What would an advanced, space-faring civilization possibly need from creatures who think sliced bread is a marvel?

“Destroy All Humans!” (PlayStation 2 and Xbox, T-rated, $50) has some disturbingly hilarious answers. It turns out that being entirely expendable is what makes us humans such a ripe target.

With Steven Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds” remake hitting theaters this week, we’ll have plenty of time to consider how depressing an alien invasion might be. “Destroy All Humans!” gives us something to laugh about, too.

This homage to campy sci-fi B-flicks from the 1950s casts you as Cryptosporidium 137, an angrier, more violent version of Marvin the Martian.

Crypto is a bug-eyed visitor who needs some human brains and is the latest in a long line of cloned aliens from the Furon Empire. All the cloning has depleted their DNA stockpiles, and humanity is the only source for salvation.

Your arrival couldn’t have come at a better time. The United States is in the grips of Red Scare paranoia, so your shenanigans get blamed on Communists, not aliens. Your arsenal includes anal probes, ion detonators and a disintegrator ray.

Some might consider brain snatching and city devastation hardly worth laughing about. But the humor here is rooted in its mockery of the Communist-fueled fear from a bygone era.

The action itself gets a bit redundant. So seasoned gamers will find this a relatively easy diversion, and it won’t take them more than a day or two to complete. There’s no multiplayer function to give it lasting appeal.

Sci-fi devotees will find a lot to like. I only wish the invasion hadn’t ended so quickly.