Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed

While it may seem to be geared toward gamers who just enjoy mindless shooters -- and would therefore be enticed by the game's title -- it will likely be more appreciated by seasoned gamers who can appreciate the game for it's great sense of humor. But aside from that, the largest flaw with Big Willy Unleashed is that it's just not a very innovative game.

So the game play isn't new or innovative - in fact fans of the series will find it to be a little too similar to the first two to be truly 'new.' But the one liners - the one liners almost make up for it. At one point we were laughing so hard we missed the police shooting at us and died, having to 'start over.'

Still, the actual act of destroying humans works rather well with the newly implemented motion controls. [Apr 2008, p.88]

Big Willy Unleashed is an interesting title to play, but it lacks the longevity of other sandbox titles like it.

Destroy All Humans! was a good game, as was the sequel, but this third one completely misses the panache, personality and polish that made the previous outings so fun.

Rather than taking an average game and making it fun like it was intended, it took a decent game and turned it to crap.

Multiplayer is about as weak as the in-game humor.

In the end it comes off as too uneven; any time I started enjoying myself too much, the game would smack me down with another boring mission or irritating control issue.

Wanton destruction is still a lot of fun -- I just hope that future installments innovate instead of sticking squarely to the foundations set by the original game. And please, next time around, give us multiplayer that feels like more than an afterthought.

A product that still harnesses the charm and comedic value of the other games, but lacks the polish and reliability of its predecessors. The environments are far too simple, with even the original Destroy All Humans trumping its visuals, the world is glitchy, and the IR control is made difficult by an inconsistent frame rate.

Wreaking havoc in the UFO and Big Willy mech is a blast, and there are several genuinely laugh out loud funny parts. In the end, however, its flaws keep it from living up to the example set by its predecessors.

Big Willy Unleashed lacks the humor of earlier installments, leaving its shallow and rehashed gameplay to fend for itself.

The Wii controls are absolutely atrocious and players will have a hard time swinging the reticule around during the on-foot action. Even flying your saucer or taking control of the impressive Big Willy mech is a tad awkward.

Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed has its heart in the right place – if it weren’t for the haphazard control and the aggravation that stems from it, this would actually be a good entry for new players and fans because it is a relatively funny game and maintains the spirit and conventions of the past games.

Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed is not going to restore this franchise to its former glory.

It’s worth trying out but it’s hard to recommend it at full price.

Playing this clumsy, ill-conceived attempt at a sequel is not unlike watching a kid with a 180 IQ flipping burgers at the local fast food joint; it's painful to watch what it has become, especially given what you knew its capabilities.

Oozed originality on PS2 a few years back but now feels stale. Wii controls are weak. [May 2008, p.56]

The entire package, whether it's boring fetch missions or jokes that fall flat, feels uninspired and rushed. [May 2008, p.95]

Although Destroy All Humans: Big Willy Unleashed shows a lot of potential – the few areas it misses are so detrimental to the gameplay that you would be better off giving this one a pass.

Newcomers to the series will enjoy the mindless destruction and blowing up people indiscriminately - I'm just getting tired of retreading old ground. [Apr 2008, p.70]

While mildly amusing to begin with, Big Willy Unleashed ultimately falls flat. Pox might go as far as to say his Big Willy is limp, but we're just disappointed that yet another Destroy All Humans! game has woefully underused the excellent idea behind the game.

While there are some fun effects and animations with the weaponry (I admit I still laugh every time an anal probe victim runs away from me clutching their rears), the graphics are surprisingly blocky and crude, even for a Wii game.

With clumsy and downright awkward controls, repetitive missions and mind boggling "who's doing what?!" multiplayer, I can't help but recommend the original Destroy All Humans over this game.

Its brevity doesn’t merit the fifty dollars you’ll have to shell out for it. The missions are a simplistic mishmash of killing, transporting, and exploration.