Destroy All Humans! Review (2026): One Of Gaming's Best Villain Power Fantasies?
- Niels Gys
- Jun 24
- 6 min read
TL;DR
Destroy All Humans! is one of the rare games that doesn't ask whether you're the hero.
It assumes you're not.
You play as Crypto-137, an alien invader who arrives on Earth with the social skills of a chainsaw and the diplomatic strategy of an artillery strike. Your job is to harvest human DNA, impersonate civilians, flatten military installations, abduct livestock and generally turn 1950s America into the world's most expensive UFO insurance claim.
It's not a crime game.
It's not a heist game.
But it is one of the most unapologetically villainous games ever made.
And frankly, that's refreshing.
Verdict: Worth playing. Especially on sale.
If vaporising civilians from a flying saucer sounds fun, wait until you see what Rockstar is paying criminals this week. Our latest GTA Online Weekly Money Guide breaks down the best payouts, worst scams, and which businesses are currently printing money faster than a government during a crisis.
The aliens can wait. The grind never does.
What Is Destroy All Humans!?
Imagine if someone took a 1950s alien invasion movie, locked it in a garage with a flamethrower and a crate of whiskey, then told it to stop worrying about morals.
That's Destroy All Humans!.
Originally released in 2005 and rebuilt in 2020, the game puts you in the shiny silver boots of Crypto-137, a member of the Furon Empire whose relationship with humanity can best be described as "actively hostile."
The mission is simple:
Arrive.
Harvest DNA.
Destroy civilization.
Leave.
It's wonderfully honest.
Most games spend twenty hours convincing you that killing three hundred people somehow serves the greater good.
Destroy All Humans! skips the PowerPoint presentation and gets straight to the laser beams.
What Do You Actually Do?
A lot of murder.
An almost irresponsible amount of murder.
You'll wander through several open areas using an arsenal of alien weaponry while terrorizing civilians, fighting the military, stealing identities and causing enough property damage to make an insurance executive immediately retire.
Crypto's toolkit includes:
Brain extraction
Human disguises
Telekinesis
Mind reading
Alien firearms
Jetpack traversal
Flying saucer destruction
One minute you're disguised as a local farmer.
The next you're throwing a police officer into a gas station with your mind.
It's the sort of escalation usually reserved for workplace meetings.
Can You Actually Play As The Bad Guy?
Yes.
Not "morally grey."
Not "misunderstood."
Not "antihero."
Bad guy.
Actual bad guy.
Destroy All Humans! is one of the few games where the marketing, story and gameplay all agree on one thing:
You're the problem.
Humanity isn't being saved.
Humanity is being harvested.
The game never pretends otherwise.
Crypto doesn't rescue kittens.
Crypto turns the kittens into collateral damage while looking for DNA.
For villain fans, that's the entire appeal.
The Best Part
The destruction.
Without question.
When Destroy All Humans! stops talking and lets you cause chaos, it becomes absurdly entertaining.
Running around vaporizing soldiers with alien technology feels fantastic.
Throwing tanks around with telekinesis never gets old.
Flying a saucer over a small American town and reducing it to smoking rubble remains one of gaming's most effective stress-relief techniques.
Therapists may disagree.
The rest of us know better.
Crypto himself helps enormously.
He's arrogant.
He's rude.
He's constantly annoyed by humanity.
Basically what would happen if an internet comment section became self-aware and gained access to military-grade technology.
The Problem Nobody Can Ignore
The game is still carrying around twenty-year-old design decisions like a pensioner carrying fifty-seven supermarket bags because "they might come in handy."
Some missions feel dated.
Stealth sections can be clunky.
Objectives repeat themselves more often than a politician caught lying.
Several missions boil down to:
Go there.
Kill everyone.
Defend thing.
Kill everyone again.
Leave.
The remake improved visuals and controls substantially.
But underneath the fresh paint, there's still a PlayStation 2 game living in the walls.
Sometimes you notice.
Sometimes it notices you.
Crypto may be one of gaming's great extraterrestrial psychopaths, but he's far from alone. Dive into our Best Games Where You Play As The Villain and Games Like GTA for a criminal rabbit hole so deep you'll emerge three hours later wondering when exactly your moral compass caught fire.
