Die Hard - excellent films, but the games are a mixed bag.
The Playstation's Die Hard Trilogy was a triumph and pushed the envelope
of what Sony's older console could do, while the more recent
Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza
was such a piss-poor first-person shooter, that this latest offering, a Nintendo
Gamecube exclusive, has some ground to make up.
After the training section (during which it's fun to shoot paintballs around
the instruction room before you go on the course), the game begins at the
Townshend Museum where Piet Gruber, son of Hans Gruber - the main baddie from
the first film, is attempting to tell the public that he's helped the museum
bring back a valuable painting. Gunfire erupts and all of a sudden you, as
John McClane, have to wade in and save the day, ensure hostages are unharmed
and rescue your daughter Lucy, now a police recruit herself.
Good to see the storyline having moved on, now with McClane having grey hair,
but sadly there's no vocal talent from the real actor behind the character,
Bruce Willis, since the developers stated it would've cost too much to bring
him in. Fair point, but it is still a shame.
On the plus side with the graphics, there are staggering water effects in the
outside ponds and curved glass effects through such doors, but I could spot
glitches in walls where jagged straight lines weren't quite right and flicker
at you rather a lot. Other than that, everything's fairly standard and will
hold no surprises.
Given that the Gamecube has no facilities for Dolby Digital or DTS, unlike its
two main competitors, the gunshots give little to get excited about. Dialogue
and the background music is clear.
It feels like a cheat to have the auto-aim function on, but the alternative
is trying to aim yourself with the yellow joystick, which self-centres to a
degree whether you tell it to or not, making the gameplay feel more like a
Time Crisis 2-style
game than a Quake-style FPS.
There's also the ridiculous auto-jump feature once you approach the edge of
the surface you're on, the scourge of the
Harry Potter
game from last year, as it makes such a task far too easy.
"Hero mode" slows things down for a few seconds while playing Beethoven's
"Ode to Joy", the classical piece heard when the vault was finally
unlocked in the first film.
Overall, it's an entertaining diversion but far from an essential title.
Fans of the Die Hard series will be its main audience, but that's just a hook
upon which to hang the threadbare story.
It's not one for younger games, given
the colourful language within. There's no "Yippee Kay-ay Kimosabi" in a
dodgy Japanese accent here, the swearing is uncut, although I've yet to hear
McClane's trademark phrase.
We've 'been here, done that' many times
before, so you're probably best trying before you buy with a rental first to see
if you'll stick at it longer than an evening.
GRAPHICS SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC PLAYABILITY ENJOYMENT
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
On the plus side with the graphics, there are staggering water effects in the
outside ponds and curved glass effects through such doors, but I could spot
glitches in walls where jagged straight lines weren't quite right and flicker
at you rather a lot. Other than that, everything's fairly standard and will
hold no surprises.
