Crude Crypto Goes Global In Destroy All Humans! 2 Reprobed

There are tons of games about aliens arriving on Earth. Many popular titles deal with humans banding together in order to fight an outer space force with superior technology. You've got the newest XCOM series about a highly funded and organized anti-alien organization and the Resistance series about dealing with alien enemies in the WWII era. Considering that, it's not very often that you get to play as the aliens themselves. That's why it's refreshing to have something like the Destroy All Humans! series. The original PS2 trilogy is going through a remaster phase with Destroy All Humans! 2 Reprobed being the next to come out. Once again, you're a one-alien invasion force in the modern gaming age.

As complex as the premise can seem, sometimes stories are pretty clear on the surface. With a title like Destroy All Humans! 2 Reprobed it's obvious what kind of experience is in store. You return as Cryptosporidium, a soldier from the Furon race, who's continuing his campaign to take over the world and control the human population. He's doing this successfully when all of a sudden a secret organization blows up his mothership and direct superior, Orthopox. Now, with limited resources and Orthpox restricted to a digital recording, Crypto will have to recover all of his Furon technology while dealing with a new threat that's all too aware of his presence. A solid platform on which to cause chaos.

Since all of us are versed in being humans, we have no idea what makes for a good alien when arriving on this planet. With the way Destroy All Humans! 2 Reprobed presents things, it's easy to get ideas of how to be an effective alien invader. This can apply to how much the graphics have been touched up from the original version. It's clear that the art has a much more refined and definitive style that although it's more towards the cartoon end, works. Features and details have been touched up to look sharper and more animated which works in the game's favor since it's messing with a majority of the characters you meet.

Then there is the gameplay. It's been changed to be smoother and tighter for better handling in the situations that ensue. There are many times when you'll be doing missions that summon fleets of enemies to your location. Within seconds, projectiles and explosives will be raining down on you from every direction. No matter what kinds of threats you're dealing with, all the moves and gear that you have access to give you plenty of options to confront the danger or escape and regroup.

Then there's the level of humor. The game is very flashy and silly with what you're able to do with certain weapons and psychic powers. Each weapon has a distinct effect on both humans and vehicles and it's very entertaining to see how they play out.

Even though you're playing as a powerful alien invader, there are things that work against you and take away from the experience. Destroy All Humans! 2 Reprobed has a few of these problems to work out such as in the visuals. Although the animation and detail have been enhanced, how they play out can be a problem. There are times during cutscenes and gameplays where texture and graphics don't load properly and things move in stiff and delayed ways.

While the game presents something that could seem like a huge challenge, it lacks it. It's true that you'll frequently be facing huge swarms of enemies, but they pale in comparison to what you can do. Right from the start, you have the ability to use psychokinesis to lift things up and throw them around. There appears to be no limit to how much you can use this power and every human is vulnerable to it. This means that if you ever run out of ammo, you can just pick up targets and hurl them into the atmosphere.

Lastly, there are other aspects of humor that don't really work. The best comedy can be found during the gameplay with passing comments from NPCs. During cutscenes, a lot of the jokes feel forced though thankfully you can skip them. Also, with Crypto's William Shatner-esque way of speaking, the whole tone feels needlessly off and awkward like a comedian who's never spoken to people before… which arguably makes sense since he's an alien.

Destroy All Humans! 2 Reprobed is a third-person action-adventure game about an alien who wants to dominate humanity after wiping out secret threats. There's a lot of fun and silliness to enjoy with all the new toys and visuals with which you'll get to play. It needs some sharpening in terms of smoother rendering while also increasing the challenge for the experience. With all that said, it currently stands as a lax way to unwind by playing as a destructive and dirty-minded alien.

TechRaptor previewed Destroy All Humans! 2 Reprobed with a copy provided by the publisher. It will be launching for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on a currently unannounced date.