Lost In Space
But stop giggling for a minute and actually play the game and you soon, sadly, find that Destroy All Humans isn’t the game it could have and indeed should have been. After the first few levels you’ll have seen all that it has to offer, and other than some minor variations on the gameplay, that’s all there is for all 20 levels. Sure, you can upgrade your weapons, use either stealth or going in guns blazing in five different environments, but the end result is still the same… Shoot a human, collect their DNA, shoot a human, collect their DNA… You could argue that any FPS or TPS on the market is like this, but with Destroy All Humans there’s so much more promise that to find it’s really just a well dressed TPS is a big disappointment.
The promise of scarily exotic alien weapons that might have hysterical results has been overlooked so badly as to be almost criminal. The anal probe has a simply ENORMOUS potential for stupid toilet humour that would have made the game far more fun, but Pandemic have completely missed their chance. Similarly, the stealth sections are vapid to the point of leaving you wondering why they are there. It’s far less fun in the holo-mode and the drain on your brain meter means that collecting DNA while stealthed sees your meter drain even quicker… better to just run in and blast everything and have done with it.
Overall, I would say that Destroy All Humans isn’t a bad game by any means, I’d say that it’s a flawed work with the potential to have been much better than it is. The core aim of the game, the DNA collecting, is a tedious and time consuming process that totally breaks up the gameplay. Whilst you’re standing there gathering people’s brains you’re open to attack and can soon find yourself close to death with little to show for it. The weapons, whilst being well realised are actually pretty unimaginative. Sure, you’ve got the all powerful death ray, but some of the more promising weapons are just rebranded grenade launchers or laser rifles… With a little bit more thought and imagination, this ‘okay’ game could’ve been a great one. I’m afraid to say that a game based on the B-movies has remained faithful to it’s inspiration and become a B-game.
Pros
Great Humour
Original concept
Nice cartoony style
Captures the 50’s B-movies perfectly
Cons
Repetitive gameplay
Humour a thin veneer for a shallow game
DNA collection a pain
Not enough variety
The “Plan 9 From Outer Space” of games. You’ll play it once to see what it’s about then never touch it again.
