When it comes to recent trends that have exploded in 2020, remakes are clearly top of the pile, with publishers focusing their efforts on resurrecting some of the industry’s most historic titles with beautiful, modern visuals.Final Fantasy 7got the treatment earlier this year, landing universal acclaim, whileTony Hawk Pro Skater 1+2andMafia: Definitive Editionwill be hitting PC and consoles later this year.
Of course,THQ Nordichas been one of the biggest names at the forefront of this new trend, and luckily, the newest of its remakes will be landing on shelves tomorrow. That game is none other thanDestroy All Humans!which originally debuted on consoles all the way back in 2005. All these years later, THQ Nordic and Black Forest Games are returning to the cult-classic franchise, but how will it fare?
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Thankfully, the game’s upcoming release date means fans now know, with a number of major press publications putting out lengthy reviews of the game that detail just how faithfully it recreates its beloved source material. So, what exactly are the critics saying about the long-awaitedDestroy All Humans!remake?
PlayStation Universe(Eric Hauter)
“With a strict adherence to the style and performance of the original game, Destroy All Humans! brings all the fun of 2005 (and the frustrations) of the original. This is a game that was fun 15 years ago, and that fun still holds up, only now it has a shiny new coat of paint. Though some cultural references are a bit wince-worthy and there are some ridiculous difficulty spikes, in general Destroy All Humans! is a rollicking good time.”
Score: 8.5 / 10
IGN(Dan Stapleton)
“Blasting through the bright and cheery 1950s world of Destroy All Humans! is a simple but satisfying kind of fun, and there’s a lot to be said for that. Just like the original, this remaster’s comedy is a little hit or miss but its attitude is in full force all the way through thanks to some overpowered alien abilities that let you mow down the puny human resistance like an overlord.”
Score: 7 / 10
Destructoid(Brett Makedonski)
“Crypto-137 is hellbent on ensuring that humanity meets a terrible fate. By comparison, Destroy All Humans has met an enjoyable-enough-but-certainly-not-amazing fate. That’s fine, but it’s tough to not feel as though something truly great could’ve happened with some more creative license. If nothing else, this remake left me thinking that Destroy All Humans is still a viable property and that a brand new game might not be such a bad idea. But maybe that’s because an extraterrestrial has control of my cortex.”
GamingBible(Phil Boon)
“What Black Forest Games and THQ Nordic have achieved with the Destroy All Humans! remake is impressive. It certainly doesn’t feel worlds away from the original, which is always a concern when there’s a classic of this calibre being remade. Although some of the enhancements are a bit hit and miss, most do work really well, and can make you wonder how you coped without them in the original. It’s clear that a great deal of effort has been put into enhancing what already was a stellar title, whilst also introducing it to a new audience. Players who have been dying to play as Crypto-137 once again will feel right at home when they’re tasked, once more, to Destroy All Humans!”
Score 7 / 10
VideoGamer(Josh Wise)
“It’s a shame that with the all mod cons comes the unwanted baggage of long load screens and cluttered upgrade menus. But its breezy violence and wry comedy are worth the return trip, along with its reflexive glimpses into our own recent past. It’s like we travelled to a future where graphics were in high definition, and they made a game about our happy days in 2005.”
Screenrant(Christopher J. Teuton)
“Destroy All Humans! isn’t nearly as funny as it thinks it is, but it’s also not a bad game when all the moving pieces are working properly. For a series which has continuously strove to replicate B-movie schlock, Destroy All Humans! has come incredibly close to becoming that itself - complete with all the slow moments, bad dialog, and technical issues movies like Plan 9 From Outer Space! made infamous. It’s a little janky and a little uncouth, but the game has a very specific kind of charm and can be quite fun when approached with the right mindset.”
Score: 3 / 5
Push Square(Stephen Tailby)
“Destroy All Humans is a good attempt to bring back the cult classic in 2020, but it misses the mark in a few key areas. While there are some nice improvements to the core gameplay, they don’t do enough to rescue the old fashioned mission design and difficulty spikes. It’s a shame, because there’s some fun to be found here – you just have to put up with quite a lot of PS2 era baggage. Fans will be delighted, but this remake is hardly out of this world.”
Score: 6 / 10
Game Informer(Joe Juba)
“Black Forest Games created a better-looking version of a 15-year-old game, and this remake is a success in that regard. But whether or not Destroy All Humans is worth revisiting is a different question altogether. The brightest moments are when the action gives way to pure chaos. I watched electricity arc between humans, made brains pop out of heads, and turned a secret base into smoldering ruins with my spaceship’s death ray. But like a person floating above the ground in the glow of an abducto beam, those moments aren’t connected to anything substantial; they just make some noise and get flung aside.”
Overall, it seemstheDestroy All Humans!remakeis something of a mixed bag. While critics seem to unanimously agree that there’s a lot of fun to be had here, it appears Black Forest Games hasn’t done enough to push away from its source material, delivering the same exact game with a modern facelift. Yet, its seems fans of the original cult classic third-person action game will likely find some enjoyment, with several publications claiming its a nostalgia-focused reimagining designed for the fans.
Destroy All Humans!will be available on July 28 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
