Developer: Pack-in-Video Publisher: NIhon Bussan Release: 1990 Genre: Action
You can write volumes about how badly the Die Hard license has been handled within the video game space. The NES game meant well but they botched the execution of all its interesting ideas. Some like the Die Hard Trilogy games on PlayStation but personally I never understood what was the big deal. It wasn’t until Die Hard Vendetta that we would get a semi decent game in this series and even that one has problems. Common sense says just make a traditional run and gun action game and make out like a bandit. Well they kind of did that on the PC Engine and the game never left Japan. Die Hard is kind of generic and that is why it succeeds. It is still not worth buying however.
For the most part Die Hard follows the plot of the film. Terrorists take over Nakatomi Plaza during an office Christmas party. Unfortunately for Officer John McClane his wife is one of the hostages, prompting him to sneak in to the tower to save his wife and thwart the plans of Hans Gruber and his crew. There is an English patch for the game but it is unnecessary. The only dialogue is John McClane and his sarcastic remarks and if you have seen the movie you know what he is saying.
At its core Die Hard is a top-down shooter along the lines of Ikari Warriors and Bloody Wolf. You start with a basic handgun and can find more powerful weapons like machine guns, a rocket launcher, and flamethrowers. Ammunition is limited which is supposed to create tension as you ration bullets lest you end up melee punching which is a death sentence. But new guns drop so frequently you will almost never be unarmed unless you suck.
Although Die Hard follows the movie for the most part it does deviate a little bit for the sake of variety. You begin outside of Nakatomi Plaza and make your way toward the tower for the first few levels. You explore the grounds surrounding the building and the moat before entering the Plaza itself. From there it becomes relatively straightforward outside of stage three’s maze. And to be honest the game is simply not terribly interesting at this point. Enemy AI is basic; they walk toward you, fire in your direction, and that is it. There is some light platforming that is very out of place and does not accomplish its job of varying the gameplay. Once you run through a few floors the game becomes repetitive and boring.
The game’s stiff controls and zoomed in view also do not help. McClane rotates in fixed angles rather than free aiming. This makes gunfights more about positioning than quick reflex aiming, which can be frustrating when enemies fire from awkward angles. Once you run through a few floors the game becomes repetitive and boring.
It is painfully obvious that Die Hard is a generic action that the license was slapped on after the fact. They try their best to mask it but the connections to the film are thin at best. Outside of John McClane’s random quips and the few end level “cutscenes” you would never know this is a licensed title. You could plop Bill or Lance in this game and nothing would change. Well maybe the controls would be better. Get this, you don’t even fight Hans Gruber or see him in the game! For as much as I lambast the NES game (and it rightfully deserves it) they went out of their way to make you feel like you were in the movie. Their execution was lacking is all. Die Hard PC Engine is safe, but at what cost?
For the most part Die Hard is not hard but has myriad annoying flaws that make it annoying. The field of view is very low and you take hits from off-screen enemies constantly. McClane presents a large target making dodging incoming fire difficult. Health power-ups are not common and even if you find a room with guaranteed drops chances are you will take damage grabbing the stupid thing. The timer for each floor is aggressive and will pressure you into rushing, which usually leads to sloppy mistakes. The worst are the few boss battles, which are an absolute slog. The game would have been better without them. This especially applies to the final encounter which drags on to the point of absurdity. If some of these flaws were fixed the game would be a little better.
In Closing
Die Hard is a competent but generic top-down action game that just happens to have Die Hard on the box. It is playable and has some charm, but it doesn’t really capture the tension, humor, or set pieces of the film. In Japan, it is just one of many “movie license in name only” games from the late ’80s/early ’90s. Not bad if you like this style of shooter, but do not expect an authentic John McClane experience. It is pretty embarrassing that even this middling game would have been a welcome addition to the small Turbo Grafx-16 library in the US, things were that bad.
