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Destroy All Humans 2 Review / Preview for PlayStation 2 (PS2)

Destroy All Humans 2 Review / Preview for PlayStation 2 (PS2)

Destroy all Humans 2 gives me a reason to live. Unfortunately the title suggests otherwise.

Destroy all Humans 2 is a sequel. I’ll give you one guess as to the name of the game that it’s a sequel to. As far as sequels go, this isn’t so much a great continuation of the series as it is a refinement. The original game showed lots of potential but a lot of it was unrealized due to lackluster missions that dragged on too long and all of that damn collecting. In Destroy all Humans 2 we see a franchise that has hit its stride and is spewing potential like a drunk on a Tilt-a-Whirl.

Destroy All Humans 2 screenshot

Crypto, the raunchy alien is back and badder than ever. He’s full of piss and vinegar with a bad attitude, bad manners and a naughty vocabulary. He may be an alien but he’s more human than most people I know. In this game he has many objectives but his main goal is to retrieve alien items that were scattered all over the town when the mothership was destroyed by KGB agents. Taking place in the late 60s, as opposed to the 50s time period of the last game, Crypto will encounter hippies of the love generation while he finds himself immersed the culture, language and music of those psychedelic days. This retro vibe gives Austin Powers a run for his bread, man.

The main story has a lot more variety to it not only in terms of plot twists but gameplay, yet it’s more focused than the original. There is less collecting and stealth, and what does pass for stealth is short and sweet. Everything has a purpose which is reinforced by the conversations that Crypto has with other characters before each mission or side quest. The side quests are far more involved and relate to the central story. There are much more than just mini-games. Side quests are a source of currency called Furotech cells. There is a finite amount of these cells in each level which means you can’t go back into the same side quest to keep generating points. These Furotech cells, along with alien artifacts can be collected to unlock an assortment of goodies as well as upgrades for some of the precious alien-tech weapons.

Destroy All Humans 2 screenshot

The Dislocator is a weapon that shoots out a disk that really shakes things up. It picks up people and objects and spins them around at tremendous speeds. One particular weapon of mass destruction is the Meteor Strike which attracts meteors from space and brings them crashing down to specific regions on Earth. Upgrade this weapon and you’ll really be able to rain on everybody’s parade. If you’re looking for something a little more portable, you can ride around in your flying saucer and man the turrets like a heavily armed battleship.

Mission include collecting humans for the brain farm, escort, explore, and seek and destroy in addition to some more bizarre fare such as demonstrating your superior alien abilities to make the hippies join a cult believing that you are god. Other than weapons you will have inherent alien abilities at your disposal such as being able to take possession of a person’s body to disguise yourself when talking to another human. You can also read peoples’ minds or use your own to move objects with your telekinetic powers and turn junk into ammunition. You’ll even be able to fly around using a jet-pack. There’s always something calling for you to use one of your talents which leads to a good mix of gameplay elements. There is still a lot of humans to destroy but it’s not the sole focus of the game.

Destroy All Humans 2 screenshot

A friend can join in the fun at any time during the game to take part in the split-screen, co-op mode. With your new alien bud, you can deliver twice the destruction, not that you really need another helping hand. You are basically in control most of the time until it’s time to face the bosses. There are also some heavily fortified areas that will provide a platform-style challenge. This is all made easy by the fact that you respawn almost at the same place that you die – with all ammo and health replenished. The only downside to the co-op mode is that you are electronically tethered to each other even though it’s a split screen. If you venture too far from the main character you will automatically be teleported back to his vicinity. I suppose you could also say that this tether feature encourages teamwork, if you must be optimistic.

Taking place in the 60s, the colors are vibrant if not psychedelic. Graphically the game is good but not great. Admittedly the town is huge and there is lots of detail but there is constant fog that limits the view distance, sometimes to only a few feet. Pop-up is prevalent. But all is forgiven with the excellent gameplay and jarring humor that reminds us that not all comedy has to be aimed at 12-year olds and old ladies in Peoria. There is plenty of sophisticated lampooning going on. With the game even making fun of itself nothing is safe from being spoofed.

Destroy All Humans 2 screenshot

If you own a PS2 or an Xbox, that’s more than enough reason to get hold of this game. It’s #$%&ing out of this world.

