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

Fox Interactive exerted little creative control over the project, allowing the Probe team to be unrestrained and improvisational in their designs. Lead programmer Simon Pick recounted, "There was no real design. 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 particular, he reasoned that the Saturn and PC versions would come out better if the programmers were trying to emulate impressive graphical effects on an extant PlayStation version than if they were designing the game around the hardware limitations of the Saturn. The game was developed by a UK-based development studio, Probe Entertainment. We had a design document, but it was written after the fact.

How Die Hard Trilogy Plays

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 player battles terrorists and rescues hostages in the Nakatomi Plaza, which is the setting of the first film in the series. 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.

However, it was compatible with Sega's Stunner light gun for the Saturn version. 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. Players control the crosshair with a gamepad, light gun, or mouse.

Why Players Still Load It Up

The first segment of the game was particularly praised for its deep challenge, requiring players to out-think the enemy. 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.

Paul Glancey of Sega Saturn Magazine summarized, "Often when you see compilations like this there's ... one section that stands out as the one that the programmers thought of first and lavished the most attention on, but all three sections of Die Hard Trilogy have their fair share of thrills, great visuals and clever ideas." In Germany, the game was banned because of its extreme violence, especially being able to drive through harmless people with blood spilling all over the windshield. As of June 2017, it holds an 86% ranking at GameRankings. However, Electronic Gaming Monthly editors named it Action Game of the Year.

Die Hard Trilogy — Frequently Asked Questions