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Genre: 3rd-person action

Publisher: THQ

THQ was kind enough to talk with us and answer our questions. In this interview, you'll learn more about this quirky action title headed to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

Tell us a bit about Destroy All Humans and what you hope to accomplish with it.

We're really looking to break away from the current crop of games and create something really interesting and new. We also wanted to create an open world style of game and have fun with it, so many of them nowadays are all about the gritty realism. With Destroy All Humans! We were able to create a fun, diverse, funny and challenging gameplay experience that's really not like other games on the market.

Just how open are the environments? Can you roam around and do what you want?

Each mission starts by giving the player objectives to obtain. If they succeed or fail in the mission they can revert to sandbox mode where the player can roam about, complete smaller bonus missions, harvest humans and generally monkey with the monkeys. So missions=some roaming, sandbox=do what you want. Always the gameplay is free; you can achieve the mission objectives in whatever manner you want as long as it does not fail the mission.

Will Destroy All Humans also have open-ended gameplay? Will the player be allowed to do certain missions in whatever order he may want?

Not really. There's a fairly interesting story developing along the way so the player does have to complete the missions in order. They can however return to mission sites and replay them.

The game boasts a good selection of weapons and mind powers. Tell us about a few of the more unique ones.

Cryptosporidium 137's gun is pretty multi-purpose, and will morph depending on what the player wants. You have the standard issue Zap-o-matic which is great for stunning or electrocuting humans. It will kill them after prolonged exposure but it won't destroy their brain stems, which the player can then harvest with the Brain Extractor mental power. Another weapon that the player will have access too is the fantastic Ion Detonator. It's a great little device that when dropped in a group of humans will instantly vaporize them. Love those radius effect weapons.

What are some of the cool gadgets the player can use?

There's the anal probe. It has some very interesting effects on people, but for some reason I feel uncomfortable about talking about it.

The atmosphere and design have an obvious 50's look and feel. Was this your original intention? And why was this era chosen?

There were many reasons why this era was chosen. The main one being this is period was the setting for some really bad sci-fi movies, it's an era of film making where the special effects generally could not keep up with the imagination of the film makers. Secondly, this is a time in America where there was lots of paranoia about Communism, the cold war is about to start, and sightings of flying saucers and aliens really start to kick into high gear. It's also a period in history that's pretty recognizable to a lot of older game players, the fashion, the cars the music, the movies all scream 50s.

Any plans to bring Destroy All Humans to the GameCube or PC?

Not this time around.

Will you be taking advantage of the Xbox and PS2's online capabilities, such as online play or adding new content?

No.

How different are the gameplay styles when you're in the spacecraft and when you're on foot? And how do the two styles complement each other?

Well, the spacecraft is all about destruction. There are very few missions where Crypto jumps in the space buggy to go make friends. On foot the missions get a little more interesting, with meetings to be infiltrated, humans to scan and abduct, power soldiers to fight and Presidents to overthrow. And then there's the secret government organization Majestic, who really needs to be taken down a notch. Imagine conducting experiments on their own race!

There's been talk about how you can lay waste to whole towns. Will new towns appear? Or will specific missions take place within specific towns/cities?

We call the areas in the game Invasion Sites. The towns in these sites will eventually rebuild after you destroy them - humans are resilient little critters. The towns are already there - generally there is one major human settlement per Invasion Site, from the lonely farmhouse at the start through to the bustling Capitol City at the end. Missions take place in and around these towns and cities.

What feature in the game are you most proud of?

I think the ability to switch tactics mid mission is great. If you're running about scaring people in alien mode and the cops start pulling up and things get hot, you can take human form, lie low for a little, chew a few brainstems for a little sustenance, and then go on the offensive again. The toolbox that we give to the player makes for a great variety of fun to be had.

Pandemic has sure been busy as of late. What else do you guys have in the works that you can talk about? What do we have in the works?

More cool games of course! By the way, any talk of Destroy All Humans 2 is inflammatory propaganda planted by aliens hoping to overthrow our society. Pay it no heed.

Were there any features that were left out (due to time or had to cut) that you really wanted to include?

Not really. There were smaller things but we've gone into this with, let's say a long term plan and know what we want to do next.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Look to the skies… at night.

Interview by Alex Hammond