Destroy All Humans Remake Review

Rating: ★★★★☆

Platform: PC

When the opportunity came to review this remake/reboot of the Destroy All Humans! franchise my colleagues were turned into piles of ash (Except Ash who became translucent goo) by my overwhelming desire to play.

As a huge fan of the original and owning all entries in the hilarious B-movie sci-fi schlock n' shock series, I've been watching this title with a vested interest (especially since it will mark the first entry in this series of games for quite some time).

With the weight of expectations doubled by this being a cult classic with a passionate fanbase, and I'm relieved to say Destroy All Humans' return in 2020 is a truly enjoyable and successful trip around the sun.

For many, Black Forest Games could have just slapped on a new coat of paint and called it a day. However, in what seems to be a concerted effort to make people forget they had a hand in that atrocious Bubsy reboot, the team has done wonders in updating the aesthetics and style of the game, while keeping that arcade run n' gun tone the series is so famous for.

Character models look exaggerated, cartoonish and emotive, all of which is essential when conveying such a silly narrative, and the decision to keep the original audio and remaster that in place of re-recording lines with new voice actors is a choice I'm so grateful for.

Hearing the likes of J. Grant Albrecht and Richard Steven Horvitz with crisper tones is a joy as the pair's back and forth banter and simmering aggression is perfectly in keeping with the rest of the game.

However, you're not here to listen to the sound of spacemen, you want to SEE the destruction for yourself.

Thanks to the added graphical oomph, explosions look more face-melting, death rays simmer with barely contained technology and brains explode from bodies in over the top fashion. It won't challenge the likes of The Last Of Us 2 in terms of graphical fidelity, but it's not trying to compete in this area.

Instead, what you get is a wonderfully over the top aesthetic that looks just as good before and after it's been reduced to rubble.

There is a huge amount to do in this game as well, from the lengthy campaign that takes Crypto on the hunt for his previous clone's body after it's been captured by humans, all the way to expansive open areas which allow you to take part in other activities like races, kill-centric challenges and abduction missions.

Of course, this is also where you can let off some steam and annihilate to your heart's content.

You'll want to complete these side missions as each provides rewards to increase the power of your weapons, skills, ship abilities and even change the skin of your little grey terror (a personal favorite being a Darksiders themed skin!). Trust me, with the later levels and stages of this game being as challenging as they are, you'll need a fully decked out arsenal of weaponry.

Even the main missions have optional secondary objectives that net you better overall rewards, and some are super tricky without the right tools, but this again acts as more incentive to go out, explore and then eradicate once you've levelled up.

Thankfully, the meat of this game - that being the action - is utterly brilliant fun, and there seems to have been a big focus on increasing the overall speed of the title. In the original it could sometimes feel pretty sluggish and had a lock-on that was more than a little finicky. However, here the game runs at a lightning speed (reviewed on PC) and I was able to free aim with no issue whatsoever.

However don't go thinking this is going to be an easy ride for the Furon warrior, as the police, FBI, army and even other aliens working with the government will dog you at every turn. While you can chain together some ludicrous combos with your weapons, jetpack and "skate" abilities, sometimes violence is not the answer, and it's here that Destroy All Humans! takes a page out of The Thing's book, letting you assimilate the populace to go undercover.

Disguised as a meat sack you can enter restricted areas without issue, then use your mental superiority to coerce armed guards to your cause before turning them on each other, creating huge civil wars that let you slip by unnoticed.

Better yet, why not infect the minds of people by making them dance uncontrollably, leading others over to see what the fuss is before throwing in an Ion Bomb and obliterating everything within a 30-foot radius?

It's these moments that let your inner alien psychopath loose, and you'll find so many creative ways to kill and cause chaos.

In closing, Destroy All Humans! 2020 manages to do everything you could hope for. It's fun, frantic, and boasts a bevy of content that's sure to satisfy those looking for some nostalgia, alongside those that have been off-planet for the initial run, but are keen to see what all the fuss is about.

Bar some slight technical hiccups that saw my ship turn about-face for no reason, alongside some AI that seems to know exactly where you are at all times, there's so little wrong with this that I can't give anything other than a full recommendation.

Rating: ★★★★☆