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Brainless Fun (with Brains!)

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 64 / 77
Date: June 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

"Destroy All Humans" is not exactly the deepest, most challenging, most thought-provoking game you'll play all year, unless you're about 5 and you've given up on "Monsters Inc." But if you're a "Teen" or above who's just looking for some brainless and effortless pick-up-and-play fun, Cryptosporidium-137 is your extraterrestrial.

(By the way, that green "blood" is for all you teens out there, as in "T" rating, so that you understand that it's just a game and you don't go to school the next day and try to anally extract your school chum's brains. Cuz if it was red, there goes the neighborhood. But as long as heads explode in a GREEN mass of goo in the game, no problem kids. And that's great, but I kind of wish they'd gone the whole 9, taken the "M" rating, and made this game as gruesome as it should've been, since it's already pretty marginal. When you've got freshly extracted brains bouncing around in the cornfields, they might as well be dripping with RED blood...lol.)

The graphics in DAH are decent as far as they go - especially the lovely ambient sunlight and rolling cloud effects - but they don't quite go all the way. You get the feeling that this title, like so many, was rushed into production. Much has already been said about the pop-in issue, and indeed, it's truly out of control. Bushes will grow out of the ground at distances of less than 10 virtual feet in front of Crypto, as if his alien presence favorably influences Earth vegetation. It won't necessarily interfere with gameplay since your weapons and psychic abilities have a limited range anyway, but it's pretty annoying and distracting.

The environments are fairly good-looking if you don't get too close. Certainly they do a nice job of suggesting the archetypal sunny pop-culture idea of the 50's - it's all very "Pleasantville." Some scenes on the farm almost look like Hidden Valley Ranch labels...lol. The people likewise look great from a distance, but up close they're as blocky and crudely mapped as anything in the GTAs. It's especially obvious in the cutscenes, in which you see how much they've relied on shading to suggest depth - some of the women appear to have 5 o'clock shadows. Part of this is due to the fact that the levels are relatively large (although nowhere near as large as the smallest GTA), since you explore the same areas on foot and in saucer; so some fine detail has to be sacrificed.

Gameplay is likewise relatively rude and crude. You'll never really have a problem staying alive unless you just aren't paying attention, since Crypto's life bar automatically recharges after a few seconds; so if he's about to die you just jet-pack away, find cover, and wait. The saucer doesn't automatically recharge, but you can find sheild boosters everywhere, and you can actually take damage beyond your saucer's life bar for some reason. For weapons Crypto starts off with a "Zap-O-Matic" and an Anal Probe (which, yes, literally goes up the humans' butts, which inexplicably makes their heads explode), and he gradually acquires new weapons and upgrades. The saucer starts off with a "Death Ray," which does indeed bring massive amounts of death, and an "Abducto Ray," which doesn't actually abduct, but just lifts people and things a few feet above the ground - great for picking up military convoys and slamming them into the sides of government buildings.

Crypto also has some standard "PK" (psychokinesis) abilities which are kind of fun, but nothing new (see "Psi-Ops"). He can lift objects with his mind and pitch them far away; he can read people's (and cows') thoughts and parasitically suck up their "concentration;" he can hypnotize people to create distractions or perform mission-specific tasks; he can assume the general shape of anybody he sees; and of course, he can pop heads like green pus-filled zits. There are a few caveats, but for the most part these abilities, his weapons and his jetpack place Crypto at such an advantage over all adversaries, it's never really a contest.

Not only that, but DAH is extremely short, so it would be hard for anybody to get more than 10 hours out of this. Once you finish all the missions, both mandatory and optional, all that's left is the easter egg hunt for the rest of the "probes" (different from the anal), and this could quickly get boring and tedious.

Still, don't get me wrong, I got this the day it came out, played it through and enjoyed it for what it was worth. But it's such a simple game that I can't say I'd necessarily recommend it to buy as opposed to rent. If you're an alien buff or 50's buff or you just like the pretty, almost-there graphics and fun if basic and repetitive gameplay, you might choose to buy. The game's sense of humor is another selling point, with it's "cute" parodies of 1950's pop-culture, which are often thinly veiled commentaries on modern day government-inspired paranoia and civic unrest (there are many obvious slams on the Bush Administration). I'll keep it around, cuz at the end of the day, after an hour in heavy traffic, who doesn't want to destroy some humans?

ahhhhh! this game is like crack!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 13
Date: January 09, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Ever had one of those days at work you felt like wipin' out everbody? Then this game is your therapy. I luuuuuuuvvvvvv this game! I can blast all these b*stards into pieces and have a good time doing it. This game saves my life at least 7 days a week! It keeps me from blazin' up a Wendy's and gettin 25 wit a L. Highly recommended for those who failed anger management multiple times just like me! Destroy All Humans without a doubt is the perfect medication. Well i gotta go people, I need another fix!

