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The sequel to one of the last year’s funniest games does not disappoint. Destroy All Humans! came out of nowhere and charmed critics (and gamers) with its decidedly funny 1950s style science fiction setting and amusing gameplay. For Destroy All Humans! 2, Pandemic Studios stole liberally from the “how to make a sequel” book as this game includes more weapons, more content, and takes jabs at a wider variety of subjects.
In Destroy All Humans! 2 you once again play as Crypto who is now president of the United States after his he and the Furon Empire took over the country. As Crypto is enjoying the powers and luxuries that come with being president, he learns that his mothership and boss were destroyed by the Russian KGB. He obviously won’t stand for this and goes out to figure out what the Russians have against him. While the first game limited itself to parodying the United States, Destroy All Humans! spreads itself in different directions by taking shots at the British, Russians, and Japanese, as well as hippies and communism. Though not quite as fresh as it was last year, the game’s writing is still top-notch and sure to evoke many laughs.
The gameplay in Destroy All Humans! hasn’t changed a whole lot. You begin the game in Bay City, clearly modeled off San Francisco, but eventually you’ll move on to Albion, Takoshima and two others. The game still has an open structure so you’ll see missions on the map and you can choose which missions you want to play. As you travel to these cities, you’ll largely be doing what you did last time around: shooting everything in sight. You do this with a number of weapons (some old and some new). One new weapon lets you launch a hologram to aid you in shooting enemies, while another lets you shoot meteors on enemies. These are joined by the excepted zappers, rays and anal probes from last year. Aside from the new weapons, Crypto has some telekinetic powers including being able to turn enemies into ammo, spread a sort of energy that makes people act like they are high, extract their brains, and pick up people and objects.
Though playing as Crypto will take up the vast majority of your time, there are still times when you will jump in the saucer. Occasionally, you’ll use this to transport items and humans to other locations, but for the most part, you’ll use it to fight other saucers, a boss or destroy something huge. New to this version is a cooperative mode that lets another player join you for the fun. The game’s co-op mode doesn’t include any new levels or features, but it’s still fun blasting away humans with a friend. If you finish the main game and you want more, you can always play additional side missions.
The game’s visuals fit the theme perfectly. The technical aspects of the character models aren’t particularly appealing but the game nails the artistic facet perfectly. You’ll encounter everything from weird scientists, to “hip” 1950s teenagers, and some creepy G-men, suit and all. The environments are quite varied as you’ll destroy humans in locations including a beach town, a farm, the desert and even a military base. The framerate keeps up with the game for the most part. Unfortunately, the draw distance is still limited and there is still plenty of pop-in. Technically speaking, the game’s engine hasn’t changed much in the past year which is why many of issues are still around.
The game’s audio shares the same great atmosphere. The background music fits the theme perfectly – it sounds just like a sci-fi flick from the time period. Some of it is cheesy, yes, but that’s what the game was aiming for. The sound effects are less spectacular but do their job well. The voice acting is where really shines, though. The dialogue is just downright funny. The many conversations between Crypto and Pox will have you bursting with laughter. The bits of dialogue that you get when you scan someone’s head are equally amusing. Pandemic Studios did an excellent job at getting the atmosphere just right.
Destroy All Humans! 2 doesn’t change things up too much. It plays nearly identically to the first game, although the new weapons and co-op mode are fun distractions. If you enjoyed the first game, chances are that the other eight or so hours that Destroy All Humans! 2 provides will be time well spent. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Oct 26, 2006
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