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Die Hard Trilogy (PlayStation) artwork

Die Hard Trilogy (PlayStation) review


"Hey, remember that part in Die Hard when John McClane killed 25 terrorists in the parking garage with a machine-gun and grenades? And what about that moment in Die Harder when you see him completely destroy the airport terminal with just his handgun? That was great. Of course, can't forget about that memorable scene in Die Hard With a Vengeance when John and Zeus crashed into a phone booth to disarm a bomb. Classic. "

Hey, remember that part in Die Hard when John McClane killed 25 terrorists in the parking garage with a machine-gun and grenades? And what about that moment in Die Harder when you see him completely destroy the airport terminal with just his handgun? That was great. Of course, can't forget about that memorable scene in Die Hard With a Vengeance when John and Zeus crashed into a phone booth to disarm a bomb. Classic.

Obviously, none of that ever happened in the films. I don't blame the developers for taking liberties when they made Die Hard Trilogy, because if they followed the source material to the t, I don't think there would have been much of a game to begin with. So, how did they go about making this title, since they had three movies to work with? They simply just made three different games for each film, and I do mean different, because each game is a different genre. The first game, Die Hard, is a straight-up action game, where you take control of John McClane, and fight your way through dozens upon dozens of terrorists on 19 floors of the Nakatomi Tower. Along the way, you can pick up grenades and machine-gun powerups to help you easily mow down your enemies, and save hostages in the process. Though, rescuing them is purely optional. Hell, you can kill them yourself and not get penalized for it... unless you're a score fanatic.

If you decide to pick Die Hard With a Vengeance from the selection screen, you'll be thrown in the middle of New York City, where you'll be in possession of a cab, or TAXI, as the instruction manual calls it. Basically, all you'll be doing is following red arrows on a compass and get to the planted bombs before they detonate. It's not gonna be easy because of the amount of traffic you'll have to drive through, and then there's the almighty timer to contend with. There's also a lot of civilians walking around, with about 70% of them you'll end up hitting. Don't worry, like Die Hard, you won't really be punished for running over them, you'll only have Zeus, who sounds like Chris Tucker on helium in this game, yelling nonsense at you. Hilariously, once you reach a bomb and stop it from blowing up, it'll still explode, destroying its surroundings. Except your TAXI, of course.

Picking Die Harder, my favorite on the disc, will put you into the eye's of McClane, gunning down more terrorists in this light-gun title. The reason why I like this one the most is because it's the most absurd of the three. For example, when you begin the first level, you'll be in the airport terminal's parking lot. There's no terrorists yet, only cars and civilians moving around. You usually have to wait about 10 or 15 seconds before an actual threat appears. I can't wait that long, so every time the level begins, I annihilate the parking lot: vehicles blow up, people scream and run in terror, some even being engulfed in flames from the explosions, and the words MAJOR DISASTER appear, in colorful text, on screen. Hell, the cops, who normally do nothing but run away from danger, will try to kill you if you attempt this on your own. And again, you won't get in any type of trouble for being such a big dick. Whenever you kill a civilian, John McClane will simply reply with a "Sorry about that!", or the words WHOOPS will appear on screen. Once you eventually enter the building, you'll begin the complete destruction of the airport. Almost everything can be damaged: windows, soda machines, the friggin ceiling, you name it. And you'll cause all of this with a variety of weapons, like grenades, shotguns, missiles, and rockets, all of which make a very bloody mess.

Now, unfortunately, this is the very special part of the review where I have to deliver the bad news: Die Hard Trilogy just isn't a good game. It could have been, but quite a number of flaws plague the title. Die Hard's main problem is that it gets old quick. You do the same thing on every floor, and considering there's a total of 19 floors, and you start getting bored by the time you reach the 5th floor... well, that's just not a good thing. You can't even save or continue, either; once you die, you get sent back to the title screen, where you'll have to start at the very bottom of the building again. With Die Hard With a Vengeance, its flaw is that the gameplay flat out sucks. Controlling your vehicle is a pain in the ass, because you more or less have to time your turns, which normally ends with you crashing into something. That itself is a nuisance, because you can get stuck on that object for a couple of seconds due to crappy collision detection. The gameplay is just an overall annoyance, making the game almost next to impossible to play. Die Harder is the one game with the least irritating problems, which is another reason why I like it the most. Like Die Hard, you just can't continue once you die, and aiming with the Playstation's d-pad can get frustrating, because the in-game target cursor moves fast.

It's too bad, really, since this could have been an entertaining title with a morbid sense of humor. Instead, it's just a below-average title with a morbid sense of humor.



dementedhut's avatar
Community review by dementedhut (June 29, 2008)

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