The year was 2005, Batman Begins was in the theater, Nickelback was on the Billboard charts with Photograph, YouTube launched, and the world met Crypto the Furon for the 1st time. Cryptosporidium 137 was sent to Earth to find out what happened to his brother in Destroy All Humans! The game that started the franchise was released 15 years ago by THQ. Now in 2020, THQ Nordic has released the remake of Destroy All Humans in all its glory.
The Furon race is dying. They haven’t been able to reproduce in generations, so they have had to resort to cloning. But with each successive clone, the source material degrades, and the clones get dumber. Luckily there is still a chance for the Furon people, humans. It seems a long time ago Furons came to Earth and mated with humans. This means that there is still some pure Furon DNA that can be extracted. Unfortunately, Crypto 136 was captured on his mission to retrieve the DNA, so now it is up to Crypto 137 to rescue his brother and complete the mission.
You play as Crypto 137 in a series of missions that range from stealth to escort to total annihilation. You must 1st recon the outskirts of town to get a grasp on earth life – and the controls. Being an alien is no simple matter. You have normal weapons to use, psychic abilities, jet packs and more. You can play most of the game any way you choose. You have tools at your disposal to sneak through levels and not alert the locals. Or you can go in guns blazing and start removing people’s brains to add to your collection. There is also the option to perform that alien favorite – the anal probe.
Besides the story missions, there are 4 different side missions that you can complete. Race to grab DNA, destroy humans in fun new ways, Abduct different species, and of course level all buildings. These side missions are available in each location in the game and can be redone for higher scores as much as you want. There are even achievements for getting 3 stars on all the challenges. Within story missions, there are also optional objectives that can earn you extra DNA for upgrades if you complete them. This is a great way to prepare for the more difficult missions.
Destroy All Humans is a remake of the 2005 original game. The graphics are beautiful and a sign of how much the gaming industry has improved in those 15 years. Within the game you can access an art book. The book is filled with locations, props and characters from the game. Along with the incredibly detailed 2020 versions you can see how they looked in 2005 – if the item was in the original. The music and sound effects are top of the line as well. If you listen to the soundscape, you are able to hear buildings burning, and farm animals going about their lives.
The gameplay holds up from the original. There is a wide variety of missions and enough content to keep you busy for hours. A great story line that will keep you engaged and laughing throughout. While some of the jokes are a bit mature, gamers of most age groups will enjoy the ride. The one thing to watch out for is the difficulty spike in the last 2 missions. Even once you figure out how to defeat the main bosses, it will take you a while to chip away at them enough to conquer the world.
Destroy All Humans! is available now on Xbox One, PS4, Steam and Google Stadia. It has a price tag of $39.99, which isn’t bad. There are hours of entertainment in the game, even if you are just playing through the story. For fans of the series, this is a great remake of the original. If you are new to the series this is a great introduction. As one of the iconic game series, this is one that everyone should checkout.
