''Destroy All Humans! 2'' is a 2006
action-adventure
An action-adventure game is a video game genre, video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres.
Definition
An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements f ...
video game developed by
Pandemic Studios and published by
THQ for
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
and
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
. The game is the sequel to ''
Destroy All Humans!'' and the second installment in the ''
Destroy All Humans!'' franchise. It also marks the final game in the series to be developed by
Pandemic Studios, as the company was later acquired by
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...
in 2007. A remake of the game, titled ''
Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed,'' was initially released in August 2022.
Plot
This game is set during the year 1969 (10 years after the original game) and begins with a Soviet
KGB
The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...
slide show
A slide show, or slideshow, is a presentation of a series of still images ( slides) on a projection screen or electronic display device, typically in a prearranged sequence. The changes may be automatic and at regular intervals or they may b ...
meeting
A meeting is when two or more people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal or business setting, but meetings also occur in a variety of other environments. Meetings can be used as form of group decision-making.
Definiti ...
showing that the
main character
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...
from ''
Destroy All Humans!'', ''Cryptosporidium-137'', is suddenly deceased for unknown reasons. His
clone, ''Cryptosporidium-138'' (Crypto for short), made of more pure Furon DNA, is now taking his place and continuing to pose as the
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
. KGB intelligence reveals that Crypto-138 is the first and only Furon to have
genitalia
A sex organ, also known as a reproductive organ, is a part of an organism that is involved in sexual reproduction. Sex organs constitute the primary sex characteristics of an organism. Sex organs are responsible for producing and transporting ...
, referred to only as "The Package". Seeing the Furons as a threat to the Soviet Union, the KGB destroy the Furon mothership with a nuclear missile.
Soon after, Crypto's new adventure begins. Not only must Crypto stop the KGB from preventing his and Pox's plans, he desires revenge for the destruction of the mothership.
Crypto's commander, ''
Orthopox 13'', downloaded his consciousness into a holographic unit (called a ''HoloPox Unit'') just before he died. After saving
Bay City from annihilation at the hands of the Soviets, Crypto discovers that the KGB have fled to
Albion
Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than "Britain" today. The name for Scot ...
and promptly follows, where he meets ''Reginald Ponsonby-Smythe'', the
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
-esque head of M16 (a parody of
MI6
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
), and a rogue KGB agent named ''Natalya Ivanova'', to whom Crypto is attracted. They discover that the KGB have created a type of spore that causes humans to mutate into monsters. Eventually, Ponsonby betrays Crypto, revealing he is the leader of the British branch of Majestic, Majestic Sector 16. After killing Ponsonby and puzzling over his cryptic reference that the Furons may not be the only aliens on Earth, Crypto learns that the KGB have a base on
Takoshima Island.
Arriving in Takoshima, Crypto has to rescue a person that calls himself ''Dr. Go'' (a parody of
Julius No
Dr. Julius No is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 1958 ''James Bond'' novel and its 1962 film adaptation '' Dr. No'', the first of the series, in which he was portrayed by Joseph Wiseman.
Novel biography
The 1958 novel '' D ...
) from the Black Ninjas and KGB. He provides access to the KGB base hidden in the island's volcano. Inside Crypto and Natalya are addressed by the mastermind behind the spore plot, ''Soviet Premier Milenkov'' (a parody of
Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a fictional supervillain in the ''James Bond'' series of novels and films, created by Ian Fleming. A criminal mastermind with aspirations of world domination, he is the archenemy of British MI6 agent James Bond. Blofel ...
). Milenkov shows a film clip of his men using spores on a Takoshimese intern, who transforms into a giant
Godzilla
is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda. The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films p ...
-like monster called "Kojira". After defeating Kojira, Crypto follows Natalya to Tunguska, home of "Project Solaris". In the Soviet Union, Crypto discovers that another alien race has crash-landed on Earth, The Blisk. The Blisk are an enemy that the Furons had thought they had wiped out during the Martian War a long time ago. Pox realizes that the
Tunguska event
The Tunguska event was a large explosion of between 3 and 50 TNT equivalent, megatons that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate (now Krasnoyarsk Krai), Russia, on the morning of 30 June 1908. The explosion over ...
of 1908 was actually a downed Blisk warship crash-landing into the Tunguskan hillside and not a
meteorite
A meteorite is a rock (geology), rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical ...
. After destroying the crashed Blisk warship and rescuing Natalya from a Blisk
gas bubble, Crypto meets Milenkov face to face. Milenkov then retreats to his
Moon base, Solaris, in a Blisk shuttle.
On the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
, Crypto discovers that Project Solaris is a Blisk
superweapon
A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a biological, chemical, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill or significantly harm many people or cause great damage to artificial structures (e.g., buildings), natural structures (e.g. ...
designed to bombard the Earth with Blisk spores and radiation, granting the Blisk control of Earth as their new irradiated, water-logged homeworld. Using his ability to "body snatch", Crypto disguises himself as Soviet
cosmonaut
An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...
