Officially unveiled at last year’s E3, Destroy All Humans game marks the return of a franchise much loved by the gaming public, which over time has earned the status of a “cult series” above all thanks to the work of the late Pandemic Studios, creators of the saga and authors of its best chapters.
Passed into the hands of THQ Nordic, the IP is now back on the shelves with a remake that aims to rekindle the audience’s interest in the sadistic – and hilarious – exploits of the Furon invaders. While showing an important production effort, however, the re-release of Black Forest Games fails to correct what, already at the time, were the weaknesses of a title so entertaining but characterized by a playful variety not particularly generous.
Backdrop
Cryptosporidium-137, or Crypto for short, lands with its saucer on a blue planet that its inhabitants have called Earth. Crypto is a grim alien. Constantly irritable and in a bad mood, he explores this unspeakable sphere in order to explain to its inhabitants from now on that it is the Furons who rule this planet from now on. But who is the most intelligent form of life here? Maybe it could be cows: After all, they have several stomachs and udders.
But Crypto has to realize in all its disgusted disappointment that it is the people who are wearing their hats here. On top of that, he didn’t choose just any country, but rather the USA of the 1950s. A society that, full of paranoid fear of the Cold War, has its finger particularly close to the trigger.
But Crypto remains no choice, its species is on the verge of extinction. As powerful and technically superior as the Furons may seem. They do have a significant disadvantage – they have no genitals and therefore reproduction is not so easy. Crypto only survives because it keeps cloning itself. But that too has a catch. The DNA for this is running out – but there is DNA in abundance on earth.
Gameplay
When Destroy All Humans game first appeared on PS2, PC and XBOX in 2005, the unusual action game immediately caused a sensation and has built up a fan base over many years, which could look forward to further sequels. But what made THQ’s alien adventure so extraordinary? Well, the early noughties are the origins of open world games. Since blockbuster titles such as Grand Theft Auto Vice City captured the hearts of gamers and broke sales records, there have been more and more titles that jumped on the trend and also relied on an open game world.
Destroy All Humans game took a middle course. The story campaign was divided into several levels, which were spread all over the USA and were controlled with our saucer in the course of progress. From the sleepy farm to the sunny holiday resort to the Roswell military base and the big cities of the west coast, a huge variety of locations is offered. The individual locations were designed to be very spacious and we were allowed to explore them freely, so a kind of open play world light.
In addition, we get the levels presented in two different perspectives. We are not only allowed to move on foot, but also get into our saucers and make the people of the earth hell and cremate entire skyscrapers in the old Independence Day manner.
The remake Anno 2020 from THQ Nordic changes almost nothing in the success formula of the past and reproduces the original from 15 years ago as closely as possible. The gameplay also feels almost unchanged. There are a handful of main missions to complete in each level. Our HUD display then tells what we have to do to achieve the mission goal. From today’s perspective, this seems a bit outdated, as the missions have practically no freedom for their own approach or alternative decisions.
Overall Impressions
In addition to having a deep contempt for earthly civilization in Destroy All Humans Game – and for life in general – the protagonist of Destroy All Humans gamehas an essential mission for the future of his people: to extract from the genetic code of ancient humans fragments of Furon DNA, the legacy of the first contacts between the two species.
You know how these things go: you arrive on a planet, you get to know the locals and, well, what comes from what. Regardless of the circumstances of this legacy, the goal of Crypto and Orthopox, its superior officer, is to stem the progressive deterioration of the Furon genome, a side effect of their cloning technologies.
Destroy All Humans Game is, as can be guessed, a simple narrative pretext, an excuse to kick off a long sequence of hilarious atrocities, justified by a plot that brings up the full range of clichés about the America of the economic boom, from the obsession with the “commie” to the moral fervor of the postwar period.
Between jokes full of satire, pleasant anachronisms and continuous references to the science fiction of b-movies, the writing of Destroy All Humans game it still proves to be brilliant and easy-going , capable of perfectly supporting the laughing tones of a light and unpretentious adventure, all devoted to fun. The revision work carried out by Black Forest Games on the stylistic identity of the title was therefore carried out in full respect of the basic material, opting for a cartoonish aesthetic perfectly consistent with the characteristics of the production, which we are sure will satisfy the fans without reservation. Longtime.
If from an exquisitely structural point of view the title of THQ Nordic clearly shows the weight of its three decades , the Teutonic team has done an excellent job in reworking both the game mechanics and the graphic quality of the first Furon adventure in a modern key. To begin with, the movement system (both on foot and in flight) has been totally revised and is now more fluid, responsive and flexible, with the addition of an unprecedented “dash” which, if prolonged, allows the alien to move for short distances on a sort of floating skate.
