Destroy All Humans! 2 – Reprobed! Review: Entertaining mayhem isn’t that alien

Cryptosporidium-138 has returned in Destroy All Humans! 2 – Reprobed! and his presence in 2022 is an engaging one that excels in most aspects despite some baffling glitches.

16 years later and the over-the-top, manic actions of Crypto have stood the test of time as the first Furon to ever have genitalia embarks on a retelling of the crazy adventure from the mid-2000s.

There’s always a worry about a remake and whether the developers can regain the emotion and feelings of the journey the second time around, and even though it suffers from horrendous technical glitches, it’s an absolute blast from the past to play!

Destroy All Humans! 2 – Reprobed: Key Details

• Developer: Black Forest Games
• Price: $39.99
• Release Date: August 30, 2022
• Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC

Destroy All Humans! 2 – Reprobed trailer

KGB-Movie

Across Destroy All Human 2!’s five decently-sized areas, Crypto’s job is to continue the investigation into humans, all the while taking revenge on the KGB for destroying the Furon Mothership and threatening their plans on Earth.

Through the course of the game, you face an imitation of MI6 in Albion (England), hippies in Bay City (San Francisco), to people and even aliens in space. It does feel a bit all over the place at times, but with how little the game takes itself seriously it’s hardly the end of the world…speaking of which.

The game’s narrative certainly does go from one extreme to the other as Earth is threatened by multiple forces, and one of Crypto’s main forms of help comes in the form of Natalya — a deliberately flirtacious Russian defector who becomes paramount to Crypto’s cause.

Her unsubtle oversexualization definitely feels like a trait of its era, along with lots of the game’s jokes and humor, but the remake does forewarn players of the game’s potentially outdated content.

Crypto himself is an endless sea of innuendos and puns and his contempt for humankind doesn’t grate. The game provides extra story details through multiple dialog choices, and they lead to some hilarious lines you’d otherwise miss.

THQ Nordic

Destroy All Humans! 2’s plot won’t win any awards, but it’s backed up by solid, yet slightly inconsistent, gameplay.

Probing for perfection

Through the course of the game’s 20-25 hours worth of content stretched across its various missions and side missions, I genuinely didn’t find myself getting bored, and modern open-world games could actually learn a thing or two here.

It’s not oversaturated with content as there’s a healthy amount of collectibles to locate, the side missions don’t become tiresome, and each level is detailed and different enough to be interesting to explore for a few hours each.

Its premise and design are helped massively by its immediately accessible gameplay features such as the jetpack, spaceship, and the ways in which you can interact with the environment.

Your jetpack allows you to zoom around the game at high speeds whilst also giving you the ability to instantly boost into the sky in a second’s notice and your ship has an array of helpful tools, not least its Death Ray that tears holes in the map and can set the entire level on fire!

But it’s Crypto’s abilities and weapon wheel of wizardry where everyday life in Destroy All Humans! 2 realizes its full potential. Guns that can disintegrate enemies and a Meteor Strike gun that rains down half of space onto an unsuspecting area ensure there’s a tool for every situation.

THQ Nordic

The basis of Destroy All Humans! 2 is utterly sound and superb, but the same can’t be said of its game engine which suffers from constant issues from the start of the game until the very end.

During my experience, I encountered the following abnormalities: Floating NPCs, police cars driving through buildings, bystanders walking under the map with just their head showing, giant vehicles suddenly catapulting themselves into the air, and hair models glitching out in a very robotic and rigid manner.

This was all in the first couple of hours of the game.

What start out as complete aberrations soon become quite normal with how frequently you encounter them. Unfortunately, the same can be said for some of the game’s loading screens which are far too frequent, even if they are quite short.

I did find it easy to overlook these issues as I was having too much fun in the process and laughing at the poor NPC I’d just used telekinesis on and yeeted into the stratosphere for the 437th time.

2022: A Space Oddity

There’s a jarring contrast in the game’s general play and cutscenes as on one hand, freely exploring the wonders of the beautifully hand-crafted worlds is a treat as the majority of the textures and crispness of the graphics are genuinely highly polished and well done.

THQ Nordic

Cutscenes, however, are rather sci-frightening at times as your focus is diverted away from the characters talking and divulging crucial plot information, and is instead fixated on the horrific texture pop-in happening with every camera cut — seriously, you could notice it with your eyes closed.

These brief splashes of conversation are only a small part of the game though, and as soon as you’re back in control of Crypto the allure of bodysnatching a helpless police officer has already made these indiscretions fade.

Especially when Black Forest Games are rattling your ears with delightful B-Movie vibes that instantly send you back to a bygone era. The dramatic orchestral score has been delicately retouched to sound new whilst retaining its authenticity.

The Verdict – 8/10

Whereas another kind of Crypto is making waves in the world, THQ’s is a welcome, nostalgic character that will take you on a literal mind-bending trip.

If you can overlook the frustrating technical issues that try to mar your enjoyment throughout your Destroy All Humans! 2 – Reprobed! journey, then there’s a cracking game here to soak in!

From start to finish, its story, characters, and satisfying gameplay reinforce that this remake lives up to expectations and delivers a stellar sandbox stay that doesn’t look out of place in 2022.

Reviewed on PS5