3/5 ★ – PhatBaby's review of Destroy All Humans!.

There's no denying that Destroy All Humans is a superb remake. Its visuals are absolutely jaw-dropping, especially if you have the context of what an ugly game the original is now, but what's crazier is that it manages to capitalise on the caricature style world and characters that the original didn't quite have the technology to pull off. Yet, outside of its significant visual overhauls and some more fluid feeling weapons, Destroy All Humans is practically identical to its significantly aged forefather. While that makes it a fun throwback for fans of the series like myself, it's not exactly the most compelling contemporary experience for a new player approaching it in 2020. From the moment Destroy All Humans begins, it's clear that the style of gameplay and core arsenal at your disposal are tailor-fit for an open-world, play-YOUR-way experience (a realisation that only hit the developers as they were making the infinitely better Destroy All Humans 2), meaning that Crypto's first adventure often feels constricting and linear. Add to that reams of tedious stealth missions, repetitive objectives and a veritable banquet of painful escort quests and you have yourself a game that almost feels at odds with its chaotic, fun-centric focus. Black Forest Games did have the foresight to make each of the game's 6 areas available in a free roam format for the remake - seemingly in an effort to fix this exact issue - but with nothing to do in these levels except complete challenges, they fall a little flat. I don't want to seem entirely like I'm ragging on it, because for me, this was a solid blast from the past. It's great to hear the amazing vocal talent of J. Grant Albrecht and Richard Steven Horvitz who still deliver all of Destroy All Humans' gags with perfect comic timing, while blowing shit up remains as ultimately satisfying as ever. Plus, seen as I was only around 8 when I first played this, a lot of the satirical humour actually makes sense now I don't have a prepubescent little pee brain. It just feels like the first game in the franchise isn't the best hand to put forward if the ultimate goal is to resurrect Destroy All Humans for a modern generation, especially when its sequel was bigger, ballsier and a lot better. Regardless, it's still worth a play if you look back on Crypto's adventures fondly and want to revisit them with a pair of stunning nostalgia goggles pre-built in.