Is It Funny?
Mostly.
The game's satire targets Cold War paranoia, government conspiracies, suburban America and humanity in general.
Some jokes have aged beautifully.
Others have aged like milk left inside a parked Ford Fiesta during a heatwave.
Fortunately Crypto's personality carries much of the comedy.
His complete contempt for humanity remains entertaining from start to finish.
How Long Is It?
Expect roughly:
7-10 hours for a normal playthrough.
Longer if you're chasing collectibles, side objectives and achievements.
Short enough to avoid overstaying its welcome.
Long enough to justify the purchase.
A surprisingly rare achievement these days.
Performance & Technical State
The PC version is generally stable in 2026.
Nothing catastrophic.
Nothing that requires a priest.
Most players report solid performance, though occasional stuttering, frame drops and bugs still appear depending on hardware.
The game is perfectly playable.
Just don't expect technical perfection.
If you're waiting for perfection, you'll be waiting beside Half-Life 3 and affordable housing.
Who Should Play Destroy All Humans!?
Play it if:
You enjoy villain protagonists
You like causing chaos
You miss arcade-style action games
You enjoy absurd sci-fi comedy
You want a shorter game that respects your time
Who Should Skip It?
Skip it if:
You want deep stealth
You want meaningful RPG choices
You want criminal empire management
You want a heist experience
You want modern open-world complexity
If you're expecting GTA with UFOs, you're going to be disappointed.
If you're expecting an alien-powered destruction simulator with a wonderfully unpleasant protagonist, you're exactly where you should be.
Final Verdict
Destroy All Humans! succeeds because it understands something modern games often forget.
Sometimes it's fun to be the monster.
Not the reluctant monster.
Not the misunderstood monster.
Not the monster with a tragic backstory and a three-hour redemption arc.
Just the monster.
Crypto arrives on Earth, ruins everyone's week, steals their DNA, levels half the town and leaves without learning a valuable life lesson.
Magnificent.
The mission design shows its age.
The stealth isn't great.
The structure can become repetitive.
But when you're hovering above a military base in a flying saucer and reducing millions of taxpayer dollars into a glowing crater, none of that feels particularly important.
CRIMENET Verdict: Guilty of excessive alien violence, destruction of government property and crimes against common sense.
Sentence: Highly recommended for aspiring extraterrestrial menaces.
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FAQ
Is Destroy All Humans! worth playing in 2026?
Yes. If you enjoy chaotic action games, villain protagonists, and turning small American towns into smoking insurance nightmares, Destroy All Humans! is still worth playing. The remake modernized the visuals and controls while keeping the original's absurd alien invasion fantasy intact. Just be aware that some mission design still feels very 2005.
Can you play as the villain in Destroy All Humans!?
Absolutely. You play as Crypto-137, an alien invader sent to harvest human DNA and destabilize humanity. There is no heroic twist waiting around the corner. You are the threat. You are the UFO in the sky. You are the reason local governments suddenly need emergency meetings.
Is Destroy All Humans! an open-world game?
Not quite. The game uses several semi-open sandbox areas rather than one giant open world. Each location gives you plenty of freedom to explore, cause destruction, complete side objectives, and terrorize civilians, but it is much smaller and more focused than games like GTA V or Saints Row.
How long does Destroy All Humans! take to beat?
Most players will finish the main story in roughly 7 to 10 hours. Completionists who chase every collectible, side objective, challenge, and achievement can easily spend several additional hours cleaning up everything the military somehow failed to stop.
Is Destroy All Humans! a crime game?
No. Despite the incredible amount of murder, destruction, impersonation, and public disorder, Destroy All Humans! is not a crime game in the traditional sense. There are no heists, criminal organizations, black markets, gang systems, or criminal empires. This is a villain game first and foremost.
Is Destroy All Humans! similar to GTA?
Only in the sense that both games enjoy letting you become society's worst nightmare.
GTA focuses on crime, money, businesses, and criminal progression. Destroy All Humans! focuses on alien powers, destruction, and invading Earth. If GTA is a criminal career simulator, Destroy All Humans! is an extraterrestrial temper tantrum with a death ray attached.
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