Die Hard Trilogy

Developer - Fox
Publisher - Fox
Players - 1
Extras - Memory card, Mouse, Some lightguns

The bit on the box

"Three incredible adventures. One intense game. Run, shoot and drive your way through all 3 Die Hard movies in one explosive arcade epic. With 3 different game types and over 45 high impact levels, all you need to do is Play Hard, Die Hard! Die Hard. Full screen 3D action - deadly terrorists, innocent hostages and a skyscraper wired to blow. It's just not your day! Die Hard 2 Die Harder. First person arcade shooter - a crowded airport, lost luggage and even more terrorists. Lightning does strike twice! Die Hard with a Vengeance. Combat Driving - a city that never sleeps, mad bombers and pedestrian-strewn sidewalks - you're the wrong guy in the wrong place at a very wrong time!"

Graphics

As Die Hard Trilogy has three distinctly different game styles in it's three episodes, the graphics are also vastly different in each one. Die Hard is reminiscent of a Tomb Raider or One type shooting game, and does a great job of bringing across the claustrophobic feel of being trapped in a building much like the film. The many explosions look great, and although the enemies all look the same they are well animated. Bits of scenery also blow up which is always a plus for the destructive among us. Die Hard 2 Die Harder is a first person pre-rendered shooter, much like Time Crisis though much less advanced. The graphics are once again crisp and well animated, although sometimes your aim can be messed up by the moving camera. Die Hard with a Vengeance has been made into an arcade driving sim and is most definitely the most technically best of the three, and is also the most bloody. The animation when you hit someone on the roads of New York and switch on the wipers to clear the blood off the windscreen is extremely comical.

Sounds

The sound in Die Hard Trilogy is extremely good in all three episodes and range from digitised speech and very large explosions with breaking glass. A Bruce Willis sound-alike appears to have done the voice of your main character, but does take direct quotes from the three films ("If you want to stay alive, come with me" is one example, they also do some samples for the Bruce's partner in the third movie, "Are you aiming for these people??"). The gunshots from the various weapons available sound better sampled than in other games of this ilk, and the music is a mixture of rap and modern style beats (no christmas tunes though which were prevelent in Die Hard 1 and 2).

Gameplay

Die Hard has an extremely good control system, and many levels to get through to make it to the final boss. The bosses are basically just normal guys that are surrounded by lots of henchmen, and the levels do get somewhat repetitive after awhile. Every few levels you get a bonus level where you have to get on the roof and lead some hostages (which you rescue throughout the game) to a police helicopter. I had the most fun with this episode. Die Hard 2 is a mixed bag. Is is technically well designed but very hard to play with the playstation digital controller, but when you use a mouse or a light gun it becomes far too easy to complete, and appears to be almost a fill-in game between the other two. Die Hard with a Vengeance has you driving about looking for bombs in New York, and ramming them when you find them. The time limits are extremely strict in later levels, and as with the first one the levels can get very repetitive.

I feel a verdict coming on

Although Die Hard Trilogy has three gameplay styles, and each of these styles are not as good as a game that would specialise in that type of design, it does offer good value for money as you are buying 3 games in one. Also this is one of the few games I keep going back to and playing as it does seem to have a certain amount of addictiveness to it (especially the first episode). Each episode of the game can be played in any order you like, so this also makes it an excellent rental game, and a good purchase if you like the varying type of shooters. It may not be to everyone's liking, and parents be warned it is very very bloody and violent in parts, but I enjoyed it alot and it does get across the feel of action from the films. If only the diffculty levels had been designed better, it would have been a more well rounded title.

Review by D.R.T.Barrett