Destroy All Humans Remastered Review: Re-Destroy Your Summer Time

While Remasters are all the rage, the 15-year-old PS2 title has been given a facelift before gamers turn their attention to the next-generation of consoles.

While Summer is typically slow for game releases, coupled with the miserable year 2020 has brought us so far, Destroy All Humans Remastered is the bright light at the end of the tunnel.

So how does this second take of a cult-classic fair up in this day and age?

What Is Destroy All Humans?

This open-world action-adventure has the player take control of Crypto, an aggressive alien from outer-space invading America in the 1950s.

The game is designed to be a parody of the Cold War-era alien invasion films.

Cyrpto is tasked by his superiors to gather Furon DNA locked inside human brain stems in order to save his race from cloning themselves to extinction, while also investigating what happened to his previous clone (Cryptosporidium #136).

The gameplay is centred around what the title suggests - Destroying All Humans. You can do this in a number of different ways, both with a lucrative number of weapons and flashy psychic powers.

It's well known for its funny dialogue, colourful jokes and amusing characters throughout.

Story

Those that loved the original game will fall in love all over again as it's a very close like-for-like remaster and does a great job recapturing its spirit.

I remember laughing for hours with my friends, back in 2005, at the great lines of dialogue. You'd think I may have matured now that I'm no longer a teenager, but I'm glad to report that's not the case. The slapstick gimmicks still tickle my funny bone.

Of course, the story isn't the most in-depth part about the game, it's more focused on the gameplay; which is perfectly OK in this scenario. The story is designed to stitch the gameplay together and give you a transition between different levels and mechanics.

Could they have done more with the story? For sure. Would fans really have wanted that? Probably not. I don't think there's anything to gain from developing the story that would massively benefit the game overall.

Gameplay

While there was a previously scrapped level added to the game, Black Forest Games have not done much to add to the original.

Depending on where you stand with that, it may not be a big deal. But in my opinion, if you're going to remaster a game you should aim to remaster the faults the previous game had.

In some scenarios, it's evident the game has been expanded upon, but for the most part, the repetitive elements of the game are still there.

After a while, destroying humans can seem a bit uninspiring. I certainly enjoyed the mindless carnage I inflicted to start, but where I may have matured was that it didn't nearly hold my attention for as long. Perhaps I've grown out of it or perhaps games have developed to offer more variety than they did 15 years ago. After all, I wasn't even playing games online when I was 14 - I had no idea how good gaming would become and must have had a low benchmark.

The stealth missions really make for a change of pace when you're bored of bulldozing your way through obstacles, but it's not the most diverse gameplay mechanic.

The aim-assist is extremely strong and the AI is not massively difficult, meaning you won't be stressed with a challenge. In a game like this, it is a matter of opinion on whether this is a problem. I think it would be ideal for the game to ramp up the difficulty level as it would certainly extend the time spent in-game.

Graphics

The graphics, on the whole, are a huge upgrade from the PS2 title (as you would expect). Crypto and the saucer, two of the main attractions, were particularly beautiful.

But everything else seemed to be really hit and miss with its upgrades. The environments look great at a glance, but a few of the details are not quite up to the standard I'd expect of a game in this day and age.

Likewise, humans were not designed well. In 2005, it was ok to see the same character model pop up a few times and even have a few jerky movements, due to the time period and hardware. Now it seems a bit odd to not have much variety.

The cutscenes did receive a big upgrade, which is a big plus and looks great in comparison to what came before it.

Audio

The audio needed to be re-done from scratch, it sounds like it was lifted from the original game. It's not particularly pleasing listening to J. Grant Albrecht and Richard Steven Horvitz (the protagonists of the game) who sound like they are communicating through a sheet of crate paper.

However, the sound effects of guns and other items, such as the anal probe, are funny and amusing.

Is It Worth It?

If you're a fan of the series, the game will be a nice nostalgic trip down memory lane and a good outing for your PS4 and Xbox One before we transition into the next generation of consoles.

While the 15-hour campaign isn't much, it's 15 hours that could occupy your time during one of history's most bizarre summers for a modest price of £35.

Final Score: 6.5/10