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Dom Robinson reviews
Fox Interactive 
- Price: £39.99
- Players: 1
- Widescreen: Yes
- 60Hz: No
Die Hard – excellent films, but the games are a mixed bag.
The Playstation’s Die Hard Trilogy was a triumph and pushed the envelopeof what Sony’s older console could do, while the more recentDie Hard: Nakatomi Plazawas such a piss-poor first-person shooter, that this latest offering, a NintendoGamecube exclusive, has some ground to make up.
After the training section (during which it’s fun to shoot paintballs aroundthe instruction room before you go on the course), the game begins at theTownshend Museum where Piet Gruber, son of Hans Gruber – the main baddie fromthe first film, is attempting to tell the public that he’s helped the museumbring back a valuable painting. Gunfire erupts and all of a sudden you, asJohn McClane, have to wade in and save the day, ensure hostages are unharmedand 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 bringhim in. Fair point, but it is still a shame.
On the plus side with the graphics, there are staggering water effects in theoutside ponds and curved glass effects through such doors, but I could spotglitches in walls where jagged straight lines weren’t quite right and flickerat you rather a lot. Other than that, everything’s fairly standard and willhold no surprises.
Given that the Gamecube has no facilities for Dolby Digital or DTS, unlike itstwo main competitors, the gunshots give little to get excited about. Dialogueand the background music is clear.
It feels like a cheat to have the auto-aim function on, but the alternativeis trying to aim yourself with the yellow joystick, which self-centres to adegree whether you tell it to or not, making the gameplay feel more like aTime Crisis 2-stylegame than a Quake-style FPS.
There’s also the ridiculous auto-jump feature once you approach the edge ofthe surface you’re on, the scourge of theHarry Pottergame 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 finallyunlocked 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 hookupon which to hang the threadbare story.
It’s not one for younger games, giventhe colourful language within. There’s no “Yippee Kay-ay Kimosabi” in adodgy Japanese accent here, the swearing is uncut, although I’ve yet to hearMcClane’s trademark phrase.
We’ve ‘been here, done that’ many timesbefore, so you’re probably best trying before you buy with a rental first to seeif you’ll stick at it longer than an evening.
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Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.