Die Hard 2: Die Harder (Atari ST)

I've played Die Hard on the PC Engine and PC, now it's time to Die Harder on the Atari ST.

Nice of them to spoil the ending of the movie on the title screen by the way.

Wow, I can already tell this is going to be great.

I hope the mouse cursor isn't this sluggish in game, or else I won't be able to aim for shit. I should probably try out the target range first and see if this is even going to be playable.

To get a decent score I need to make split second decisions about which targets are civilians and which are criminals.

Well the guy in the top window could have a gun... but isn't it more likely he's just doing some housework? And the guy on the right obviously just has his camcorder out to film the lunatic shooting at houses.

18 enemies and zero civilians, I'd say that's a pretty good day's work. I might have scored higher if I hadn't been distracted trying to figure out what model that red car is.

That's... not exactly what happened in the movie, but whatever.

Yes, let's attack!!! Right now!!!!

But first I think I'll check out how some of the other versions of the game compare.

Die Hard 2: Die Harder (Amiga)

That's interesting. The PC and Amiga versions have an extra conveyor belt, but otherwise look identical to the Atari ST version. And yeah the mouse cursor is still sluggish.

Okay, back to the Atari.

I can hit the enemies, it just takes me a second. Which means they get a few hits in before I can kill them. Fortunately McClane can take more bullets to the chest than Robocop, but still it's something I'd like to avoid.

Enemies sometimes throw out items like pistols and health kits when they die, but I invariably miss them. I think there's a delay on my shots because I'm sure I was on target a couple of times. If I'm lucky they'll land somewhere I can see them, but that's rare.

Oh shit, that guy who just burst through the door seems to be carrying an automatic weapon. He's burning through all my health.

I got killed on the very first screen of the game... yeah, I think I'll give it another shot.

This time around I was ready for him. I'm doing a lot better in general now I know that I can shoot the enemies while they're walking. Most of the time.

And then I got killed on the second screen instead. I was so close to getting that health kit too.

Back to the first screen again.

Oh crap did I just kill a civilian? He looks like he was carrying a gun, no one's shouted at me, and I haven't lost the game yet, so I'll just assume he was evil and get back to shooting.

Three of them shooting at once? That's just not fair!

I'm actually starting to miss cover, iron sights, and regenerating health.

Oh and now I've got a boss battle too? Most enemies have been going down in single hit, but these two seem to have bought their body armour from the same place as McClane.

Fortunately I brought... a rocket launcher I guess. McClane only came to this airport to pick up his wife, but I guess since Die Hard 1 he's learned to come prepared.

That is what you get for rolling under my crosshair and shooting me with automatic weapons, you git.

We don't need to know why he's going to the radio dish, that's apparently not important. All that matters is terrorists are going to be walking across my field of view, and I need to shoot them before they notice me and turn around.

Nice of the game to start me off facing a firing squad with the health and ammo I had left from the last level. A rocket launcher would have been really handy about now.

Awesome, they're throwing grenades at me! Like the other items they're thrown into the air, and I have a second to detonate them with a well aimed bullet before they hit me. I'm sure it's possible, but it's definitely not likely.

Oh shit, I nearly shot that civilian... carrying a balloon... through a room full of gunfire. She's not even a hostage or anything, she just apparently has no fear or common sense.

I'm tempted to try popping the balloon... but nah.

And that's it, no credits left. Game over. Damn this second stage is difficult.

Whoa, I didn't think I did that badly. Not bad enough to get put on police records anyway. I didn't even make it to the high score table, they put me on the 'Death Row' list instead.


I think I'm done with this one. Even if I wanted to play it more, I'd never get past that second stage. It's a shame really because I could have spent the time I wasted on this watching the movie again instead. Next game.