Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza Demo

Regardless of what happened with the rest of the sequels, the first Die Hard is one of the most iconic thrillers of the 1980s, especially since it is still featured on TV from time to time. One guy against an entire terrorist team may seem like a stretch for today's movies, but back then, there was no other way to do it, because the people loved seeing a bold hero managing the situation by himself.

Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza is a first-person shooter that allows you to play as the brave John McClane and, as the name says, explore the Nakatomi Plaza building in order to take out the terrorists, disarm their bombs and rescue the hostages. Although you do get some help from the police toward the end, you must obviously face the bad guys alone and salvage the situation before the law does anything about it.

Thankfully, the game follows the events from the movie very closely, with very few changes or additions. Hence, you get to even explore some of the same rooms and floors seen on the silver screen, which have been closely modeled to resemble reality. Unfortunately, the gameplay mechanics are not exactly top-notch and you may stumble into some trouble, given the fact that the shooting is not very accurate.

Even if it is rather unfair to criticize a game made after an 80s action movie for being repetitive and boring, that didn't necessarily need to be the case. The gameplay could have been much more polished and fun, not to mention the variety of other mechanics that were a stone's throw a way, especially given the circumstances. You can still have fun with it though, as you can still sit through Die Hard whenever you happen to catch it on TV.

Graphically, the game does not really excel, but the textures are not bad and the level design is more than decent, even if not entirely original. The long and twisted corridors can be a little disorienting and annoying at times, but that goes away when you start shooting, since it is quite exciting to see the terrorists duck for cover or even run when they see you.

Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza is by no means a gem of the genre, but it doesn't really try to be one either. Alternatively, it just tries really hard to depict the movie as authentically as possible, which is thoroughly achieved and the only thing missing to complete the atmosphere is probably the sensation of stepping on broken glass when you're not wearing any shoes.