Destroy All Humans! 2 – Reprobed – Review
Destroy All Humans! 2 – Reprobed, developed by THQ Nordic and published by Black Forest Games, is eerily similar to the remaster of the original game that was released in 2020, continuing a trend of making old things new again. The sequel to this science fiction action adventure features many of the same strengths and weaknesses as the original, which may make it more or less appealing to you.
When it comes to remasters, Destroy All Humans! 2 – Reprobed checks all the boxes. With 4K textures, commendable lighting, and a refreshed world, the game looks better than ever. More environments await your destruction, and the alien antihero Crypto-137 now moves and fights with greater finesse than ever before thanks to the developers’ hard work.
The humour of Destroy All Humans! has not been updated with the times, unfortunately. From the voiceover work to the puns in many of the game’s sequences, 2 – Reprobed is constantly trying to sell you something. The poor quality of some of the writing can be difficult to overlook unless you’re intentionally seeking a throwback to the year 2000. Unfortunately, the remastering was not an opportunity to release any kind of patch or update.
In any case, at least the game has a clear goal in mind and sticks to it without hesitation. The entire premise is completely absurd, but it succeeds in its aim. A zany journey back in time to a time when video games took themselves way less seriously, thanks to the exploits of Crypto and the many bombastic characters players will meet, the presence of the Soviet KGB, and the mysterious aliens known as the Blisks.
Destroy All Humans! is split into five individual maps. No, Reprobed is not an open world game, and there isn’t a whole lot to do in any given area. Interacting with payphones, kidnapping unsuspecting humans, and destroying buildings in your saucer are pretty much your only options outside of the main missions and optional quests.
Mission objectives rarely change, consisting mostly of the same things like escorting a VIP, tracking down and killing a specific person, or creating enough chaos to distract the enemy. It isn’t ground-breaking, and it isn’t helped by Crypto’s constant subpar comedy. There has never been a greater demand for the fast forward button.
Perhaps the only redeeming feature is the inclusion of side objectives, which give players specific instructions like “stay high at all times” or “kill enemies with this weapon.” The stakes are raised slightly to prevent the game from becoming tedious, and finishing the objectives is essential for gaining the most experience points for the augmented weapon upgrade system.
Combat and the imperative to wipe out the human race are fundamental. 2: Reprobed does provide players with some new tools to experiment with, such as the Dislocator and the companion Gastro, which helps shake things up a bit. Even if they were, it’s easy enough to send them flying into the horizon using psychokinesis, so the many human enemies you face are never really a threat.
Boss battles get tougher and give Crypto more of a test as the game progresses, and later-game enemies have more shields or specific weaknesses, so it’s important to use all of your weapons effectively. Rarely, but when they do occur, the remaster is more daring and, consequently, more enjoyable than usual.
Leaving the ground and entering your saucer offers a new, albeit less pleasant, gameplay experience. It’s true that your alien hands hold even more destructive potential, but there’s no reason to use it. The Gene Blender is where you’ll spend the bulk of your time, not just because it shortens the time it takes to get from one set of landing points to another, but also because of all the extra features it grants you access to.
This necessitates a thorough search of the Destroy All Humans! maps. Two, they changed their appearance in order to pose as more appealing human archetypes, such as law enforcement officers or stealthy ninjas. There is no real danger to Crypto, what with anti-air weapons being so ineffective and the saucer’s advanced shields providing constant protection, unless you count the time it takes to locate the targeted humans, a task that grows increasingly tedious as you wait for them to spawn.
Having the option to play in split-screen co-op is great, as mindless activities are more fun when shared with a friend. The ability to wreck havoc with a friend is exciting, and the Duel mode adds a healthy dose of competition by rewarding the player who causes the most damage in the least amount of time. But as a sport or a cooperative activity, the PK Tennis game falls short.
Bugs: Eliminate All Humans! Second, even Reprobed can get sick. There were times when the game wouldn’t let us leave the saucer, when mission characters would suddenly vanish, or when the game would freeze completely. While the game’s checkpoint system made it simple to get back into the swing of things after a restart, this in no way justifies the shoddy standard of production.
Analyzing Wipe Out Humanity! Two, getting re-robed is a challenging task. While it successfully brings a game from 2006 up to the graphical standards of modern games, it never takes the time to ensure that the gameplay and writing are on par with the visuals. This remaster, even if it was made with the intention of keeping the film’s B-movie aesthetic, still feels like a wasted chance to shock viewers in the face of an alien threat.
