Die Hard Trilogy

The Good
I was going to start off by saying that I love the Die Hard films, but honestly if you've played Die Hard Trilogy for the PS1 then you're most likely already a fan and know about the films, so I'll just get into the game.

Die Hard Trilogy lets you play as John McClane as he navigates his way through pint-sized version of the first three films. The first game mode, a.k.a. Die Hard, is a top-view 3D shooter (much like Loaded) where you navigate through the Nakatomi Tower, blowing away enemies, finding hostages, and busting through crates to find health and weapon pick-ups. This is a pretty fast paced game mode, and is pretty entertaining for the most part. The graphics in this mode are pretty decent, however character models are very chunky and not very detailed, though the environments look nice and are relatively well designed.

The second mode, a.k.a. Die Harder, is a rail shooter (much like House of the Dead) where you shoot your way through an airport filled with a bunch of bad guys. I think this is my probably my favorite game mode in the trilogy. The shooting is pretty addicting and I enjoy how it has a heavy arcade feel to it. In my opinion, Die Harder has the best graphics out of the three games. Seeing as it's a rail shooter, the environments have a lot more detail to them, character models look a bit smoother here than in Die Hard, and the action feels a lot more lively as well.

The third and last game mode, a.k.a. Die Hard With a Vengeance, has the player driving around New York City racing to diffuse bombs set to blow all around the neighborhood. Honestly I don't have many good things to say about this mode. Driving around and exploring the mini New York City that is presented here is pretty interesting but that's about it.

The Bad
Here are some of the problems that I had with this game.

Firstly, I've encountered lots of glitches in Die Hard. I've gone through many walls, got stuck inside the ceiling (probably a rare occurrence, but is game breaking nonetheless), and trying to race towards the exit at the end of each stage can be a real headache as the environments are nice, but are often repetitious and it's hard to tell which room is which. What really made me mad was getting stuck inside walls and the ceiling. There's no way out of it; I couldn't escape by killing myself or moving around, I was simply stuck and my only option was to restart the entire level. It sounds simple enough, but these levels are pretty lengthy as you have to find several hostages, clear out all enemies, and sometimes find keycards. It's quite frustrating being finished with a level and then getting caught on a wall and having to restart an entire level. This is what really bothered me with this game mode.

Die Harder is pretty good for the most part. As I said earlier, gunning down enemies in an airport and essentially recreating the movie was lots of fun, but the shooting can become a bit monotonous and mindless at times. It gets a little boring after some time, but is a total blast at first.

Die Hard With a Vengeance is the worst game in the trilogy, I feel. The gameplay isn't as great as it sounds. The car is a bit annoying to steer, the graphics in this game look the worst as a lot of cars are just big blocks with chunky wheels, and the environments are unsightly. On top of all this, the gameplay itself is also a bit difficult as I can never seem to keep up with the time. There aren't any checkpoints, saves, nothing. Once you run out of time, you have to start all over. It's very frustrating.

The Bottom Line
Being a die hard fan of Die Hard (ha!) I really wanted to enjoy this game a lot more than I do. It's just not that great of a game. While the first two games are fun at the start, they both become repetitious because they lack a lot of differentiation within themselves. The third game is atrocious any way you slice it.

Though this isn't a compilation of great games, it's as close to movie-games as we'll probably ever get, and that alone is what I appreciate about Die Hard Trilogy. You can tell that this game was crafted with appreciation for the films in mind as the menus, which feature signature landmarks from each film, are neatly designed (and even somewhat campy) and includes lots of lines from the films. Check this game out if you like any of the first three Die Hard films, otherwise you may just want to pass and play a better shoot em' up like Doom, Loaded, or even Smash TV.

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
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.