Die Hard Trilogy

The Good
Die Hard Trilogy is a series of three games that are based on the movies of the same names. As expected, you play John McClane in each of them, as he tries to rescue hostages on each floor of the Nakatomi building (DH1), take on terrorists in Washington, DC (DH2), and drive over bombs before they explode (DH3).

With the except of DH2, there is also a bit of strategy involved in these games. Once you have killed every terrorists and saved all hostages in DH1, a bomb is triggered and you have to search the elevators in that floor for it before it explodes. Driving around and finding the bombs can take a bloody long time if you drive in the wrong direction. It took me two days just to find a bomb that is a fair distance away. DH1 always tricks you into thinking that you have killed nearly every terrorist on a floor in one go. But this is not the case as many as twenty extra terrorists will arrive in an elevator twice or thrice. Also in DH1, you really need to kill terrorists that are in close range to the hostages before they have a chance to kill them. Although I found these strategies frustrating, I am always up for a bit of the challenge.

I always have a knack of accomplishing tasks at the last second. More often than not, I always found a bomb when the timer is about to reach zero. (Don't ask me how, but I have gotten good at these things.) The good thing about these games is the visual aids that sits in your interface. You can always find the next terrorist/hostage/bomb by just referring to it as you play.

The animation of the CD spinning around when you select any of the three games is rather neat. You can see the layout of the Nakatomi building, and how each of the floors are laid out as you walk around. The good thing about this is that you are not obstructed from view. If you are facing a wall up close, you can see what is on the other side, and because of this, you can find a safe way around to that area. You can shoot fragile objects such as curtains and glass windows to break them, making another path for you to get through.

One of the locales that you can explore in DH2 is Washington/Dulles Airport. I was impressed at how detailed the airport terminal is and how it is laid out. I don't know if the infrastructure is real since I haven't been to Dulles Airport yet. Out of all the games, DH3 is the best of the lot. You are free to drive around in your car and explore each section of the city fully without sticking to the one path that the game always directs you with, providing that you have enough time to do this. You can obtain certain pickups that will help you find that bomb, and best of all, you can change cars into ones that have better control and speed. The locales that you visit include Manhattan, Central Park, Chinatown, subways, aqueducts, and the docks.

The music in the game consists of CDDA tracks that are worth listening to while you play. The sound effects basically consists of shooting of your weapons, transport, hostages, and terrorists taunting McClane. (Their moaning when they are shot is a bit extreme.) When I heard McClane's voice in the background, I get the feeling that it is the actual voice of Bruce Willis. After all, he is the hero of the Die Hard movies.

The Bad
I don't approve of that gang-rap music that is played on the first level of DH3. This music is not my cup of tea.

The Bottom Line
Die Hard Trilogy is a series of three games that are based on the movie, and it was released for PlayStation, PC, and Saturn, but it is the PlayStation version that really stands out. In the games, McClane needs to accomplish certain tasks such as rescue hostages, kill terrorists, and deactivate bombs. Two of the games require some strategy in order to get through them. The graphics and sound are excellent, and the game lets you explore real-life locations that are based in Washington and New York. If you like action games that are movie licenses, as well as any of the Die Hard movies, then this game should keep you entertained for a while.

The Good
It is interesting that they tried to make three completely separate games based on the Die Hard films. The third game, in which you drive a car through Manhattan rushing to stop time bombs, is by far the best. It actually reminds me of a primitive Midtown Madness. It is a short fun game.

The Bad
Although it was nice that they tried to make three completely separate games, the first two games have serious problems.

The third person shooter game based on the first film is practically unplayable. Graphics, sound and most importantly control are horrible. Your character moves like he is stuck in mud and you have to put eight bullets in guys for them to finally drop. It is just a really horrible game.

I don’t feel like I can fairly comment about the game based on the second film. It is designed to be played with a light gun which I don’t have. Light gun games always are horrible using the standard controller. From what I have played though, it does not seem very good. The graphics are poor and the action seems very repetitive.

Also, I feel obligated to note a disturbing scene. When you lose the third game (by not getting the car to the planted bomb in time), the game cuts to a scene of the New York skyline (including the World Trade Center). The skyline then suffers a massive explosion. Obviously the developers at the time had no idea of what the future would hold, but the scene can still be disturbing to some.

The Bottom Line
Die Hard Trilogy is made up of three completely separate games, one based on each of the Die Hard films. The first game is a third person shooter. The second is a light gun game. The third is a driving game.

Overall the games unfortunately show the low quality typical of a product based on a movie license. None of these games is good, but the driving game is by far the best of three.

The Good
Well, this game is really great. Actually it's more like 3 games, one for each movie. Each one plays differently as well. Die Hard is a chase-view shooter through Nakatomi plaza. The graphics here are fairly nice, although the characters a pretty blocky. Die Hard II plays like the Time Crisis games and is very entertaining. You get lots of weapons, tons of explosions and very good action with this mode, although it's pretty darn hard. Lastly, Die Hard with a Vengeance takes you to the streets of L.A. which look and sound great- you can see for miles down the street as you tear through a distressed city. It's funny when you hit people while in 1st person view in this mode!

The Bad
Some bad AI by the enemies, blocky graphics in some parts. Some of the voice-quotes are annoying.

The Bottom Line
Cool! Definitely worth your money. You can't beat the value of 3 games in one. If you liked the movie you'll probably like the game too, but not as much.