John McClane has a knack for finding trouble.
Or maybe it is that trouble has a knack for finding him.
To get an understanding of the premise
of the GameCube release, Die Hard Vendetta (a release from Sierra and Bits
Studios), one has to backtrack to the original Die Hard film starring Bruce
Willis. In that movie his wife, Holly, was held hostage with the executives
and employees of the Japanese company she worked for in the Nakatomi Towers.
The perpetrator was a thief named Hans Gruber (splendidly portrayed by
Alan Rickman), who was under the guise of terrorist. All he really wanted
was the vast fortune contained in the tower’s safe. In the end, Gruber
fell to his death from the towers, McClane saved the day, and the movie
industry had embraced many memorable characters.
Die Hard Vendetta takes place many years
after the original movie. McClane is much older and has, in fact, a daughter
(Lucy) who has just joined the force. She is on patrol at the Townsend
Museum, her first assignment, during the unveiling of a priceless work
of art. The artwork had been stolen, then recovered by Piet Gruber, son
of Hans. His seeming goal is not to make up for his father’s transgressions,
but to restore a valuable piece of art to the world collective.
Yeah, right. Lucy stumbles upon thieves
removing some pictures during the ceremony, fires a shot, which her father
hears while watching the telecast of the presentation ceremony.
Richard Thornberg, the television reporter,
in classic overreaction hails the single gunshot as a maelstrom of bullets
and blood.
John, hurries to the museum, guns at the
ready. Captain Al Powell (from the original film and subsequent incarnations
of the series) informs him that hostages have been taken. John, undaunted
by the warning to be careful, focused on the rescue of his child, enters
the museum. An explosion to the entryway seals him inside. From that point
on it is up to McClane to save the day.
He will have to work his way through a
bevy of gun-toting bad guys, rescue hostages, and pick up ammunition as
he progresses through the museum to the big gun battle only to see
a helicopter fly off with main bad guy aboard. Los Angeles doesn’t really
seem big enough to hid this thug, and McClane vows to track him down.
That’s the premise of the game in nutshell.
This first-person shooter does have some very good features, but it also
borrows rather liberally from other groundbreaking games like Max Payne.
The game’s sound is perhaps the biggest
disappointment of this game. While boasting the usual array of henchmen
shouts (“There he is!”) to the realistic sound of guns, flame-throwers
and bombs, the voice acting leaves a lot to be desired. Only one of the
movie actors makes an appearance here Reginald VelJohnson as Capt.
Powell and his voice is a welcomed relief from the tired, emotionless
bantering of the other characters. Without Bruce Willis’ sarcastic inflections,
the one liners lack punch or pizzazz. The repetitious phrases used by the
training officer in the game’s tutorial level quickly become annoying.
The special effects, such as the distant sound of the helicopter in the
opening level that gets louder as you get nearer, or the sound of footsteps
— which can be used to gauge how far away someone is — are well done.
Graphically this game is a bit of a mixed
bag. The characters have aged, and perhaps the rendering isn’t as sharp
nor the motion as fluid as it could be, but shooting victims do fall well
and the special effects (with the exception of blood, which doesn’t look
very realistic at all) are quite well done. Only one character bears any
real resemblance to his movie counterpart and that is Al Powell. Of course,
the familiar voice may have something to do with that.
The environments are interactive and if
you put a bullet hole in something, it will stay there. Bodies litter the
floor and don’t fade into oblivion moments after you shoot them.
The game introduces some special features
for McClane, the primary one known as “hero time.” When McClane does good
deeds, like rescue hostages, he accrues hero time. Triggering it gives
him a distinct edge on his enemies liken it to Max Payne’s “bullet
time.”
Controls of the game are designed for ease
of use, but some of the innovations do seem to hamper rather than help.
For example, McClane will auto-jump off an edge, which is all right if
that is what you are meaning to do. Auto aim doesn’t always seem to target
the right thing you can hit walls instead of perps, especially if
you are trying to squeeze a shot in with the sniper rifle and if
you disable it, your weapon bounces around and it is extremely tough to
target the enemy. The line between crouch and crawl is fine indeed.
There are collectibles along the game path,
not only ammunition but med kits, which aid your health status.
Overall, Die Hard Vendetta is an action
packed game that could have been much better than it is. The movies offered
a great array of characters, and the flat dialogue of this game doesn’t
translate that feel too well. Sure, the language does try to emulate the
films, but it comes off as ineffectual. The audio track, control setbacks,
and average physical graphics combine to make this an average first-person
shooter.
This game is rated Mature for blood, strong
language and violence.
Gameplay: 7
Some of the gameplay is structured around
dialogue. For example, in the opening level, you know you have to go into
the museum but can’t do that until you have a well-rounded conversation
with Powell, which more or less reiterates the level’s mission statement.
The cutscenes, which propel the story, are not as fluid as they could be.
Graphics: 6.8
The special effects are very good, but
some of the polygonal characters are poorly rendered. A lot of the henchmen
(a.k.a. target practice) are clones. The animation does look a little stiff,
and there seemed to be some frame-rate jumps. McClane is standing next
to Thornberg, hears bad guys coming and is suddenly five feet from where
he was without triggering hero time.
Sound: 6.8
The vocal characterizations, for the most
part, are disappointing. When you have a familiar icon like John McClane
(Willis) you expect a certain style to the phraseology, which isn’t there.
Difficulty: Medium
There are three difficulty levels, Die
Hard, Die Harder and Die Hardest. The latter two definitely provide a healthy
measure of challenge. Some of the control elements increase the challenge.
Concept: 7
The game does have some very nice points,
but also some detractors. It is very nice to have a FPS that realizes that
one shot, appropriately placed, is all it takes to put down the enemy.
The game does snag a few of its ideas from previously released programs.
One nice element is that there is more than one way to move through a scenario.
You may arrive at the same finishing area, but you can take alternate paths
to get there.
Multiplayer: N/A
This is a single-player only game.
Overall: 7
Considering the characters, this is a
game that could have been so much better rather than just an average shooter.
The action is intense, and the weapon array is excellent, but the tiny
drawbacks mount to hamper the experience.
