Destroy All Humans 2: Reprobed is a 2006 Remake of the original title that came out on the PlayStation 2 and the original Xbox. The games marked another entry into the open-world sandbox genre alongside other titles like the Grand Theft Auto games. Still, it wouldn’t be until more than a decade until the games would be made relevant today due to THQ Nordic remastering this series.
With the remake of the original Destroy All Humans in 2020, fans were surprised to learn that the sequel – Destroy All Humans 2, was also getting a sequel set for release in 2022. Will the new title garner the same fame and acclaim that the original earned? Let’s find out in our Destroy All Humans 2 Reprobed Review.
Story
The story continues a decade after the original game, and after the USA, the new antagonists for the game are the Russians. You are now on the cusp of the time of hippies, the birth of disco, and other iconic moments that will only make sense to the millennials who will play the game.
The Soviets destroyed the mothership, but the mission to conquer Earth lingers. This time you have a bigger foe standing in your way – the Americans and the Russians. With the military and the police of the USA, and the KGB agents of Russia out against you, this is a story that follows a near pattern of Grand Theft Auto games, except you have the optional side-mission stuff to do while on the main mission.
There is plenty of main mission and side stuff to keep you occupied once you finish the 15 – 20 hour main story.
All in all, the story is good if you are new to the series, and if you like something that is loose and fun. It is more akin to Saint’s Row’s style of goofy and moments of humor.
The story will take you to different locations, such as London, a secret base, San Francisco, Tokyo, and more. You always get a good change of scenery and NPCs, which is also a game’s strength.
However, it is worth mentioning that some of the dialog and content in this game is from the 2006 original. There is even a disclaimer of this when you first launch the game, but otherwise, there are some genuinely good moments in the game that will get you to laugh during your playthrough.
Gameplay
If there is a reason to persuade someone why a Superman game will never be fun, this game is the perfect example.
I started my playthrough on the “Veteran” difficulty – which is equal to the Normal difficulty. With this difficulty option, I plowed through enemies like an endgame character in Saints Row 3 or 4 games. I was an unstoppable behemoth, right from the start of the game. An hour into the game, I ramped up the game to Mercenary (Hard), and, further, to Conqueror (Very Hard).
Despite the massive increase in damage and difficulty, I was just able to fly away from all the damage. Even with the weapons on the basic level, the telekinesis is infinite. You can just grab an enemy and send them to the furthest part of the horizon to recreate the “Team Rocket’s blasting off again!” part of a Pokemon episode with two clicks of a controller button.
You can also partake in body snatching – another feature from the original game that can have a lot of fun moments, but its novelty wears off when you’re not using it for missions.
Plenty of Options
As the story progresses, you get a UFO that can go in and out of stealth. This can be upgraded to more versatile and deadlier weapons that destroy all humans with even more ease.
There were far and few moments in the game where I would be in a narrow space with no escape that I felt I was vulnerable, but the game right off the start made me feel as close to Superman as it could.
This is easily a recognizable staple of the series by now and is easily what is the biggest appeal of the game. It is something anyone and everyone can pick up and reminds me of a quote from Dan Brown in his book, Deception Point:
"Anyone who said power was not addictive had never really experienced it."
You don’t have to wait until the end of the game to feel like a powerful badass. The game throws you into that seat and makes you enjoy it.
While many would argue that this defeats the game’s purpose, I had fun with it, and it encouraged me to ramp up the game difficulty for once.
You can also use the UFO to harvest certain NPCs in the level to power up and upgrade your weapon. You will also have to do the optional part of the main missions to earn enough to level up your weapons fully, so you are encouraged to immerse yourself in the story to your heart’s content.
Presentation
The game is very pretty. Especially when you look at the source material of the 2006 PS2 original title. You will not find the realism of Grand Theft Auto 5 or Red Dead Redemption 2, but you will find it closer to the latest Saints Row game. The graphic options offer a variety in quality, and I could comfortably play the game in 1440p on my 3060 RTX with an AMD Ryzen 5800H processor and 16GB RAM with the game fully maxed out.
I had minimal frame drops even during the most chaotic moments; otherwise, the graphics and presentation were very impressive. This is a fun, colorful, and very vibrant game that only loses its appeal once you see how relatively small each of the locations are once you get the flying saucer, but flying around the city in your jetpack is the most fun part of the adventure.
Conclusion
Destroy All Humans 2 Preprobed is a good substitute I can recommend to people who are fans of the fun and lose open-world games that one can play with their brain switched off. You won’t need to follow a complex story chain here or get deeply invested in characters – everything here is just for humor and a few laughs.
The story has its moments, but the game’s pull stems from being able to feel like a real alien from the movie Mars Attacks, but with the ending where the aliens win. You truly are a force to be reckoned with, and only a few can stand toe-to-toe against you.
If you want something to jump into after completing Saints Row, this is a fun game you can enjoy if you’re not looking for a serious commitment to the story while also getting an easy power trip.
Destroy All Humans 2 is a fun game you can play with no trouble and immediately feel like an endgame character of other open-world games. A forgettable story, but fun mechanics warrant a visit to a strange new world.
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This review is based on the PC version of Destroy All Humans 2 Reprobed. The key was provided by THQ Nordic
