Back in July 2020, publisher THQ Nordic treated us with a very faithful remake of the 2005 cult classic, Destroy All Humans! by the folks over at Black Forest Games. Fast forward to 2022 and now it’s time for its sequel, Destroy All Humans! 2 to receive the same treatment.

With an original release date of 2006 on the original Xbox & Playstation 2, Destroy All Humans! 2 has now been given a graphical overhaul. Being rebuilt from the ground up in Unreal Engine 4, Black Forest Games has blessed us with Destroy All Humans 2: Reprobed all while staying true to the game’s original gameplay mechanics, audio design, and storytelling.

Destroy All Humans 2!: Reprobed takes place in the 1960s and puts you back in the shoes of Crypto right after the events of the first game where he successfully took over the American government and became President of the United States. Crypto soon learns that the KGB have now caught on to his disguise and are attempting to take him out. In order for Crypto to continue taking over the world, he must hunt them down and take out the KBG before they take him out first.

Story-wise, Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed remains unchanged and delivers every dialogue and joke as it was intended from the original game. The biggest and most noticeable improvement is its visual design. Compared to the 2006 version, it’s a day and night difference. Character models and the environments themself are much more detailed all while maintaining the cartoony look from the original games.

Talking about environments, while the game isn’t open-world as such, Destroy All Humans 2! Reprobed takes place over five different maps that are pretty decent in size, all increasing in difficulty with different enemy types as you progress through each zone. The main missions remain the same as the original and are pretty straightforward and linear in design; speak to that NPC, go do what they need you to do, and go back to said NPC.

Crypto’s arsenal of weapons and abilities make a return, from his trusty old Zap-O-Matic gun to his Psychokinesis ability allowing Crypto to throw objects and his enemies flying. This all feels even better with how tight and responsive the gunplay and combat feel in general. While the classic 3rd person-style combat is simple, it works, and using all the different weapons and abilities at your disposal can be a lot of fun.

You are, however, free to roam around each area during or between missions to explore. Exploring will net you recovered data cores, collectibles, or power-ups. Collecting these will give you the ability to upgrade your weapons with things like more power, the way they fire, or allowing them to hold more ammo. You’ll even be able to upgrade your flying saucer with new abilities or unlock new outfits for Crypto to wear.

As for multiplayer features, co-op play is still a thing in this title, but unfortunately, it is still only in the form of local spilt screen. So if you want to get your friends together for some couch co-op, body snatching action, the option is there. Though, it would be nice if online co-op could be added via a patch at a later date. Fingers crossed I guess.

In closing, the guys over at Black Forest Games have done an outstanding job with Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed. It’s a perfect example of how to modernize a cult classic with upgraded visuals all while keeping faithful to the original source material.

Written by: MKAU Gaming