On the Second Day of Die Hard, My True Love Gave to Me...

Following on the heels of Dynamix’s 3D action adventure game based on the first Die Hard, we have a Commodore 64 game that sticks pretty closely to the template set by that game. How closely? Well, close enough that if I described the C64 game (which we will, don’t worry) you would think I was talking about the DOS version right up until a key feature that changes it all. It’s a game that hews closely to the basic plot points of the movie, following John McClain as he works his way through the top floors, and two roofs, of the Nakatomi Plaza building, killing terrorists and collecting their items, all so he can foil their plans to break through seven locks and steal the treasures of the building.

All of that is the same, so what changed? Well, the DOS version is a 3D action game, while the C64 version is a side-scrolling action game. Same kind of building, same goals, same structure, but apparently the C64 hardware couldn’t handle the “intense” (at least for the time) graphical demands of the 3D behind-the-back play style, so as much of the original game as possible was retained while the game was translated, in glorious EGA graphics, over to the weaker computer. It makes for an interesting experience, seeing the same game from a different perspective, and despite the similarities it shares, this does feel like a very different game.

We’ve covered a number of ports in the past, from the various Superman, Batman, Spider-man, and Terminator titles we’ve looked at over the years. Seeing a Commodore 64 game pull the same trick from a DOS title doesn’t really feel that new at this point. This may be one of the earliest port jobs we’ve covered on this site, but this kind of deal is old hat to classic gaming fans. Any time a game proves popular enough that the developer wants to get more eyes on it, they try to translate it over as quickly as they can. Compromising the game in this way is standard procedure now, and it’s interesting to see it happening even here, in the old days of computer gaming.

Thing is, though, that while this is a “compromised” game, one that doesn’t offer the exact, full-featured experience found over in the DOS original, I actually think this makes the C64 game a better title to play. The DOS version was janky and unwieldy, trying to be an early showcase for 3D graphics. To their credit, Dynamix did technically pull it off, making one of the first 3D action shooting games. But that doesn’t make their game good, or fun to play. Dumbing down the experience, even a little, actually makes this game more interesting, and more fun. I found that I could make better progress, position myself against enemies more consistently, and figure out my way around the building better in this 2D version than I ever could with the 3D game. Despite the downgrade, overall this is an upgrade for players.

The basic construction is the same. You’ll look for the same rooms, in and around the same positions, while collecting the same items. You’ll need guns, pistols and uzis, to take on the bad guys (as punching and brawling is not very effective most of the time). You’ll want food and first aid kits to heal yourself. And you’ll have to find key items to be able to get through the whole story. Grab a lighter to move through the vents. Get the cable so you can scale the outside of the building at a key moment. Grab the detonators and explosives so you can ruin the day for the bad guys. It’s all very similar, so if you played the DOS version at all you should understand what you need to do here.

I found that combat was much more responsive in this game, though. Where in the 3D game I could never tell if I was aiming right to shoot at the bad guys, or if my bullets were hitting them or theirs were hitting me, everything is much clearer in this game. You can move around in a little bit of 3D space in each hallway, slightly up and down along the y-axis while walking along the x-axis. The game, though, is very forgiving with your aim so as long as you’re more or less in the right direction your bullets will hit. You’ll end up using less of them, and scoring more effective kills, in this version.

Exploration also felt smoother. The graphics aren’t great in this version, just like over on DOS, but I found that basic navigation, and understanding where I was, was easier here. Everything looks the same on DOS, which is a real issue when you have three-dimensional rooms that you can enter from multiple directions. On the C64 version, you’re on a fixed perspective and you can only go so many ways in each room. Understanding the basic map, and where you are, is easier even if everything still looks the same. There’s only so much map to memorize and just enough landmarks to make it work.

With all of that said, I don’t know that this version will win over many more fans. Part of the appeal of the DOS version was that it was cutting edge, and while the C64 version is better to play, that doesn’t make it a good game. It’s an upgrade of a really shitty game, making it passable at best. Its basic design is still obtuse, its structure hard to parse until you’ve played enough times and figured out the goals, and it remains difficult to get everything done in time unless you’re playing off an FAQ and detailed maps that someone else made.

And that’s the rub, really: you have to want to learn how to get through this game. It’s difficult enough to understand that unless this was the only thing you had to play (which, back in the day, maybe) or you were just really desperate to complete everything you did own, I have my doubts that a normal player would have bothered to try and get through the game after their third, fourth, or fifth time failing to get through. It’s just too hard, too annoying, too merciless in its basic design, expecting fast reflexes and near perfect precision. I’ve seen people get through the game in ten minutes, which is half the potential runtime of the game, but they had to cheat pretty hard (with tool assisting) to do it.

Hell, I can’t even find people speedrunning this version of the game, and usually if there’s a port of a game at least someone has set a record for it. You know a game has to have no fans when not even the speedrunners are willing to touch it. And if that’s the case, what’s the likelihood your average player could. I needed guides and maps and it still felt touch-and-go for me. That’s the game of game we’re talking about here.

Still, I respect the effort put into this version of the game. It’s far more playable than the DOS version, and far more fair to the players. Not exceedingly fair, and not really that fun, but in comparison to the technically interesting but utterly uncompromising DOS game, the Commodore 64 edition of Die Hard has something going for it. Still, there are plenty of other games out there based on the movie, that both do a better job of adapting the story and providing a fun experience. There’s little reason to revisit this port, except for history and posterity.