Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed Developer Diary: Game Fundamentals @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on January 25, 2008

News: THQ drops some new details as the PS2 version of the game is dropped.

THQ brought the axe down on the head of the PS2 version of Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed a few days. But the Wii and PSP versions are still in the works. Today, the company released their first developer's diary detailing some of the things gamers should expect from the next chapter of the Destroy All Humans! saga:

"Among the hallmarks of the Destroy All Humans franchise are weapons and Crypto's mental powers. If you've played either (or both) of the previous games, you know the weapons in the games are exotic, over the top, and often just plain hilarious. And the second game offers a good number of weapons the first one didn't. So when it came time for our team to begin designing Big Willy Unleashed, we wanted a whole new way to play the game and still remain true to the franchise.

What better way to do that than to offer even newer weapons.

Time-Tested Fundamentals

The first two games (taking place in the 50s and 60s respectively) have shown that when it comes to destroying all humans while simultaneously harvesting their DNA, it's always the Уright tool for the right job.Ф Even in the modern era of С70s, the flying saucer's Death Ray is just about the best thing around to rain down pain and terror from above, just like it did in prior decades. The Sonic Boom is still the weapon of choice to send enemy tanks a message of Уgreetings from outer space.Ф And nothing still says Уtake me to your leaderФ like the Quantum Decontructor, the ultimate weapon for any Furon invasion for turning a thriving metropolis into a smoldering redevelopment zone.

But wait, that's not all!

For Cryptosporidium-137 (affectionately know as Crypto), his Zap-O-Matic delivers gig-a-volts of tooth-rattling electro-shock goodness as it did in the first two games. His Ion Detonator continues to pack a plasmatic wallop that'll break up any family picnic. The Anal Probe, a recurring favorite, remains the best instrument for both harvesting a brain stem AND eliminating a pesky combatant Ц all with a single shot! And the Disintegrator still turns matter to a mere memory.

Mental Powers

So let's start with our hero, Crypto. Even without weaponry, his mental powers give him a devastating advantage over any pathetic human. Psychokinesis allows him to turn a propane tank into a concussion bomb, or to toss a dump truck into an angry mob Ц more fun than Bowling for Dollars. Crypto's mental powers also allow him to hypnotize a person to carry out a specific command or even transform inanimate objects into ammunition. You gotta love those Furon genetics!

And for not extra cost, Big Willy Unleashed gives your a whole new collection of ways to slice and dice your target more effective than a Ronco Food Processor.

New Toys For Crypto

Among what's new for Crypto in this new installment are a few side-arms. The Ball Lightning Gun is a fire and forget electrically charged ball of, er, lightningЕ that hovers like St. Elmo's Fire over carefree masses, automatically discharging on nearby targets until nothing is left of its victims except perhaps their shoe-laces and a strange ionized smoky odor.

The Zombie Gun (or as it's known by its technical name, the Reanimatron) hurls projectiles of green goo at a target, which transforms a human target into a zombie Ц a simple concept really. But the best thing about zombies is that other enemies will attack your zombie, effectively making a zombie a decoy Ц the perfect means for distracting a bouncer as you sneak into the disco.

The final УboomФ stick in Crypto's toy box is the Shrink Ray, ideal for transforming a hulking ballistic missile launcher into matchbox-sized action figure. The shrink ray is only awarded when you reach a particularly impressive level on the carnage-o-scope, so don't expect to wield this wonder weapon very early in the game.

Improvements to the Saucer's Armaments

The saucer has one new weapon this time round - the Electro-Cone, which clears out enemies directly beneath the flying saucer with shocking results. This is the only saucer weapon that is capable of destroying all humans while leaving structures in tact! Now that's value!

Big Willy, The New Kid On The Block

In front of every Big Willy's fast food restaurant stands a cheery rosy-cheeked irresistible mascot named Big Willy. It's no wonder there are over ten million humans served! But Big Willy has few secrets of his own, not the least of which is the fact that this oversized marketing icon is really a devastating war machine armed up the wazoo with Furon weaponry, capable of wreaking havoc in an up close and personal way! And who doesn't love all those wazoo armaments!

Never mind the fact that a twenty foot tall rampaging kid will send even the bravest among us fleeing with fear into the hills. And forget that when Big Willy jumps, he lands with concussion-inducing thud that'll give everyone nearby an Excedrin headache number 27.

Big Willy is armed with three implements of devastation. First, is the Heat Beam Eyes Ц similar to the saucer's death ray, but this system can be aimed freely at unsuspecting targets while Big Willy careens through the streets of an otherwise quiet neighborhood.

Often, Big Willy finds himself surrounded by cranky skirmishers. But with one quick discharge from the Regurg-a-tron, that well-armed militia is reduced to a chunky smoldering puddle that even seagulls won't touch.

To round out his arsenal, Big Willy can also be upgraded to activate the WindBreaker, an odoriferous explosive blast that's emitted from the south end of a north facing Willy.

Even though Big Willy is indestructible and has the most advanced weaponry imaginable, alas his power system is still Earth technology and prone to run down. Fortunately, DNA can replenish Big Willy's charge; so it's a simple matter of grabbing a nearby human, and harvesting his or her DNA by popping the heads open like a Pez dispenser and consuming the brainstem."