Great Spoof for Older Gamers

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 22
Date: August 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Destroy All Humans is a great adventure game with you as the grey-skinned, big-eyed alien out to destroy / conquer human-kind. The humor is great!

The basic concept is a campy spoof on all 50s alien movies. You are wandering around a traditional 50s landscape with drive-ins, town centers, and town fairs. You have a variety of cool alien powers that assist you in your take-over attempts, flying your saucer around from spot to spot.

This game is marked for teens, and that's true both from a "violence" standpoint and a simple enjoyment standpoint. Many of the in-jokes are going to go right over the heads of younger players, who will only understand the game as a simple shooter. For example, reading the minds of the various townsfolk will have adults laughing for hours, while younger kids will be going "Huh?"

On the violence side, the "blood" is green, but it's still pretty nasty. You are ripping brains and spinal cords out of creatures, blowing things up, and being generally destructive. There are a number of references to sexual acts, since many in the 50s felt that aliens were only out to rape females and to perform "unnatural" acts on males. This definitely is a game geared towards older teens and adults.

It's really funny to see all of the old stereotypes - about aliens and cows, aliens and politicians, etc. - played out in real time. The graphics are rather good in supporting these scenarios, and the sounds fit in as well. But the real fun is in the plot and dialogue.

Yes, the basic game is rather short - it's not going to last you months like the FF or GTA series. On the other hand, this game isn't meant to be epic. It's meant to be a really funny spoof for older gamers, and it fits this niche extremely well!

Wild and entertaining ride from the makers of Mercenaries!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 14
Date: July 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Destroy all humans! is one of the most innovative games of the year, with a unique perspective and destructible environments you will be addicted in no time.

DAH! is set in the 1950s and revolves around the accidental destruction of a Furon scout ship by the US Army, this accident sparks an invasion force...of 2 Furons, Orthopox and Cryptosporidum-137.

You Play as Cryptosporidium-137, sent to earth to investigate the disappearance of your previous clone Cryptosporidium-136. Your leader is Orthopox (voiced by Richard Horvitz, the voice of Invader Zim from the cartoon series Invader Zim), he provides you with missions, weapons and upgrades as well as funny conversations and Intel.

Cryptosporidum has access to a variety of weapons, the most entertaining being the disintegration gun which turns humans into gray ash skeletons that blow away in the wind. Even better then your weapons are your mind powers, Crypto can use telekinesis, telepathy, hypnotism and the strange ability to make a persons head explode in order to harvest their brain. Crypto also has an interesting stealth option, he can use a "HoloBob", a device that generates a holographic image over Crypto enabling him to copy the appearance of targeted humans and move undetected among his foes.

Now what alien invasion game would be complete without the ability to unleash massive devastation from the air a saucer? DAH! has you covered with Crypto's modifiable spaceship! It comes standard with the high concentrated heat "Death Ray" and an abduction beam, but as your progress you will unlock some more entertaining weapons, namely the "Sonic Boom gun", a weapon that shoots a small orb of sound that sends everything around it flying off into the air from the shock wave.

The game play in DAH! is solid and the graphics are flawless, this game is basically a more entertaining version of Pandemic's other popular title "Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction", both games feature destructible environments, except Mercenaries is a standard war game while DAH! is a unique, one-of-a-kind alien invasion game. Levels have a variety of styles and objectives, one of the most fun is when you are required to copy the appearance of a small town mayor with your HoloBob and address the town in a meeting, you are given a selection of topics and responses, each one is extremely funny and well written.

The game is divided into multiple invasion sites, each one with different attributes and design, but all allow you to free roam the terrain after the mission objectives are completed, there are hidden items to be uncovered,
mini games and plenty of other interesting things going on giving the game a high replay value.

All in all DAH! is an extremely funny game that should not be missed! Go out and buy a copy today!

