Destroy All Humans!

In some ways, Destroy All Humans! shows its age, being a remake of a game that's now 15 years old, in a genre that's grown a lot in those years. But it's also got a sense of humour and parody of American life that feels more relevant today than when the original game first came out. That's a depressing reflection on the state of the world today, but it also means that the satire that underpins everything else in the game hits harder than the original creators ever could have imagined.

Destroy All Humans’ impact on you is definitely going to depend on how much you played the original release. As a fan of the original, I was sat gleefully destroying all the humans and basking in the improvements, but I could also see people who haven’t played the 2005 release not quite “getting” it. For those in the same boat as me, it’s exactly what it needs to be: a faithful improvement on the original game, and an indication that Crypto has plenty of life in him yet. Hopefully it can pave the way for an all new adventure someday soon.

The Destroy All Humans remake’s skeleton is geriatric in some respects. Repetitive audio, antiquated objective types, strict fail states, and repetitive audio are dead giveaways that this game is firmly planted in 2005 in detrimental ways that this remake did not address. But the overhauled control scheme and thoughtful new mechanics add a layer of muscle on top of that skeleton and keeps old age from breaking those bones down into dust.

If you can put all of that aside or appreciate Destroy All Humans! in a state that is undoubtedly close to how it played back in the day, there is a lot of fun to be in the PS4 remake. The combat is responsive, colorful, and over the top, and it lends itself well to short bursts of entertaining chaos. The same goes for its saucer gameplay; blowing up tiny buildings is not going to get old anytime soon. The title hasn't aged well, but it still possesses a certain charm. Maybe I was expecting too much, but I think I've raised some fair points. If you know and love the original, this PS4 remake is a great way to revisit the game. If you haven't played the original, the DAH remake feels difficult to recommend on its own; the two originals, which were remastered on current consoles in 2016, might be a better way for newcomers to test the waters without paying a premium.

Destroy All Humans is a faithful remake that retains the charm of the 2005 original, while dramatically overhauling the visuals and making some improvements to the gameplay. Perhaps a bit too faithful, with missions that now feel too simple and limited to the point of just being a bit boring.