Arceus144 uses Judgment on: Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed

Arceus144 gives us his opinion on Big Willy Unleashed. Just like the ad in Nintendo Power says: "Unleash your big Willy!"

Back in the PS2 days, THQ put out two Destroy All Humans game developed by Pandemic. Now the franchise has been handed on off to one of their internal studios for this Wii exclusive installment. It still feels likes a DAH game but maybe that’s the problem.



Presentation

DAH:BWU takes place in the 1970’s, a logical progression for the series. Crypto, the main character, has destroyed so many humans that his scientist partner Pox has begun turning them into hamburgers Soylent Green style for his restaurant, Big Willy. The humor is the same T-rated material with lots of immature innuendo but it’s still light-hearted and fun. There are plenty of references to 1970’s pop culture and the music and voice acting are decent enough for the B movie vibe they are going for. If you’re not too stuck up to avoid low-brow humor, the presentation of DAH is just fine.

Gameplay

DAH has been described as a mix between GTA and Ratchet and Clank. You explore several open world environments from Vietnam to Fantasy Island and you destroy all humans with a variety of upgradeable weapons and hypnosis powers. There’s the standard lightning gun, anal probe and zombie gun and they are all very fun to control with the Wii remote. By tilting the Wii remote, you also control Crypto’s saucer for certain missions and use its bevy of destructive weapons. As you take on missions your wanted meter goes up like in GTA. After all, cops would be suspicious of an alien going around killing people. When your meter is too high you can disguise your saucer as a regular blimp for a brief period of time. New to the Wii version is the Big Willy mech that looks like Lard Lad from the Simpsons. In the suit, you can stomp around Godzilla style and harvest human brains until the suit must be recharged with your lightning gun. Finally, by pressing the A and B button Crypto can use telekinesis and move objects around thanks to Havok physics. It’s a little wonky when it comes to depth perception but physically slamming humans into the ground is always fun. The mission are the standard GTA fare with a little more humor thrown in and the difficulty curve is uneven. But the variety of weapons creates a variety of ways to approach the level making them as fun as you make them.

Graphics.

DAH:BWU was originally going to be on PSP too and it shows. The buildings are blocky, the textures are simple. Characters don’t move their mouths when talking. There’s a Superman 64 style haze on many things and overall it’s not that pretty a game. There are a few nice visual touches though. The environments are varied with jungles islands and Midwestern towns. The fire coming from Crypto’s jetpack when he flies around is nice and some of the saucer’s more destructive weapons create satisfying explosions on impact. Still, it’s easy to see that this game had a low budget and the graphics clearly got the short end of the stick.

Conclusion

There are better open world games on Wii like Bully and Scarface. The alien invasion motif of Destroy All Humans along with the different weapons do help to differentiate it from the pack. Plus I’m pretty sure the game is budget priced. I recommend this to fans of the series who just want more of the same and to Wii owners interested in the series that have never tried it before.

Arceus144