Combat System
Even the shooting system, with attached lock-on (automatic or otherwise), makes the deadly exploits of our alter ego much more satisfying, with the complicity of some changes to the armamentarium designed to perfectly match a greatly expanded progression system. , which now has a total of 66 upgrades (against 18 in the PS2 / Xbox version), unlockable – as per tradition – by collecting genetic material during missions.
In some cases, a slight redundancy is perceived in the composition of the expansion branches (divided into two macro-areas, linked to Crypto and its spacecraft), but overall the final result fully convinces. A discourse that we can easily extend to the new abilities provided to the protagonist, who can now hypnotize a human npc to force him to fight alongside him (a good diversion during the most intense clashes), or manipulate different elements of the scenario at a molecular level to turn them into extra ammo.
The most significant novelty, however, concerns the ability of Crypto to perform several actions at the same time, in order to achieve maximum lethal efficiency with minimum effort.
A “multitasking turning point” which allows the invader to extract brains (an excellent source of DNA), use telekinesis and fire without necessarily having to make a list of priorities, giving free rein to his natural propensity for super violence. As mentioned, the the undoubted quality of these improvements could have sanctioned a clear step forward for the Destroy All Humans game formula, if only Black Forest Games had dared more on the (re) design front .
The new game-engine
The new engine shows a not particularly advanced but well-made lighting system, enhanced by a valuable management of vfx, especially as regards volumetric and particle effects. It is not surprising that among the strengths of the package there is a practically limitless environmental destructibility, which sometimes results in a constant flow of buildings reduced to debris and vehicles thrown over the horizon, all with the complicity of a good physics management. All in the face of a generally solid frame rate (set at 30 fps), except for a handful of hesitations during the most intense shootings.
We also noticed some minor texture streaming issues (especially at the beginning of a mission) and occasional texture popping issues, but nothing particularly serious. More generally, the title delights the senses with a succession of glimpses rich in details and imbued with the peculiar charm of the 50s , revisited in a comic key between excesses and very little “politically correct” stereotypes. And that’s fine. The sound sector was promoted without reserve, remastered to perfection both in terms of dubbing and musical tracks.
Graphics and Sound
Graphically, Destroy All Humans game presents itself with an incredibly charming and well-designed graphic, full of exaggerated and playful character drawings. Unfortunately the game doesn’t offer HDR. The colorful look and the harmonious lighting effects would gain even more intensity. We tested THQ Nordics Remake on a PS4 Pro.
The extraterrestrial excursion ran on Sony’s console without any major problems and without any noticeable drop in frame rate. Only sometimes, shortly before and after an automatic save, does the game come to a standstill.
The soundtrack relies on the original sounds of the earlier version. The German voice output has been completely re-set and is very well done. Especially Crypto itself is now even more moody and choleric.
Conclusion
Fifteen years after the first invasion of the Furon empire, Destroy All Humans game back on the shelves with a remake that thrives on ups and downs. On the one hand, they greatly appreciated the revision and modernization work carried out on the technical side, with the aim of bringing the graphics sector and game mechanics closer to the current industry standards, while on the other we could not help less to note an almost total conservatism as regards the structure and composition of the campaign.
In this sense, the problems of the remake are largely those of the original chapter, and mainly concern an outdated mission design. The variety of tasks is therefore very limited, and this opens the way to a certain basic repetition. That said, the Destroy All Humans game remake!remains an enjoyable and entertaining title, capable of offering 8 hours of entertainment between hilarious clichés and sensational doses of light-hearted devastation.
It’s such a thing with older games. Often you notice that the favorite games of the past seem significantly aged and from today’s perspective are no longer as fun as they once were. But Destroy all Humans is one of those adventures that has aged surprisingly well.
The setting around the lousy alien Crypto is just as fresh and entertaining today as it was 15 years ago. The gameplay is simple and doesn’t leave much room for your own decisions, but Destroy All Humans Game is still a lot of fun. Not to play the moral hero for once, but rather to be the all-destructive alien who unceremoniously removes the brainstem of innocent citizens with an anal probe – who would have thought that this could still be so motivating.
Fans of the series shouldn’t worry and can strike right away. Destroy all Humans is a thoroughly successful remake, which is very true to the original. The controls look refined, the graphics present a charming and funny insight into the USA of the 1950s and the gameplay is just as fun.
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