Like the movie industry, gaming has seen some lackluster new IPs released over the last few years. The companies behind these titles then started re-releasing titles as remakes to make a little bank while working on something new. Black Forest Games is not one of those companies; their passion and pure love for the Destroy All Humans franchise is straight from the heart.
Though the last remake, Destroy All Humans, had a few issues, the game was a solid remake that made fans beg for a remake of DAH 2 to be remade next. The team granted our wishes but made the game stand on its own against other titles released recently. So let’s find out if Crypto’s recent mission helped him conquer the world or sent him packing back to Planet Furon…
REVENGE OF THE STRANDED
Destroy All Humans 2: Reprobed starts right where the last game left us; Crypto has made his way into the White House and is now the “President” of the free world. But, unfortunately, when things look good for Pox, Crypto, and the Furon Empire, the KGB launches a nuclear bomb destroying your mothership, killing POX, and leaving you stranded with no backup. But, of course, Crypto isn’t going to lie down and just let the KGB get away with this, and he still has a world to conquer in the name of the Furon Empire.
It is now Crypto’s goal to take revenge on the KBG and stop them from ruining your plans for world domination. Like in the last game, you are given story missions and side quests that unlock new skins, upgrades, and weapons for you to Destroy All Humans!
What’s great about this franchise is it never takes itself seriously. No matter the situation Crypto is facing, he always manages to make fun of the problem. That said, the game is a remake of the original 2006 game, so be ready for the occasional genital jokes, dark and crude humor, and hilarious geek references. Even multiple times, Crypto and another character in the game break the third wall and speak of the last game in the series.
The jokes are a bit cringe at times, but this type of comedy flows perfectly with the story and setting of this title. Think about it, an alien who has tricked the USA into thinking he is the President, taking on the KGB during the 1960s while also trying to hit on his newly acquired partner in crime, Natasha (a rouge KGB agent) with ever horrible pick-up line in the book.
Every aspect of the game gave me classic gaming feels. It can be cringy and make you laugh and roll your eyes, but it never takes itself seriously. That is one thing game classic games have over new titles; no matter the story’s seriousness, comedy always had its place in the world. Destroy All Humans 2: Reprobed might be a classic game that pushes a corny hilarious story, but it sure as hell feels like a next-gen game.
FUN THAT IS OUT OF THIS WORLD
As I said early, as you play through the game, you can easily upgrade your character in this game. You gain more weapons and points to upgrade your gun and ship by completing missions and side-quests. While doing so, you can also unlock cool skins for Crypto and his ship. These skins are easily accessed in the main menu and can be switched anytime during the game.
With each weapon comes a new crazy way to take down your enemies; the Zap-O-Matic, Anal Probe, Disintegrator Ray, and Ion Detonator return with new armaments like Meteor Strike, Free Love, Burrow Beast, and Gastro Gun being added to your already large inventory.
Though the classic weapons are as fun as ever, the new highlight this time is the newly added weapons. Meteor Strike is precisely what it sounds like; shooting this weapon brings down fire and brimstone from the skies above, destroying everything in its path. Likewise, burrow Beast brings destruction from below, and a gigantic monster comes exploding from underground devouring enemies in cinematic fashion.
Free Love is more of a defensive weapon, getting chased down and shot at with no end in sight. But, use Free Love, and everyone in the surrounding area breaks into uncontrollable dance as psychedelic colors and music play, giving you enough time to run for your life! Last, Gastro Gun shoots an AI Sentry gun out to take on your enemies by your side.
Though I believe in the classic version of the game, the Gastro Gun was an AI version of Pox; this time around, it is a loud-mouth Furon alien that talks trash and breaks the third wall many times while taking down enemies. Outside of the vast weapons Crypto can use on the ground, you can also upgrade your ship with fantastic new additions like anti-gravity beams, abduction beams, and more.
Using your ship during the game makes you feel like you’re taking over the pathetic humanoid world. Flying over buildings and quickly destroying them with your death ray is like watching a scene from Independence Day.
As you shoot your beam down upon the building, it sets fire, making all the humans in the building run out right before it smashes to the ground. This gave me all the feels of what it means to be in an alien invasion and was even more fun abducting the humans as they ran from the smoldering buildings.
There are many ways to have fun in this game; from the side quest, story, and replaying levels trying to find all the hidden secrets, you can replay this game repeatedly, especially when you play the game in co-op mode! Though I didn’t play the multiplayer DLC Clone Carnage, I did play couch co-op with my wife, and it was a blast.
You’d think it was already fun enough with one Crypto, but two Cryptos destroying everything in their path makes for one hell of a time! I can say with a clear mind that this is a must-play, hilarious action adventure with tons of replayability!
The more you play and unlock, the better the game gets. Playing as Crypto flying and air-skating his way over locations like Russia, California, Japan, and more was somehow more enjoyable this time than in the first remake. Also, the game’s time frame gave us great music to listen to while in-game, like Elvis, Janis Joplin, and more!
This version of the game also added a feature that I missed in the last title, a photo mode. Though I didn’t get filters or stickers like most other games have in their photo modes, thus was still a nice bonus that helped me capture some great moments in-game. But, with all the fun in this game, I felt some easily fixed issues held it back from being a near-perfect remake/remaster.
RELIVING PROBLEMS OF CRYPTOS PAST
One of the issues I had with the last remake of Destroy All Humans was the overpowered bosses in its game. I don’t know if Black Forest Games has a Demon Souls fetish, but DAH’s 2 was plagued with the same issues the last title had…some unbeatable enemy battles. Each level comes with somewhat of the same challenges, but depending on the level, you might see some added enemies like tanks or other enemies (not spoiling the story) that will take you on.
It’s always cool to have more enemies to face off against, but when the battle is so clustered, you can barely see what is happening on the screen; there is a problem. About 10 hours into the game, I eventually tried to change the difficulty settings thinking, “damn, maybe I have the game set at a high difficulty.” Still, nope, there are moments in the game the enemies are just way too overpowered.
One of the most significant moments I faced unbeatable odds was during the game’s final battle. What was upsetting about this was that this was the exact issue I had with the last game. The final match in the DAH 1 Remaster was so tricky I almost didn’t complete the game. I rage-quit that game probably ten times before I finished my review because of how difficult the final battle was.
This was the same issue in DAH’s 2 final battle; I won’t spoil the ending, but let’s say the enemy has armor that has to be destroyed before you can even start doing damage. It was difficult enough that I had to complete the game in co-op mode on the easiest difficulty to complete the game.
Maybe it’s just that I suck at games now, but I felt like no matter the difficulty you change the game to, the challenges you met at times were way too hard and made the game almost un-enjoyable. Lastly, I started playing the game on the 16th of August, I know I was playing an early version of the game, but the audio issues I encountered were pretty bad.
For example, during story cut scenes, there were multiple times that characters would stop talking mid-sentence, sound effects would be out of place, or the character would repeat the same sentence instead of the next dialogue segment.
I’m sure this is a simple audio glitch that will be fixed in a future patch, but I also had these issues in the last title. I don’t know if this issue happened cause of rushed development, but it happened enough that it was an irritation over and over again that I wished I didn’t have to deal with.
OVERALL
Though Destroy All Humans 2!: Reprobed has its obvious launch issues like broken audio, the game is still a solid experience that has me playing my second playthrough already. The game can sometimes be a bit overly challenging and frustrating, but it doesn’t take away that much from the overall fun you have with this game! As I stated earlier, it is a must-play, hilarious action adventure with tons of replayability, especially in the co-op mode!