Features:

  • Play As The Alien Destroy All Humans! 2 turns the tables on traditional sci-fi action games allowing gamers to play as the Alien and take on the most feared enemy in the galaxy mankind
  • Unleash Massive Destruction – Players have total freedom to destroy anything and manipulate everything in the world – battling enemies with an explosive arsenal of alien weaponry, or wreak havoc from above in their Jetpack or UFO
  • Probe the World Explore 5 open-world game environments from Bay City, to Albion, to Takoshima Island. Start new story missions without returning to the Mothership or explore the open world with a huge variety of side missions relevant to the game’s storyline
  • Co-Op Multiplayer Team up with another player and Destroy All Humans together via split-screen Co-Op Game mode. Play through the entire single player game together or replay missions already completed. Play in special two player mini games like PK Tennis and more
  • New Weapons, Mental Abilities and Upgrades Take on the world with enhanced weaponry, including the all new Meteor Strike, and Disclocator, or utilize your mental abilities with old and new favorites like PK, Cortex Scan, Transmogrify and Mind Flash. Upgrade your weapons and abilities or purchase new ones through the Abduction Vault.
  • Irreverent Personality Enjoy sidesplitting humor lampooning humanity and parodying the hallmarks of the sixties: free love, counter culture, the space race, spy movies, the cold war, and hippies
  • Proven Developer Developed by Pandemic Studios creators of critically acclaimed games Full Spectrum Warrior, Mercenaries and Star Wars Battlefront

    Rating out of 5 Rating Description

    4.0

    Graphics
    Fog severely restricts the view distance. There is pop-up a plenty but everything looks funky and decent.

    4.4

    Control
    Lots of weapons and special abilities to exploit. The control system is responsive and easy to learn.

    4.8

    Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
    Excellent voiceovers, soundtrack and sci-fi sound effects. Not one bad sound to be heard.

    4.0

    Play Value
    Knowing that there’s still a lot of stuff to explore and collect will certainly drive you back for more. Add the co-op mode and you’ve got more reason to try it all again.

    4.3

    Overall Rating Great
    Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.
  • Preview

    July 24, 2006 – I keep telling the guys here at the office that there really isn’t a better way to start your day than with a planetary invasion full of anal probing and laser blasting. Chasing hippies and local police down as they flee for their lives elicits gamer instincts equivalent to that of a lion chasing a gazelle. If you are like me, then you will love to hear that the human blast-fest that is Destroy All Humans! is coming back, this time with more weapons and gameplay.

    Destroy All Humans 2 screenshot

    Just as in the first, players will assume the role of extraterrestrial Cryptospordium-137 sent to Earth to extract DNA. This time, instead of only terrorizing the poor citizens of the U.S., this Furon will take his galactic conquest to other countries as well. Law enforcement and civilians should watch out in Russia, Great Britain, and Japan as the alien invasion promises to be a furious one.

    Not only was the list of targets expanded, but the list of weapons for which to conquer said targets has expanded as well. One of the early favorites of the new weapons has to be the Meteor Strike. Calling a ginourmous chunk of rock from above, Crypto can, and will, devastate just about anything with his extraterrestrial artillery strike. Players will also be able to use a weapon that sends enemies and objects flying in every which direction like that bouncy glowing ball from Men In Black. You know, the one that caused the New York Blackout? As if that weren’t cool enough, kinetic abilities can run on forever, so there doesn’t have to be an end to tossing poor, unfortunate hippy women haphazardly about the environment for laughs.

    Destroy All Humans 2 screenshot

    In approaching the gameplay structure this time around, it seems Destroy all Humans is borrowing a page from Pandemics other successful playbook Mercenaries. Each locale that you visit will be set up as an individual open-ended environment, leaving you free to blast and probe whatever you want. Taking the fight to the other environments would see you completing various mission objectives related to the overall plot and unlocking the other countries’ open ended environments.

    The greatest addition to the overall package may very well be the prospect of two-player cooperative mode. With a friend, players can choose to blast through the entire single-player story mode, probing and tossing cars until the cows come home. While tag-team coop has also been announced for the Mercenaries sequel as well, I would have to think that the prospect of trying to throw two people into one another in mid-air, or worse, non-stop anal probing, certainly has the possibility of hours upon hours of fun.

    Destroy All Humans 2 screenshot

    While the new additions seem like they will be lots of fun, the complaint of longevity against its predecessor may not have been fully addressed here. While the original was great for a while, extended play led to boredom. Hopefully, Pandemic can prove the doubters wrong by providing all the human-zapping action we can handle when Destroy All Humans! 2 releases in October.

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