise himself for a while to easily get closer to his goal. In addition, there are also missions in which you should try to kill as many people as possible. Crypto has several options for this, but its most commonly used weapon is the Zap-O-Matic. This allows him to fire an electric beam that kills his opponents quite easily. In addition to the use of weapons, you can also fly with a jetpack, dash and you can fly through the air using telekinesis objects. There are quite a few options, but you don’t have to use it all. It gives you as a player the freedom to decide how you will tackle a mission.
The missions are not too long and the entire game can be completed in just over five hours. The game is generally not very difficult, with the exception of the final boss in the last mission. This was not very easy in the original game and this time is no different. This fight does not seem entirely in proportion to the rest of the game, but it is ultimately very satisfying if you emerge as the winner.
After completing a mission, you will be given the option to play it again as there are also several optional missions that you may just be unable to complete. In addition, there is also the possibility to walk around freely in the different locations where you have to complete all your assignments. It’s a few options to keep you busy for a bit longer, but it can’t hide the fact that the game is just a bit on the short side.
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During the various missions you collect the necessary Furon DNA and you can use it to improve your own skills or those of your spaceship. There are also a number of missions that take place not on the ground but in your flying saucer. Upgrading your skills, for example, allows you to disguise yourself longer as a person. It is not really necessary, but it makes it easier for you later in the game.
If you read it like this, it looks like Destroy All Humans! may not mean very much, but nothing could be further from the truth. The game is full of wonderfully silly humor and references to famous people, films and locations. The fact that the missions are not very long makes you want to play a mission every time. It actually makes it quite addictive. And while the game is on the short side, it shouldn’t have lasted much longer in our view. You would probably soon have the feeling that it would all feel repetitive.
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Destroy All Humans! is of course a remake and if you compare the game to the original, huge steps have been taken. This game was recreated in the Unreal Engine 4 and it shows clearly. It all looks fine and yet this version retains the nostalgic feeling. The voices seem to have been taken almost straight from the original and may seem like Black Forest Games didn’t do their best, but it actually feels more like a nod to the original game than the developers’ laziness.
Although we are quite positive about this game, we have encountered a number of mistakes. It happened regularly that after your death you had made a big leap in the mission. This made some difficult pieces suddenly a lot easier by simply dying. In addition, it also happened a few times that the frame rate went down considerably in action-packed scenes. It is not very disturbing, because it really only happened a few times.
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Destroy All Humans! is a successful remake of the original and you should see it as a nice snack. It is not too difficult and you do not spend a lot of time on it. The humor still remains fun after such a long time and that, together with the short missions, makes it difficult to put the game away. Graphically and in terms of controls, huge steps have been taken and it feels like a game of this generation and not really like a game of 15 years old. If you find the € 40 a bit on the high side on release, consider the game when it is on sale.
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