Die Hard

"You cannot match the glory of my feet!"

If you read my Die Hard review before March 29th, 2001, it must have sucked. It did, didn't it? But here it is, the long awaited update, for my two fans! The movie Die Hard starred Bruce Willis and came out in 1988. If you didn't know that one, then you would fail movie trivia horribly, unless for some reason that's the one thing you didn't know about movies. Kind of a strange thing to miss, though. Bruce Willis' character's name was John McClane, by the way (so I don't have to refer him as 'the character'). The game came out in 1990 for the NES from Activision. I don't think it did as well as the movie (or the Die Hard series later spawn, Die Hard Trilogy for PSX), and there you have it. Technical bits from me. I'm for hire!

---------------------------
Gameplay Elements
---------------------------

Gameplay
Die Hard surprised me in terms of Gameplay, definitely. It's an overhead shooter, and the main mission is 'Kill and Survive', which in this case isn't bad. Why? Well, there's a lot of strategy involved. The terrorists swarming the Nakatomi building (your playing ground) aren't cheap, especially since you can see the bullets coming. You can dodge the bullets and fire back, hide behind walls while the enemy is still visible, throw stun grenades...all of that stuff. Enemies don't run around shooting in eight directions, either. They'll throw stun grenades, run behind pillars, you know. You need to stay alive for six four minute periods - lockdowns.

There are 40 terrorists in the building, which is composed of seven floors. You can only visit four at first - you start at the 32nd Floor (or 31st, maybe something else on Advanced Difficulty), which has two enemies to start out with, and another will eventually come to help. With the elevator you can visit floors 30-34. However, the terrorists have hostages on the 30th floor, so you can't go there until they're out. From the 34th Floor you can go up the stairs to the 35th floor. You can go to the roof from there, but you need a key from an enemy on that floor. The other floor is the 4th floor, which you can reach via express elevator before the 2nd lockdown. This is where other objectives come into play - you can do other things as well. You can blow up the main computer with a rocket, contact the police, all things that may help you. You could go through the game straightforward, but remember this - There are multiple endings...hehe.

You shoot your handgun or machine gun (whichever you have on you) with the A button, and your special with the B button. Special composes of three things: Run, stun grenade, and C-4. C-4s require one of those side quests to use, because you'll need detonators. Stun grenades are common from terrorist bodies, though. Running quickly drains your....FOOT POWER!!!!! What the hell? Yes, I said....FOOT POWER!!!!! The higher it is, the faster you walk, and the less time you waste on stairs, which you can climb from a few seconds up a level to even a minute (all quickened, of course), all depending on your...FOOT POWER!!!!! You've got to keep it high! Walking takes it down, but very slowly, and walking on glass obviously severely decreases your....FOOT POWER!!!!! Breakdance!

When all of the locks are down, you must go to the 30th floor, where you will battle with the enemies you may have missed (the staircases are safety areas - if you like, you can fight all 40 enemies after standing in the stairwell the whole game), and the leader of the group...
Rating: 7 Good

-----------------------
Design Elements
-----------------------

Visuals
The room you start out in has some blue tile. It's not a pure blue floor, but you can tell it's tile by the fact that it's a bunch of blue squares with black lines in between each of them. Of course, that means nothing, as every NES game besides the god-awful Bokosuka Wars and maybe some very early ones I may have missed have done this in some way or another, and Die Hard doesn't do it with incredible style. There is also metal, which is done in a similar style, and carpeting, which is basically a mix of a type and similar type of color on the ground (EX: red and orange=an dark orange carpet with tiny red pixels covering most of it). When you or an enemy shoots glass, it breaks, but the result on the floor is simply glitching a square spot. Have you ever tried to play an NES game that is really dirty, and noticed squares of mixed colors, like a big blue spot in the middle of the square surrounded by tiny red pixels for example, covering the screen? It's basically that, but just several in a small area surrounding where the glass just was. And remember, walking on glass severely decreases your....FOOT POWER!!!!! Die Hard takes place on Christmas, so you'll also see some Christmas trees, which look like Christmas trees (as they should). They're detailed down to the ornaments.

McClane sports a white shirt with the itsy bitsy sprite arms and jeans. He also has hair (a black blob on his head). That's as detailed as characters are going to get. Enemies are exactly the same, the only differences being green or blue suited enemies and some are bald. And while both of the characters arms are clearly visible, it appears they are only have one leg. You can see both of the legs on the enemies dead bodies, however.

You know when I mentioned Real Vision in Gameplay? Well, when the enemy leaves your sights, so does the area with it. It turns black, and you're left with the ground on your side of the wall. It's a bit irritating at first, but I've managed to play with it. There are just so many appearing floors and disappearing floors and it seems confusing at first.

Bullets are your everyday, typical, average white dots. When you're hit by a bullet, you flash white. Explosions mix some nice oranges together and are quite large, but not near the best explosion effect the NES has seen.
Rating: 5 Average

Sound/Music
Do I have to do a music description? I'm really bad at this. Gah, whatever. The main music while you're exploring the Nakatomi building is a little slower tune, but it's not at all calm. It's telling you that you aren't safe yet-but you aren't being shot at. When you are being shot at, the tune changes to an action-packed theme. The problem is, it cuts into the normal tune when the enemy goes off-screen, probably coming back a second later hailing bullets. When you get aboard the elevator, there's a small piece that has a hint of safety, but it's actually quite indescribable. There are little songs in the game, but for what there is, it's pretty good.

Sound effects are sub-par, especially for a game released in 1991 on the NES. It's basically *Phhffk*, *Crhu*, and *Eeeeng*. You'll here a small version of *Phhffk* whenever you take a step, unless you're out of....FOOT POWER!!!!! Don't you enjoy the wonders of....FOOT POWER!!!!! A larger *Phhffk* is the sound you hear with explosions. *Crhu* is the ever-common gunshot noise. You'll be hearing it a lot in this game. *Eeeeng* is your elevator ding. But before and around the time this was released, NES games had MUCH better sound effects than what you'll hear in Die Hard.
Rating: 6 Decent

-----------------
Final Rating
-----------------

The Good
+Gameplay variety
+Smart enemies
+Well placed music
+....FOOT POWER!!!!!

The Bad
-Average visuals
-Average sound

Die Hard is a little game that may not have great sound quality or graphics, but it's a fun and challenging shooter with a good variety of play. If you can somehow manage to find it (like I did), pick it up. It should be no more than $5.

Final Rating: 7 Good

....FOOT POWER!!!!!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/03/01, Updated 05/02/02