NOT A KID JUST DON'T HAVE AN ACCOUNT

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: June 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Extremely fun, but lacks a lasting effect. I reccomend renting it from a local video store. This game is highly addictive. Unlike most other games, anything you see can blow up. Sometimes it is fun just to fly around in your U.F.O. and destroy the whole town. I have yet to beat the game, but it seems fairly easy and is only challenging when there are tanks and robots, which is like everytime they see you. A downside is that there are no checkpoints during a long mission so I have had to restart many missions from the beginning which gets annoying fast. The game is hilarious. The character remarks when you scan them are pretty funny, but the plot itself and characters make this perhaps one of the best games of the year. The weapons, though low in number, are fun to use because they all do extremely different things to the human populace. My favorite is the alien probe which makes the characters run and collaspe as their head explodes (NOT GORY!!!). The environments are free roaming so after you beat the level you can roam freely killing and destroying as you please.

Overall this game is very fun, but is perhaps to short for people that like to play games that are long and difficult.

one of my fav games

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: July 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

destroy all humans! is one of my favourite games, it is probalby the funnest and most unique game i have ever played, the graphics are great, the sound is excellent, and the weapons you use are awesome. You also can buy upgrades for your spaceship, weapons and mind powers you use, you can read peoples minds, hypnotize people, holobob(change into) people, extract their brains or (my favourite thing)use your psychokinesis power(which is lifting up people, tanks, cars or robots and animals, and doing want with them). and based upon the humans vs. alien style games, but the oppisite, and in the mid 1950's. Which is a time period everyone makes fun of, and which was probably the time when everyone started to wonder if their was life in space, and in this game people find out the hard way, but you people who decide to buy this game find out the fun way, from the aliens side.

First REAL review.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: June 23, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I wouldn't even count that other review as anything other than a brainfart of a 12-year-old. Here's a real review, in depth.

DESTROY ALL HUMANS!

You play as Cryptosporodium-137, the 137th clone of the original Crypto. The Furon race ran across Earth on their way back from beating the hell outta the Martians and, well, messy details spared, each human has one strand of Furon DNA in them. They reproduce themselves by cloning, due to their utter lack of genetalia, but with each clone the DNA deteriorates, which is why Crypto likes to blow things up a bit too much.. Crypto-136 was sent to Earth to harvest brain stems to make fresh DNA with, but was shot down over Roswell. He was supposed to go to Rockwell, by the way. Pox, your commanding officer, (voiced by the guy who was Raz in Psychonauts and Zim in Invader ZIM) sends Crypto-137 to find his "brother" and collect more DNA. Soon you find that the Majestic (think Men in Black) had found 136, dissected him, and unlocked the Furon DNA in humans, giving them the Furons' psychic powers. This is as far as I've gotten in the story, so here is some other stuff.

POWERS: You have Psychokinesis (PK) to pick up and throw crap around. At first you can only pick up small objects, trash cans and such, but you can upgrade it to pick up cars, then tanks and robots (Majestic-made)

Also, Cortex Scan: you can read the minds of puny Earthlings. Mainly used to recover Concentration, used to power your.... well... powers.

HoloBob: Assume the identity of any Earthling. One part has you becoming the Mayor (who sounds a lot like Quimby from the Simpsons) and giving a speech about the recent rash of abductions, exploding buildings, and glowing cows. Remember, this is the 50's, so do what people did back then.. BLAME COMMUNISTS! I'm not sure if it has any effect on it, but from then on, they were convinced that Crypto was a "Midget Red"... You can also have conversations with people in this form. One example: A military Base. Assume the identity of a random soldier. Talk to the gate guard to try to get in. He won't let you... Cortex Scan him and you find out he's been sleeping on the job. Threaten to report him and he'll let you through.

WEAPONS: You gotta have some good ol' explosives!

Zap-O-Matic: Unlimited ammo, but rather weak... Can be upgraded to chain lightning to other humans.

Disentigrator Ray: Best weapon. Ammo-based, but extremely powerful. A few shots can even take out cars and tanks.

Ion Detonator: Basically a grenade Launcher, but you can choose when to detonate the shot.

Now that the basic plot, weapons, and powers are out of the way (I won't go into detail on the Ship.) I'll go to my review.

