Destroy All Humans!

"Crypto hates color blind humans"

Presentation

The idea behind this game is great, but the T rating sort of hurts the potential behind the story. Crypto is a blood thirsty Alien bent on killing and torturing humans. The kills are definitely T rated, but to have seen them in an M rated game would have been sweet. Unfortunately most companies make T rated games since the audience is larger and they can get more money. Too bad.

The historical part of the game is very true to how America was like back in the 1950's. From the phrases that the humans say, to the cut scenes and how the areas look. The attention to detail is perfect and they didn't take any short cuts. My best part of the game is when I read the mind of a Police officer and he mentioned Bettie Page. This has to have been a first for any video game to mention this Goddess and it just shows you how perfectly the decade is set up.

If you've ever seen a B movie, then this game will remind you of one. The humor and storyline is perfect for a script that Hollywood would have no problem in making. Ed wood would have been proud of this game. 8/10

Graphics

The graphics were good in the game, but they weren't awesome looking or bad quality. Sort of average I'd say. The detail given to Crypto was nice and most of the humans in the game were done well. I would have liked more detail in the explosions or when a human was killed, but that's just me.

I didn't experience any bugs or glitches…Other than having the mother ship take off when I reached the out of bounds area. Usually you get a few seconds to turn around and head back but some parts were fast to get rid of you. The landscape for some areas looked a bit plain, but some areas where you would see a town with buildings in it looked good. 8/10

Sound

The voice acting was actually quite good in the game. From the humans in the towns, to the very funny Crypto, to the Majestic agents and Police. Reading minds can be fun, but also annoying since the game will like to repeat certain thoughts. The weapons have an average sound to them, nothing fancy. Pox can be very annoying when you're looking around for probes and you reach the out of bounds border. I had to mute my TV a few times when searching for probes just to shut that damn alien up!

I like the humor from Pox when you update your character or the spaceship. The cut scenes are also funny, and I really liked the music for the game. A very cool soundtrack, that set the mood for the game perfectly. 8/10

Gameplay

This game isn't hard to get used to, especially if you have played any Grand Theft Auto games in the past. You basically do missions that have you killing someone, or hiding in the disguise of a human and sneaking around. Or you fly your spaceship around and destroy some buildings. Nothing hard. The only hard part of the game is finding the probes. My bad luck hit me hard on this game, since in every area I couldn't find one probe to complete the whole set. I must have spent an extra hour or two on each of the six areas to find that last probe. But I was going for 100% (which I was able to get) so I had to be patent and look over the whole area for it.

Crypto has weapons that can be upgraded or unlocked as your progress through the game. You can also get other weapons for your spaceship as well. The only parts that you cannot upgrade are the shield for Crypto and the shield for the spaceship. Sort of lame, but I guess it makes the game more challenging. Once an upgrade is available you use DNA to buy them with. To collect DNA you either use the Anal Probe on humans and that makes their brains pop out of their heads (which is the DNA) or you can kill them in a way that keeps the body intact and then remove the brain via scanning. Finding the hidden probes also rewards you with DNA. The tanks really upset me in the game weather I was on foot or in the spaceship. They seem to do a lot of damage, and constantly respawn.

If you only play the story missions, then this game could easily be completed in a rental. But if you want to get 100%, then it might take you a bit longer. It took me eight days, and I played about four to five hours a day to get my complete game save.

The set up for the levels can also be a pain if you're not too good at the game. If you reach the end of a level and die then you have to start the whole level all over again. This is really a pain since the very last level consists of two boss battles. One in your ship, and one on foot. So if you complete the first boss but die on the second guess what? You're doing it all over again.

Another part that they took from Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City is that Crypto dies when he's in the water. I guess Aliens can't swim? But it is cool when you die since your clone number goes up by one; I thought that this was a neat idea. I wonder how high the number goes up to? I only reached 151, so I died fifteen times I think. 8/10

Lasting Appeal

Since this game is sort of like Grand Theft Auto there is plenty of replay value here. If you just want to run around killing humans or collecting DNA then you can. If you just want to fly around and destroy buildings or pick up humans/vehicles and throw them around then feel free to do so. There are also side missions that require you to do a number of tasks within a certain time limit. Too bad you couldn't replay missions though, that would have been fun.

The areas are too small, which hurts the free roaming aspect of the game. Also, some areas when you go out of bounds you don't have any time to get back in bounds and you end up going back to your mother ship. Not sure if this was a glitch, but I only noticed this problem in about three areas in the whole game.

I enjoyed the ability to disguise Crypto as a human and then run around and read minds or hypnotize humans to do funny things. Some areas get rough when you run around as an alien since the Majestic soldiers and the Army are there within seconds. But other than that, the free roaming is the meat of the replay value. There are videos and artwork to look at, but those get old fast. 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/10/06