Review: DESTORY ALL HUMANS! Still Won’t Blow Players Away
When looking at a reboot/remastering of a game, one can’t help but compare it to the original. This 2020 version of the classic Destroy All Humans is a huge improvement in more ways than visual and audio quality. We also see a lot of gameplay fixes on minor issues from the original, but some of the larger game mechanics still feel a little odd and could have been better handled.
The game does look significantly better than the PS2 version, however, it doesn't look like a late stage PS4 game. The textures and lighting look the best, along with totally reworked effects. It’s satisfying to fly around in a saucer blowing up buildings in glorious fiery explosions and the various abilities and weapons all looked pretty nice. But the character models are still so blocky and gross looking. I think the game could have benefited if everything was smoothed and a little more cartoonish instead of trying to look real, because it looks like somebody sneezed a bounce of clay models into existence and told them to walk around aimlessly.
As for the gameplay, it is nice to see a number of improvements. Some of these include better targeting on ability usage, more balanced abilities in general and smoother menu systems. But the overall quests, gameplay loop and set up still feels like a much older game (because it is pretty much the same), and it doesn’t age all that well. I wish there was a more open world to explore and more to do in general.
The last thing to address is the feel of the game as a whole. Does it feel like a game that let’s players enjoy the destruction of humanity and play as a killer alien? Yes. Does it do it well? Yes. But is it really all that great of a revisit to the franchise? It depends. Did you like the original titles for the ability to cause havoc on earth? Then you’ll probably enjoy the graphical upgrade and smoother gameplay. But it is a great revision of the original that brings it up to par with modern games? No, because the simple and sometimes tedious gameplay along with the still weird human character models that come from generations past feel like a port to modern consoles instead of a remaster or remake.
I think this is a fun way to blow up buildings, take control of humans and be an alien in a 1950’s world. The core ideas from the past are still present, and that can be both good and bad. Don’t expect much more than throwing cows, blowing up farms and stuff like that, because it isn’t here. But that doesn’t mean the game can’t be fun, it is just fairly simple and feels just like the game from 15 years ago.