GRAPHICS: 8/10 - Really nice reflective surfaces and particle effects. Hardly any draw-in and you won't even notice it unless you're looking for it. Textures can be a bit bland, though.

SOUND: 10/10 - The sound is absolutely spot-on. Voice-overs for the various humans are hilarious, and excellent performances by the voiceactors of Pox and Crypto (sounds a bit like Jack Nicholson). Sound effects for the alien weaponry are exactly as you would expect.

GAMEPLAY: 9.5/10 - Very good controls, aiming is great, with no jerkiness or, god help you, auto-aim. It plays much like a 3rd person shooter on ground but... well... It's hard to describe how it controls in the ship, but it DOES control very very well. Stealth is well-implemented, and there are times when it is preferred. The AWARENESS meter is a very good idea, with WARNING, POLICE AWARENESS, MILITARY AWARENESS, then MAJESTIC AWARENESS. You can guess what these all mean. Crypto uses a regenerating shield system similar to that of Halo2 (no health, just shield) that works very well. It takes about 15 seconds of not being hit to recharge, which isn't unfair, but it doesn't make you invincible.

OVERALL: 9.75/10 - Definitely worth buying. Hopefully, years from now, people will look on this game with the same reverence of Splinter Cell, Mario, Sonic, Halo, and Grand Theft Auto. By then they'll have forgotten about Psychonauts. *tear*

This game is a blast!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 13
Date: June 30, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Strengths

-Amazing graphics and visual effects
-Awesome sound effects
-Fun and challenging game play
-Great story and dialogue

Weaknesses

-Game control is awkward at first
-Having to start a mission over because you leave the invasion site can be frustrating
-More weapons would be nice

Playing as alien invader Crypto, your mission is to invade Earth and eliminate, probe, or abduct as many puny humans as possible. Along the way, you can use your trusty ray gun to electrocute people, or incinerate everything in site while at the helm of your very own flying saucer. In addition, use your psychokinetic powers to disguise yourself as a human and blend into the population, read peoples' minds or remove the brain entirely to collect human DNA, or my personal favorite, pick up and hurl people and objects great distances.

The controls are a little tricky, especially when attempting to move objects while levitating them, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes rather intuitive. The visual effects are awesome, especially when you take off in your flying saucer--you can actually see distortion of the space-time continuum as your engines hum to life. I also recommend playing the game with surround sound speakers to take full advantage of the Dolby sound encoding. Turn up the bass and enjoy a little old-fashioned alien carnage!

Scripting of the game is hilarious--the banter between Crypto and his boss Pox is entertaining, as are the thoughts/dialogue of the various humans you encounter. At first, I wasn't sure about Crypto sounding like a cross between Jack Nicholson and Dirty Harry, but it does grow on you. After all, Crypto would rather be brutally annihilating other species than abducting or probing them.

If you are looking for a game that is a cross between Grand Theft Auto and The X-Files, this game is for you. All in all, a great first game in a promising new franchise! I hope to see a lot more of Crypto in the future.

Seek & Destroy

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: June 27, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is easily one of the best games of the year. Especially if you are a Sci-fi buff. Set in the 50's, it's very reminiscent of the 50's science fiction that many of us have known and loved for years. Brings back memories of some of my favorites like Twilight Zone, The Day The Earth Stood Still, War of the worlds and more. Also has a large play on the area 51 stuff and even a little X-Files. Has a little language, which could have been left out, but so what. Has a T rating just because there's a lot of shooting, heads exploding, and humans running for their lives. THQ has made some good games before, like the much under-rated "Sphinx" which was great. And they have once again lived up to their good reputation. So go out and get this one and seek and destroy!

Loads of fun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: July 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is one of the most satisfy games to come around in a long time. Instead of fighting off alien invaders, you get to play the little gray men and destroy everything in sight. Don't let the first half of the game fool you. This game gets tough! You'll have the entire United States army trying to kill you along with these "men in black" who you will REALLY hate by the end of this game. It's a lot of fun to pick them up with your mind control and slam them into the ground after all the trouble they give you. The A.I. is almost perfect. Traffic accidents happen without you always causing them just like in real life. There's nothing funnier than seeing a truck slam into a guy and knowing you had nothing to do with it. This game is hours of fun.

Graphics: 4.0
Controls: 4.5
Sound: 4.0
Fun Factor: 5.0

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