Leonid, the head scientist on the Moon, and convinces the rest of the humans to go to war with the Blisk. Then Crypto manages to sabotage the weapon's firing mechanism. Upon doing so, Milenkov confronts Crypto. He then reveals that ever since the Blisk crashed, they have been controlling the Government of the Soviet Union, each
Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier.
A premier will normally be a head of govern ...
before him had been a Blisk, and they were responsible for several world crises; including the
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
. After their conversation, Milenkov leaves. Crypto and Natalya battle for their various species to save the Earth by attacking and successfully destroying the Blisk Hive Mind with the O.M.G.W.T.F. virus Pox developed in his
lab, but Milenkov appears and fatally shoots Natalya in the back. He then reveals his true form, a heavily armored blisk. After defeating Milenkov, Crypto relaxes in his flying saucer while Pox appears on the video monitor, congratulating Crypto and eagerly anticipating his newly cloned body. He has detected activity in the emergency cloning lab. He questions Crypto about it, then realizes that Crypto has cloned Natalya, and is extremely infuriated by this and begins yelling at him, just before Crypto abruptly shuts off the video monitor mid-sentence. Lying next to him, Natalya awakens briefly and favors Crypto with a smile and an invitation to wake her when he's ready for "re-entry". As the game ends,
Crypto leers at the player and admits to having made "a few adjustments".
Gameplay
In ''Destroy All Humans! 2'', Crypto is able to go to
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
(
Bay City),
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
(
Albion
Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than "Britain" today. The name for Scot ...
), a Japanese island loosely based on
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
(Takoshima),
Siberia
Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
(
Tunguska), and the Soviet Moon base Solaris.
Crypto can now
body snatch humans, using them as a disguise.
New weapons are unlocked by finding data cores ejected from the mothership before it was destroyed. New saucer landing points are unlocked by completing the challenges of the ancient Furon god Arkvoodle.
The player is now able to call their saucer from an empty landing site in order to eliminate backtracking, and the UFO can now
cloak
A cloak is a type of loose garment worn over clothing, mostly but not always as outerwear for outdoor wear, which serves the same purpose as an overcoat and protects the wearer from the weather. It may form part of a uniform. People in many d ...
for limited periods of time. The Abducto Beam now actually abducts humans into the UFO for usage in the Gene Blender, which upgrades Crypto's abilities. In addition, the Jetpack now has a longer-lasting battery. Crypto also gains new abilities: the "Free Love" ability momentarily forces his victims to groove to psychedelic music, thus making them forget they saw him, and the "Mind Flash" ability mentally stuns everyone in the world for a brief period of time.
There are 5 new weapons: the Dislocator, which shoots levitating purple disks that take targets with them; the Meteor Strike, which fires up to 3 meteors at the crosshairs; Gastro--the mother ship's former janitor who, like Pox, uploaded himself into a hologram--who shoots at nearby enemies before self-destructing; the Burrow Beast, which shoots out a lure for a giant space worm to crawl around, eating nearby humans; and the Anti-Gravity Field, which creates a small point of high gravity, pulling anything nearby--including humans--into it before exploding.
''Destroy All Humans! 2'' has a co-op multiplayer mode, so the player can play through the story mode, free roam, and play minigames--such as PK Tennis and Duel--all alongside a friend.
Reception
''Destroy All Humans! 2'' received "generally favorable" reviews, according to
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
.
GameZone stated that "the new weapons and body snatching ability just add more fun to a game with huge open worlds and the plentiful side missions" and that the "game actually supersedes the original".
The AI was criticized by
TeamXbox, saying that "every enemy seems as brain dead as Crypto thinks they are".
''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' gave it four stars out of five: "The tone is jocular, the script humorous and well acted by, among others, Little Britain’s Anthony Head".
''
The Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...
'' gave it three-and-a-half stars out of five and called it "a minor improvement over the original, with just as many silly sci-fi shenanigans".
The game sold over 340,000 copies and had a generated revenue of $13,000,000 in North America alone.
Remake
A remake, ''
Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed'', was announced on September 17, 2021, for
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
,
PlayStation 5
The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North ...
, and
Xbox Series X/S
The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are the fourth generation of consoles in the Xbox series, succeeding the previous generation's Xbox One. Released on November 10, 2020, the higher-end Xbox Series X and lower-end Xbox Series S are part o ...
.
A multiplayer spin-off, titled ''Destroy All Humans! Clone Carnage'' was made available for Microsoft Windows,
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...
, and
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...
for players who pre-ordered ''Reprobed'' starting May 31, 2022.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
2006 video games
Action-adventure games
Alternate history video games
Destroy All Humans
Open-world video games
Pandemic Studios games
PlayStation 2 games
Science fiction video games
THQ games
THQ Nordic games
Video game sequels
Video games about extraterrestrial life
Video games developed in Australia
Video games set in 1969
Video games set on the Moon
Video games set in London
Video games set in San Francisco
Video games set in Siberia
Video games set in the Soviet Union
Video games set in Tokyo
Video games using Havok
Xbox games
Multiplayer and single-player video games