{"id":353784,"date":"2022-12-18T10:00:49","date_gmt":"2022-12-18T16:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/?p=353784"},"modified":"2023-04-05T09:11:23","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T14:11:23","slug":"weekly-kusoge-die-hard-nes-immersive-sim-retro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/weekly-kusoge-die-hard-nes-immersive-sim-retro\/","title":{"rendered":"Die Hard on NES might be considered an early immersive sim"},"content":{"rendered":"
Licensed video games have always been like the interior of an abandoned barn. Sometimes you might find a long-abandoned car that is in dire need of restoration, but more likely, it\u2019s just full of spiders. Die Hard<\/i> on NES is neither of those things. It\u2019s more like finding a long-abandoned lunar lander in an old barn. You wonder how it got there and if it\u2019s a good idea to try it out.<\/p>
It\u2019s an absolutely bizarre game that transcends the discussion of whether it\u2019s good or crap. It\u2019s fascinating. The design is something that isn\u2019t exactly without comparison, but the way it functions is out of this world.<\/p>
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I\u2019d recommend watching Die Hard<\/i> before playing this game. While knowing the movie is rarely needed for playing the licensed game, it\u2019s practically required for Die Hard<\/i>. There is some setup \u2013 terrorists have taken over Nakatomi Plaza and are breaking through locks to get at money \u2013 but it doesn\u2019t really go into depth as to what your goals are or how to accomplish them. It doesn\u2019t explain the existence of a \u201cfoot\u201d meter, only viewable in the pause menu. Likewise, you won\u2019t be prepared when the game intentionally tricks you at the end.<\/p>
It will also help if you read the manual. It goes over all the rules that aren\u2019t otherwise explained. Like, if you go into the vents, you\u2019ll drop your machine gun. There\u2019s nothing within the game that indicates that you will. You aren\u2019t asked if you want to drop your weapon. You\u2019ll just emerge from the vents and realize that you\u2019ve been stripped to your pistol.<\/p>
It\u2019s a strangely literal interpretation of the movie. There is a set number of \u201ccrooks\u201d dwelling within Nakatomi Plaza, and pretty much the only solid objective in Die Hard<\/i> is to take them all out. In order to take on Hans Gruber, you need to kill all the enemies before he\u2019ll unlock the door. However, there are various ways to make it easy on yourself, such as taking out the computer on the 4th floor to delay the terrorists. Everything aside from removing the terrorists is optional.<\/p>
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Die Hard <\/i>plays in real-time. Upon beginning, the terrorists start working their way through the locks in the vault, and you\u2019re fighting the clock to take as many out before then. Once the vault is broken, everyone moves onto the 30th floor, meaning the more that are left, the more you\u2019re going to have to fight there and then before you\u2019ll be able to take on Hans. There\u2019s a counter on the pause menu, letting you know how many are left. Don\u2019t take too long, or Hans will escape.<\/p>
In a lot of ways, Die Hard <\/i>on NES is an extremely early example of an immersive sim. You\u2019re dropped into a world with a bunch of rules and little scripting beyond those rules, and it\u2019s up to you to figure it all out. The only thing linear about Die Hard<\/i> is the march of time and the related placement of events.<\/p>
It also uses systems such as \u201cfog of war\u201d which obscures areas that your character cannot see at that moment. Terrorists hidden behind corners are obscured in darkness. The aiming system takes some getting used to, as it isn\u2019t simply four or eight-directional but works a bit like a dial. If you can\u2019t get a handle on it, spraying and praying is a reasonable strategy. There are also multiple ways to get around the floors, including stairs, an elevator, and the vents. The terrorists will respond to your disruptions, with Hans telling them to check floors where you\u2019ve created a ruckus. This allows you to avoid or ambush as you see fit.<\/p>
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What is going to frustrate many players is the fact that Die Hard<\/i> is obviously designed to take multiple attempts to complete. It\u2019s not a very long game, but it is an unforgiving one. It\u2019s entirely possible for you to make a minor miscalculation at the very end of the game and have to start over completely. This wasn\u2019t too uncommon at the time \u2013 Contra <\/i>was similarly brutal about making you start over \u2013 but it\u2019s something that hasn\u2019t aged well.<\/p>
What makes the repetition a little harder to swallow is that Die Hard <\/i>is a rather small game in general. Consisting of the small handful of floors in Nakatomi Plaza and the few dozen thugs that live there, it sort of feels like it needs two more movies worth of content to call it a complete package. That\u2019s a bit understandable when you consider there\u2019s only one person in the credits listed under a creative role: Tony Van. Almost certainly, he wasn\u2019t the only developer working on Die Hard<\/i>. He\u2019s not listed as a programmer anywhere else. However, if we choose to believe this was a solo dev effort, that\u2019s damned impressive!<\/p>
With no disrespect to Tony Van (he did have a hand in my beloved Shadowrun <\/i>for Genesis<\/a>), it\u2019s most likely more of a case that Activision didn\u2019t credit people, or they simply didn\u2019t want to be associated. Junichi Saito has, at the very least, been identified as the composer. Oh, hey! He did the music to Predator<\/i> on the NES<\/a>! The only decent part of that game!<\/p> <\/p> As I said so long ago, I don\u2019t really care to wonder if Die Hard<\/i> is truly kusoge. Its design is just out of this world. It feels like something we wouldn\u2019t truly get until years later. It may be short, perhaps it relies too much on outside sources to actually understand it, and it might have been better suited to a more advanced console, but that\u2019s not the point. Die Hard <\/em>pushes 8-bit design. It\u2019s art born from its constraints.<\/p> Unfortunately, being a licensed game, it\u2019s not likely to be ported. An NES cartridge with Die Hard<\/i> living on it will run you well north of a hundo<\/a>. That\u2019s possibly due to it being a late release for the console in 1991. This year, give the gift of Die Hard <\/i>on the NES. Watch the light in the eyes of people who discover this non-linear proto-immersive sim for the first time. After all, that\u2019s what Christmas is all about.<\/p> Now I have a machine gun, Ho-Ho-Ho<\/h2>