Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed Review: Extra-terrestrial Hijinks

I’ll admit right off the bat that I have very fond memories of both Destroy All Humans! games when they each released over 15 years ago. I don’t know if it was the satirical humour, wacky gameplay mechanics or both, that drew me into the admittedly insane premise. That being said, I had doubts about returning to the franchise for the first time since Destroy All Humans! 2 released, wondering if I could have possibly grown out of such experiences. Thankfully, Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed stands as an adequate remaster, fit for both modern audiences and platforms, thanks to its well-written humour and slick visuals, even if its dated mission structure hold it back slightly.

Welcome Back to Earth

Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed picks up 10 years after the original, with Cryptosporidium-138, a convenient clone of the first game’s protagonist Cryptosporidium-137, disguised and serving as the President of the United States. If that wasn’t crazy enough, he’s also sporting what can only be described as a “downstairs package”, which sparks the curiosity of the KGB, inciting a chase across the globe to take down Cryptosporidium-138. While I cannot believe I summarised a plot like this into words, I also find it incredibly hard to poke fun at or criticise, simply because Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed is so self aware, and in turn, funny.

Set in an alternate version of 1969 Earth, many of the game’s locations are super stylised and diverse, as you’ll travel to the foggy streets of England, busy cities of Japan, snowy hills of Russia and hidden Soviet lunar base known as Solaris. It’s a nice departure from the rather restrictive setting of the original Destroy All Humans!, and given the game’s rather short 10-hour runtime, none of the environments ever overstay their welcome either.

Aside from the ridiculous plot, Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed uses Crypto-138 as the lens through which we see society. Given the changing times of the 60’s, Crypto 138’s assessment of the general populous could be considered a little offensive, as the surrounding citizens are reduced to dazed hippies, straight-edged cops and dodgy KGB agents doing their best to blend in.

But it’s the admittedly self-aware, satirical humour that Crypto-138 dishes out, paired with his rather tired and frustrated demeanour that puts everything into perspective. In the original Destroy All Humans!, Crypto-137’s motivations were justified through the viscous response of society. Here, the level of comedy feels more like the film Falling Down, where our protagonist is held back by outrageous characters and circumstances, all while trying to simply get through his day.

When in Doubt, Zap it Out

In terms of general gameplay, Destroy All Humans! 2 feels very much like it did back in 2006, with a few modern sensibilities thrown in. Combat feels punchy and responsive, while Crypto-138’s arsenal of weapons and abilities provide a significant amount of variety keep approaches to situations fresh and robust. Between weapons like the trusty Zap-O-Matic and psychic abilities like Psychokinesis which allows Crpto-138 to throw various objects about the environment, I found myself consistently experimenting with approaches. The humour also does its best to meld with the wacky story and setting, by allowing Crypto-138 to use certain themed abilities like “Free Love”, which forces enemies and citizens alike to break out into dance and forget they had ever seen you.

Each environment also does a decent job at providing hidden avenues and paths off the beaten track to explore, but given the game’s admittedly shorter runtime, rarely encourages you to hang around too long. The main missions are fun and engaging and push the story along at an even pace, even if it’s where the game starts to show its age. Too often will Crypto-138 have to clear out waves of enemies or scour the map from point to point for the sake of repetitive fetch quests. Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed does its best to shake things up by giving you control of Crypto’s saucer, but vehicular gameplay unfortunately feels a little clunkier than traditional, ground-based combat.

Main missions do throw in a small number of additional objectives which can be completed in order to obtain Furotech Cells, which can be used to upgrade your saucer and weapons. The only real issue here is that Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed, even on the harder difficulties, is never particularly tough. I found myself upgrading certain weapons with Furotech Cells infrequently, but found the sheer variety of weapons and psychic abilities on offer are worth more than enough as they are, to get the job done. Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed also provides local 2-player co-op, so you can terrorise and zap away with a friend for the duration of the narrative.

Look the Part

Visually, Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed is nothing short of pretty. Character models pop, environments are given an impressive amount of detail and texture, while the overall experience runs smoothly with 4K/ 60FPS support. Crypto-138 is sporting more detail than ever, with the gills behind his head pulsating with clarity; even if it’s actually kind of gross.

That being said, it’s easily the highlight of the experience considering all things new for this remake/remaster, and arguably fits in as well as newer games releasing on the same console. It’s just a shame that for as pretty as the visuals are, the general mission structure reminds you that you’re playing a considerably older game.

Final Thoughts

Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed is an overall fair attempt at a remake/remaster. While it exceeds visually, the older mission structure holds it back from competing with some of the newer open world third-person shooters on the market. Thankfully, the snappy writing and hilarious one-liners from Crypto-138 along with the brisk pace keep things from ever getting stale. I’m relatively sure fans of the original will enjoy this for what it’s worth, while newer fans should at least give it a try.

THREE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)

Highlights: Cryptosporidium-138 is a hilarious protagonist; slick visuals and solid performance
Lowlights: Mission structure feels dated and repetitive
Developer: Black Forest Games
Publisher: THQ Nordic
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Windows PC
Available: Now

Review conducted on PlayStation 5 with a pre-release code provided by the publisher.

Matthew Arcari

Matthew Arcari is the games and technology editor at The AU Review. You can find him on Twitter at @sirchunkee, or at the Dagobah System, chilling with Luke and Yoda.