I played the original Destroy All Humans! quite often when it first came out. It stood alone then as being unique - playing the 'villain', piloting space-craft and vaporising humans seemed a new take on a third-person open-world shooter. Its writing was dry and sarcastic, and riffing off 1950s Cold War hysteria and pop-culture was something new for me as a teen. You were humanity's saviour: saving them from their stupid selves, harvesting brains for the good of the Furon Empire.
Does this all translate today? A lot of it does actually, but perhaps not entirely. The writing and performance seems a bit stilted and the complexity of the missions aren't nearly as groundbreaking anymore, but it's still a hell of a lot of fun.
Like Spyro and Crash remakes, the differences to the original are predominately visual. Blackforest Games have 'cartoonified' the models here which is a striking difference but works more in the game's favour than against it, I thought. Unlike those PS1 remakes, there are some gameplay control changes which work well for me but might not for others. Some added abilities from the second game like the Transmog are welcome, and an all-new S.K.A.T.E. mechanic for quick traversal on ground as well as better manoeuvrability for the jetpack are both godsends. New side-story challenges are a good addition too.
Definitely worth picking up if you liked the original but may not have legs if you’re new to the games. Honestly, it’s incredible to me that it was even chosen by game developers to be remade as although the games have a decent following, it’s not that huge.
Does this all translate today? A lot of it does actually, but perhaps not entirely. The writing and performance seems a bit stilted and the complexity of the missions aren't nearly as groundbreaking anymore, but it's still a hell of a lot of fun.
Like Spyro and Crash remakes, the differences to the original are predominately visual. Blackforest Games have 'cartoonified' the models here which is a striking difference but works more in the game's favour than against it, I thought. Unlike those PS1 remakes, there are some gameplay control changes which work well for me but might not for others. Some added abilities from the second game like the Transmog are welcome, and an all-new S.K.A.T.E. mechanic for quick traversal on ground as well as better manoeuvrability for the jetpack are both godsends. New side-story challenges are a good addition too.
Definitely worth picking up if you liked the original but may not have legs if you’re new to the games. Honestly, it’s incredible to me that it was even chosen by game developers to be remade as although the games have a decent following, it’s not that huge.