By Jim Drewes - January 5, 2006

All About DAH!

THQ and Pandemic Studios recently lowered the price point of their moderately popular title, Destroy All Humans! just in time for the holidays, so we decided to review the game again, in spite of the fact that it was released in June.  Chopping ten bucks off of the cost of the game may be just the thing needed for many gamers to buck up for this hysterical and entertaining to play title.

As the name of the game implies, Destroy All Humans! has gamers playing the role of an alien who has set out to, well – destroy all humans.  The main character is Cryptosporidium 137, a name which rolls off of the tongue once it is heard a few times.  The “137” of Crypto’s name plays into the plot line of DAH in that the character you play as is the 137^th incarnation of Cryptosporidium.  The Furons (as the aliens are called) survive by cloning themselves.  Unfortunately, their DNA becomes more and more diluted with each generation, resulting in a need to replenish their DNA stock.  Even more unfortunate for humans is that Furon DNA is carried within our own DNA code.  Enter Cryptosporidium 137, whose job is to pluck the brains out of unsuspecting humans to harvest their precious DNA.

One of DAH’s greatest selling points is its entertaining, tongue-in-cheek replication of 1950s alien movies and alien culture.  Just as Tim Burton lampooned the genre in Mars Attacks, Pandemic Studios does the same thing (in a similar style) in Destroy All Humans!  DAH is chock-full of jokes about anal probes, abductions, and everything else you would associate with aliens or the 1950s.  Adding to the humor is Crypto’s voice and demeanor.  With a Clint Eastwood vocal persona and a penchant for making witty quips when he isn’t blasting away humanity, 137’s character adds a great deal of entertainment value to the game.

From a game play perspective, don’t expect too much ingenuity out of Destroy All Humans!  The game takes on a largely mission based third-person free-roaming shooter style.  The free roaming isn’t as massive and replay-able as more popular titles such as the GTA series, but it does allow for more freedom and replay value than if the game had been strictly linear.  The weaponry and skills that Crypto utilizes throughout the game are few in number, and although they are interesting and fun to play with in the beginning of the game, they quickly become quite dry.  Upgrades are available by cashing in DNA, but this feature only makes the weapons marginally more interesting.  One of the first skills you use is telekinesis, which allows you to lift and throw objects with your mind.  There is something oddly amusing about lifting and bashing a cow into the ground.  In addition to telekinesis, Crypto can read minds (which results in some comical thoughts from humans), and disguise himself as a human.  Weapons are mostly pistol-style when on foot, but it also includes an anal probe you can fire at your victims.  Also, a large amount of game play occurs as you fly around in your saucer, which has its own set of weaponry.

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