John Romero's Daikatana

The Good
This game's developer was involved in the creation of Wolfenstein 3D (a classic first person shooter). The bad news is that he seemed to forget how it became so popular. Daikatana is pretty dark and creepy like it's supposed be. There is a range of 25 weapons, 64 monsters, four different time periods, all of which are shared within 24 levels.

The Bad
When I said the game was dark, it really is dark, I have to keep squinting sometimes just in order to see what's in front of me (usually in a dark place). Another problem I have with this game is that it was a delayed release. The developer John Romero believed that the entire game could be finished in just seven months, intending to release it in 1997. The game was eventually released in 2000 and many people said that it was using the "old fashioned" 3D engine used for Quake 2.

The Bottom Line
Overall, this game is satisfactory and playable. John Romero's Daikatana is a pretty creepy and amusing first person shooter. While summing up this game, it has proven to be pretty original and creative.

The Good
One surprising thing about Daikatana is that it genuinely should have been really, really good. Just look at its premise: an immersive first-person action game centered around time travel where every chapter has a unique feel and playstyle to it. It's unique, visionary, unprecedented, and at the same time absolutely doable with technology available at the time.

And that overall concept is still the game's biggest strength. The varied locations, distinct aesthetics, and differently paced levels all add to Daikatana's feeling of freshness. It doesn't really matter how flimsy and clichéd its excuse of a story is with a general premise this good.

Another thing Daikatana gets mostly right that's really important for an action game is the combat. Thanks to the varied time periods and aesthetics, each chapter has a separate and distinct arsenal, not restrained by the somewhat basic futurism of Quake II or the realism of Half-Life. Not every weapon is all that useful or satisfying to use, but the variety is enough to allow for freedom when it comes to playstyle and adapting to the game's challenges. Another interesting addition is the titular daikatana, a melee weapon that gets stronger with every enemy you kill with it, as opposed to being bound to the XP system like the other weapons.

The Bad
With so many good things about Daikatana, why is it not a good game overall? One reason is the level design. While not more convoluted than that of Doom or Quake (let alone some maps in Unreal), it definitely feels far less intuitive and at some points simply annoying. On top of that, chapters 1 and 4 really like to put enemies with hitscan weapons or very fast projectiles in places where they will see you immediately as you enter a room, often not allowing any time to properly dodge. Combined with an abundance of segments where you actually have to take (mostly fall) damage to progress, Daikatana feels a bit like a throwback to the NES era of artificial difficulty. Except here it's used simply to spite the player and not to pad the game's length despite technical limitations.

But Daikatana's biggest sin lies somewhere else - the infamous AI ally system. During large portions of the game you'll have 1 or 2 NPCs following you, with them being by your side necessary to move on to the next part of a level. A combination of friendly fire, awkward hitboxes, and most of all absolutely abysmal pathfinding makes the allies a waking nightmare that will impede your progress on numerous occasions in the most frustrating ways possible.

Despite Daikatana's notoriously long development cycle, you can tell the quality assurance portion of it was rushed. The game is mostly a finished product and definitely playable, but it does have its fair share of minor hiccups and annoyances surrounding hitboxes and collisions.

The Bottom Line
In short, Daikatana is a both unique and highly frustrating experience that doesn't quite live down to its terrible reputation, but is even farther from living up to the promise of its premise. 4/10

The Good
I believe the strongest point of this game is the fact that it almost appears to be 4 different games in one box. There are four different time periods which feature different foes, weapons, maps and design. If you don't like one, play on, because the next one will be completely different. The levels feature many hidden areas reminicent of Doom and Quake 1. I believe the graphics to be good and framerates to be good as well (p2-450, 128 ram, w/Voodoo 3000). Background music is good to very good in areas. Medusa level music really added to the atmosphere. Also there is actually a story that goes along with the game as it progresses, which many FPS lack, that adds to the experience.

The Bad
Savegem crystal system requires you to have picked up a crystal to save the game. Crystals can be accumulated, but it will force numerous replays on some areas that you would prefer to be done with. Some bugs in the sidekick A.I., as has been mentioned, being killed in closed doors, if you tell them to "get" something that is out of reach, they will continue the attempt even after being recalled. Manually configuring voodoo card support.

The Bottom Line
This is a game that was originally created and was supposed to be released sometime shortly after Quake 2 was. Many problems forced numerous delays This game has received a lot of publicity and many had very high expectations of it. It took a very long time to produce and anyone interested can read a good story about it on gamespot. Many have developed a personal dislike for some of the people involved due to some of the publicity practices (slogans) released through the years, as well as other reasons. If you are expecting Unreal or Quake 3 graphics, then you don't understand what all this game has been through and need to understand the delays involved. Graphics are better than Quake 2. If you like FPS and don't have any pre-concieved notions about the game, and have some patience, you probably will like the game. A patch is soon to be released that will address many of the (constructive) complaints made about the game.