Review of Destroy All Humans! 2020

Or how the alien "Hitman" enslaved the Earth

The twentieth year turned out to be fruitful for remakes of video games, but still they understand that a remake is not always good. Anything can be hidden under this word: a banal improvement in the graphical component of the game, adding or changing game mechanics, or maybe a completely new project, as happened with the remakes of the second and third parts of Resident Evil. Since at one time I did not get to know the original Destroy All Humans, I will have to consider the game as a completely new project, and only occasionally resort to comparing these two games based on a few let's play videos.

The game takes place in the 50s of the last century in the United States of America. An alien ship gets into an unpleasant situation, as a result of which one of the aliens becomes a hostage of the secret service of the US government. Crypto, the brother of the captured Furon, goes to Earth to find the alien and at the same time enslave the humanoids for the further reproduction of their race. Is Crypto prepared for this?? thoroughly: he can read the thoughts of living beings, subjugate their will and even take the form of earthlings. Well, if necessary, the alien can always use an alien blaster or a powerful weapon of his flying ship.

First of all, the game is positioned as an adventure action game with elements of stealth. There are plenty of both in the game: the first three abilities of the alien described above will be needed specifically for completing stealth missions, and in the future several more interesting mechanics will be added to them. One of the truly fascinating abilities of Krypto is the ability to transform into an earthling using a special device called "Golovasya". Using it in close proximity to a person, for a while, the alien invader takes on his appearance. To prolong the disguise of Crypto, it is necessary to read people's minds, what is safe how?For the main character, and for others. If we compare this mechanic with the original, then it has undergone a number of major changes. One of them was the restriction on the use of certain skills during active disguise. In the original game, during an active Golovasi, the player could use telekinesis or deal with soldiers or civilians in the guise of a person. There is no such freedom in the remake - one wrong move or an accidental shot will lead to the fact that you will simply reveal yourself. This change perfectly balances the gameplay, because the disguised player will have to resort to various tricks in order to successfully complete the task and not alarm the police or military.

Basically, in the same mission, the game instructs you to do something quietly, but when the time comes, it gives you the will to destroy not only people, but everything that you can only find on the location. To destroy earthlings was an interestit is even easier, almost immediately you will master a whole arsenal of weapons, a rocket pack and the ability to extract trophies from humanoids, for which, in turn, Crypto will receive valuable currency to improve equipment and an alien ship. Of course, the artificial intelligence of the enemies is extremely simple, but still, you will feel uncomfortable when you first encounter an entire army of military and police officers, and you will also be surrounded by tanks, anti-aircraft guns and other robotic equipment. In addition to the main weapon, Krypto masterfully owns telekinesis - grabbing people and throwing them several hundred meters in any direction is also quite an exciting experience. In addition to people and other small objects, the alien can intercept incoming missiles, or grenades that have not yet exploded, then send these objects back to their owners.

To dilute the gameplay, a flying saucer will be available for you to control in some missions. It is with its help that you can raze to the ground everything your heart desires: from vehicles to high-rise buildings. Hereonly the control of the ship is not very convenient: you can change the height of the saucer flight, but you cannot raise or lower the sight. If in most story missions the lack of aim control will not be a problem, then in the final battle you will feel uncomfortable and understand what I mean.

The story campaign consists of more than two dozen exciting missions: during the passage of the game you will visit not only residential settlements, but also military bases. Such locations can hardly be called large, but they all differ from each other visually. At first, Crypto will terrorize farms and small villages, then it will begin to raise rates - large cities and even the capital of the virtual United States will go to waste. After completing a particular mission, you have the right to return to the location, but already as a researcher: complete tests or simply collect trophies from people to upgrade your weapons, equipment and plate. And, most likely, you will have to do this, because without such improvements you will not be able to defeat the final bosses.

Destroy All Humans! is a mixture of raw stealth elements that are painfully reminiscent of the famous Hitman dress-ups, engaging combat, and plenty of funny and sometimes goofy jokes. To some extent Black Forest Games managed to revive a 15-year-old game, and this remake can be called a relative success for the studio. But despite the nice graphics and a number of significant changes, the game is unlikely to appeal to the current generation of gamers. It is more designed for fans of the series - they will definitely be delighted.