Die Hard Trilogy is an action video game developed by Probe Entertainment, published by Fox Interactive and distributed by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment in North America and Electronic Arts in Europe for the PlayStation, Sega Saturn and Microsoft Windows. The game is based on the first three installments of the Die Hard series of action movies, with each film entry being represented through a different gameplay genre.

The Story Behind Die Hard Trilogy

For the Die Hard with a Vengeance segment, the team had wanted to use an authentic recreation of New York City, but found that when driving at 200 miles per hour, an accurate model of NYC felt too small and confining. We had a design document, but it was written after the fact. Initially the Die Hard 2 segment of the game was developed with polygonal enemies, but they were later replaced with digitized sprites.

Since Alien Trilogy was being published by Probe's new owner Acclaim Entertainment, technology and experienced personnel were prioritized towards Alien Trilogy, leaving Die Hard Trilogy to be developed by a small team of young programmers and designers working with Probe's oldest equipment. In an interview during development, Pick elaborated on how the team intended to optimize the game for Saturn: The Die Hard with a Vengeance segment was developed first and was intended to be a standalone release, but publisher Fox Interactive insisted that the game should be more closely linked to the films, leading Probe to develop the other two segments.

How Die Hard Trilogy Plays

The game was well received and would eventually become a PlayStation Greatest Hits and PlayStation Platinum game. Die Hard 2: Die Harder is presented as an on rails-shooter, where the player must stop terrorists who have taken over Dulles Airport from the second film. Die Hard Trilogy also inspired a sequel entitled Die Hard Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas.

Die Hard Trilogy was one of the few light gun games available for the PlayStation that was not compatible with Namco's GunCon/G-Con 45 controller or GunCon 2. Players control the crosshair with a gamepad, light gun, or mouse. In Die Hard with a Vengeance, the player goes on a joyride driving a taxicab, sports car, and dump truck throughout all of New York City and is tasked with finding and defusing several explosives before they can go off.

Why Players Still Load It Up

However, Electronic Gaming Monthly editors named it Action Game of the Year. The PlayStation version was positively reviewed. However, the majority commented that all three component games are outstanding even on their own terms.

Josh Smith stated in GameSpot that the sluggish controls and poor graphics, especially as compared to the PlayStation version, make the first two segments of the game nearly unplayable, since lining up shots in time is awkward and frustrating. Die Hard Trilogy was a commercial hit, with sales above 2 million units by 2000. GamePro presented a dissenting opinion; while they highly praised the game's addictive quality and sound effects, they argued that the three segments are ultimately just rehashes of (respectively) Resident Evil, Virtua Cop, and Twisted Metal.

Die Hard Trilogy — Frequently Asked Questions