Destroy All Humans!

Cast as an evil, Jack Nicholson sounding, alien called Crypto you are It’s rarely a good sign when a game sells itself on its comedy value as much as its gameplay, but although Destroy All Humans! certainly has its problems it’s still a witty and original slice of Sci-Fi hokum.

Cast as an evil, Jack Nicholson sounding, alien called Crypto you are sent out to perform the game’s titular task in a stylised 1950s America, where the game has good fun poking fun at McCarthy era paranoia and the banality of suburban life.

Developed by the same team behind LucasArts’ Mercenaries, there are some obvious similarities between the two games. There isn’t a single giant game world and you can’t go around pinching vehicles but the combat and freedom to explore and destroy virtually anything is very similar. In fact the only vehicle you can pilot is your trusty, and super destructive, UFO, which is parked at a specific spot on each level.

On foot you have a range of weapons, including the just-as-painful-as-it-sounds anal probe. You also have a small range of psychic powers, including telekinesis, all of which, along with your weapons and UFO, can be upgraded by collecting people’s brains.

The problem with the game is that the combat is very shallow and the missions tend to get very samey very quickly. Even the comedy can become repetitive as you hear the same comments again and again. It’s no classic for sure, but if the setting and humour appeals you could do a lot worse than Destroy All Humans! -- Harrison Dent (Review copyright Amazon.co.uk)