Destroy All Humans!
A parody of Cold War alien invasion films.
Destroy All Humans! is an open-world action-adventure video game franchise that spoofs Cold War-era alien invasion movies. The original *Destroy All Humans!* and its sequel *Destroy All Humans! 2* came out on PlayStation 2 and Xbox. *Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed* was released for the Wii, while *Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon* hit Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (the latter only in Australia and Europe). Black Forest Games developed remakes of the first two games, released in 2020 and 2022.
The main protagonists are voiced by J. Grant Albrecht and Richard Steven Horvitz, except in *Big Willy Unleashed*, where Sean Donnellan and Darryl Kurylo take over. Composer Garry Schyman wrote the series' music.
The games are mostly set on Earth. The Furon alien Cryptosporidium, or Crypto, is sent by his superiors to collect Furon DNA locked inside human brain stems, preventing his race from cloning themselves into extinction. In the first game, Crypto also investigates what happened to his previous clone. In *Destroy All Humans! 2*, he seeks revenge after the KGB tries to assassinate him, destroys his mothership, and kills his mission officer Orthopox-13 (Pox), while also facing the Blisk, the Furons' ancient enemy from the Martian War. *Big Willy Unleashed* has Crypto protecting Pox's new fast-food chain using a giant robot mech disguised as the restaurant's mascot, Big Willy. *Path of the Furon* involves Crypto seeking enlightenment to stop a conspiracy threatening the Furon empire. The timeline places the first game in 1959, the second in 1969, *Big Willy Unleashed* in 1975, and *Path of the Furon* in 1979.
In the 2005 original, set in 1959, Cryptosporidium 137 arrives on Earth to investigate and find his predecessor clone, Cryptosporidium 136, who vanished in 1947 after Pox sent him on a similar mission. Pox orders Crypto to harvest human brain stems (which contain pure Furon DNA from an ancient encounter between Furons and humans) to prevent extinction. Crypto fights the Majestic agency, a shadowy government group led by a figure called Silhouette, and eventually takes over the United States by impersonating the president.
A mobile tie-in game, also released in 2005, was developed by Big Blue Bubble Inc. and published by THQ Wireless. It could be downloaded by texting CRYPTO101 to 69847 (MYTYHQ).
Quick Facts
- Title
- Destroy All Humans!
- Genre
- Action-adventure
- Developer
- Pandemic Studios (2005–2006) · Locomotive Games (2008) · Sandblast Games (2008) · Black Forest Games (2020–present)
- Publisher
- THQ (2005–2008) · THQ Nordic (2020–present)
- Platforms
- PlayStation 2, Xbox, Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Microsoft Windows, Stadia, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2
- First Release Version
- Destroy All Humans! (2005)
- First Release Date
- June 21, 2005
- Latest Release Version
- Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed
- Latest Release Date
- August 30, 2022
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The Destroy All Humans! franchise is set primarily on Earth, where the Furon Cryptosporidium (Crypto) is tasked by his superiors to gather Furon DNA locked inside human brain stems to prevent his race from cloning themselves to extinction. In the first game, set in 1959, Crypto investigates the disappearance of his predecessor clone and fights the Majestic agency. The sequel, set in 1969, features Crypto seeking revenge after the KGB destroy his mothership and kill his mission officer Orthopox-13, eventually uncovering the Blisk, an ancient Martian enemy. Big Willy Unleashed (1975) involves Crypto protecting a fast food chain using a giant robot mech, while Path of the Furon (1979) sees Crypto seeking enlightenment to stop a conspiracy threatening the Furon empire.
Reader's Guide
The Destroy All Humans! series is notable for its satirical take on 1950s and 1960s alien invasion tropes, blending open-world gameplay with destructive alien abilities. The franchise originally released on PlayStation 2 and Xbox, with later entries on Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. After THQ's bankruptcy in 2012, Nordic Games (later THQ Nordic) acquired the rights in 2013. The PlayStation 2 versions were re-released on PlayStation 4 in 2016, and the Xbox version became backward compatible on Xbox One in 2018. Remakes of the first two games, developed by Black Forest Games, were released in 2020 and 2022, bringing the series to modern platforms including Windows, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One/Series X/S, Stadia, and Nintendo Switch. A standalone multiplayer spin-off, Clone Carnage, was released in 2022 and later made free-to-play on Xbox One and PC.
Did You Know?
- The musical score for the series was performed by composer Garry Schyman.
- The remake of Destroy All Humans! was announced at E3 in 2019.
- Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon was released on PlayStation 3 only in Australia and Europe.
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