At E3 2019 THQ Nordic revealed that two beloved franchises would be returning to the modern era of consoles; these two franchises are SpongeBob SquarePants and Destroy All Humans. At PAX East 2020, we met with the THQ Nordic team to preview the newest Destroy All Humans and SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated.
Starting out of the gates, I want to make a few things known so we can be on common grounds. Growing up, I absolutely hated Spongebob. I despised the jokes and thought it pandered to idiots and small children. Quick storytime. In 1999, I had just started to babysit my younger neighbors, with adult supervision of course. No matter what I would suggest, it was always SpongeBob time. Even when the show wasn’t on, the children would still quote the show and make me hit my head off the wall. As for the Destroy All Humans Franchise, I was rather late to the party. The only Destroy All Humans game I have ever played was Destroy All Humans: Path of Furon. Even then, I only played it for about ten minutes before getting bored. Now, with this quarantine in effect, I may go back and give it another try.
SpongeBob SquarePants
With tensions riding high, we dove deep, deep into Bikini Bottom. Before the start of the demo, I was reluctant to play a game based on a franchise that I could barely stand; a franchise I could only stand when socializing with college friends. Surprisingly, SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated was better than I expected. Now, this could be because of a limited demo but nothing in the demo seemed over the top. I didn’t have to listen to the annoying one-liners or Spongebob’s laugh.
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated (SB SP:BBBR) is a 3D platformer, that allows players to explore Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated features a redesigned campaign. After a nefarious plan by Plankton has gone wrong, Bikini Bottom is under siege by killer robots; it is up to SpongeBob and his band of merry friends to save the day and protect the secret recipe for the Krabby Patty. The demo also featured a multiplayer option where players could participate in varying game modes but more on that later.
In the campaign demo, we started out in SpongeBob’s house. We were required to gather coral reef balloons in order to unlock new doors. This is easily done by exploration however the game’s awkward camera angles did impede the process a little. The camera system seems a bit dated but still acceptable when compared to Crash Bandicoot and Spyro remastered. Seeing a modern 3d representation of Spongebob’s house seemed surreal since the last time I saw it it was a 2d concept. After escaping from Spongebob’s house after gathering a golden spatula we were free to explore his neighborhood. The areas of Bikini Bottom were sealed off and could only be unlocked by acquiring additional golden spatulas. So we were off to the Jellyfish fields to encounter our first enemies.
For a game that is almost 17 years old, the core concept remains the same, gather golden spatulas and balloons, think outside the box and have a good time. Combat in the game is rather simplistic where yes there are combos but the primary goal is to just smash things. The game plays like a 3D puzzle platformer. Solve puzzles, search for items and save the day. Now I would say I thoroughly enjoyed playing SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated and that’s what shocked me. Nothing was over the top, yes combat was simplified but that’s part of its charm. You do have to think about how to gather the balloons before destroying everything, but if you do miss it there is always the opportunity to come back.
Now the game is definitely not linear. Players will have to return to the varying areas after they have unlocked supporting characters. An example of this was a puzzle that required that we be Patrick to complete it. In the demo, the teleportation boxes were available to allow the player to travel throughout the level once both sides had been found. Below is a gameplay video of SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated.
In the multiplayer mode, the play can choose between seven characters to combat waves of enemy robots while jumping between islands. Now, if you have not played the horde wave mode before, it can be rather frustrating. The developer easily carried us through different waves after we died due to not knowing the robot’s weaknesses. SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated is a great remastering of the original game. Because of this demo, we decided to watch some of the original gameplay and the game has definitely been rehydrated.
Destroy All Humans
Our second preview of the day was with THQ Nordic’s Destroy All Humans. This is a reboot of the Destroy All Humans franchise and looks to revitalize an ever declining series. After playing the demo, I decided to research the franchise as a whole. The overall consensus of the franchise was that the games went downhill with the Path of Furon being the worst. For those who are slightly concerned let me start of this reboot game is closer to the first game in the narrative’s sake than the other two.
The preview that THQ showed us seemed more like a finished game rather than a gameplay demo. Actually, when we think back over the two demos both seemed like they were the final product. In fact, when the developer showed us Destroy All Humans, he offered us the ability to choose what level we would like to play. Now, this could have been the developer teasing the game’s completion or just them joking around. Before we could choose a level, we were required to watch a trailer that showed the state of affairs. The previous version of Corvo had crash-landed in the United States and been captured. It is up to the next Corvo to locate his predecessor and exterminate all of those that know of his existence.
After the brief trailer explaining the current circumstances, we were off to terrorize the local farmers. Destroy All Humans will now feature a wide demographic of characters. So now you can kill and mind probe people of all races and genders. Unlike previous Destroy All Human games, the player can have Crypto use multiple abilities at once. In the demo, we were able to use telekinesis, mind-probing, shooting, and more. Each mission has its own set of challenges that the player can achieve in varying ways. During our playthrough, we were required to throw a cow into the lake. Combat in the game seemed relatively easy to understand and the ability to shapeshift definitely helped. Being able to disguise ourselves as the human or animal that we just brain jacked made it easier to gather information. Not everyone needs to be killed but it sure is fun doing so.
The ended of the demo featured The United States of America’s government rolling in to capture Crypto. It is time to flee. As we are attempting to flee, we get a first-hand look at ariel combat. Objective one, destroy the US army with lasers and missiles. Now flying the ship was rather easy, the biggest issue we had with the ariel combat was the locked camera angles. Yes, we get it, you are trying to make ariel combat easier, but you took away the ability to aim at enemies at a distance because of it. Because of that, we were more susceptible to damage.
Conclusion
Both titles that THQ Nordic was presenting were fun; although, if I had to pick between the two, I would probably play Destroy All Humans before SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated. Here is why. Destroy All Humans is a reimagining of a beloved franchise, whereas SpongeBob is a remastering of a beloved platformer. The controls for each title were rather simplistic but the controls for Destroy All Humans felt more enriching. I can say there is potentially a bias due to previous beliefs. Both titles are definitely worth checking out. Let us know what title you are most excited for in the comments section. Both of these two titles are expected to release in 2020, but may be delayed due to Covid-19.
