When I was a kid I was terrified of aliens. From the stereotype bug-eyed flying saucer dudes to the acid blood xenomorphs from the Alien franchise, they all kept me awake at night. That fear is still around albeit much less so due in large part to the many years of growing older but also thanks in part to the Destroy all Humans! franchise.
If you’re not already familiar with the games then chances are you’re thinking this is going to be a generic alien invasion game where humanity is desperately struggling against the alien menace in a bid for survival and freedom and the player character is a member of the resistance against the invaders and only they can defeat the aliens with the help of their useless AI sidekicks. Well it’s kind of like that. Sort of, same scenario: the invasion, the resistance and the stupid human AI. The real game change is that the player character is the invader. Yep, you’re an alien. And it’s your mission to harvest the human race to ensure the survival of your own species. Wow, as I’m typing this out I’m realising just how generic the story is, but like I said you’re an alien this time around. So you get to unload an arsenal of death rays, mini nukes and lightning guns against the might of the human race. No one is safe, no tank is too tough, no city is too big! Nothing can stop you as you wreak havoc across nineteen fifties America!!!11 unless you try to swim, in that case you’re screwed. I should take a moment here to point out that this game doesn’t take itself too seriously, the first “contact” the player character makes with an Earth creature ends with our hero (or is he still a villain since he’s invading? ) complaining to a cow and threatening to vaporize the creature if it continues to ignore him. The humans aren’t all that bright either since they persist in referring to the aliens as “little green men” despite them obviously having a more silver/ blue skin colour. Regardless this game is very entertaining and easy to follow. The story isn’t original and as I mentioned earlier it’s rather generic with the only true exeption being that the role is switched from saviour to conqueror. But the world of the aliens does have some depth and if you’re into “turn off your brain” violence mixed in with a rather basic but interesting stealth system this game is definitely worth a try. I personally rate this game a 4 out of 5 with its one big weakness being a lack of originality.
