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Ugly. Just... ugly.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 58 / 60
Date: June 20, 2000
Author: Amazon User

John Romero is a nice guy. John Romero is a GAMER, loves games, has good ideas, and should not be crucified over this failure. He apparently is NOT a leader/producer and should stick to game design, and should let others manage production. But he deserves a second chance.

I say a second chance because this first effort, Daikatana, is a total failure.

The ideas are great: sidekicks, lots of weapons, a bad-ass melee weapon, a cheezy-but-fun plot. But the game itself... sucks. I installed it, played for 1 hour--repeatedly *trying* to like it--and then uninstalled it in disgust. Poor level design, dated graphics (though the weapon effects were cool), absolutely terrible monsters (yes, you fight FROGS and MOSQUITOS). Remember Doom? How you'd just get repeatedly swarmed by monsters? Remember how you fell into the pattern of 1) open door. 2) dash into room, then quickly backpeddle 3) shoot the monsters you "triggered" 4) repeat? Well, that same design philosophy continues in Daikatana. And it just doesn't work. After Half-Life, I just can't stand happening upon a bunch of ion-blaster ammo stashed IN A BUSH IN A SWAMP. Who would put ammo there? Ridiculous. Insulting. NOT FUN.

So, some might say, "Hey, you only played it for an hour. It gets much better later. Your review isn't fair!". To that I say "Feh." The *point* is that I could only stand to play it an hour. I honestly, truly, tried to like it. But I couldn't. From what I've read elsewhere, the game starts off with the worst level and supposedly does get marginally better. But I can't respect a game that purposefully puts its worst foot forward, that intentionally gives a bad first impression. And, despite trying to like the game, that bad impression only got worse.

The Amazon reviewer was kind but accurate: if you are a die-hard fan of old-fashioned gameplay, if you can get over the dated graphics and can appreciate the sidekicks and such, then you may enjoy the game. It *is* playable, and I could understand how someone might actually enjoy the game. But not me. And not anyone else who has played and enjoys the fun levels, weapons, graphics, and gameplay of Half-Life, Q3, UT, and other modern games.

Not bad at ALL - but the hype kills it.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 26 / 33
Date: May 14, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Daikatana - everyone waited for years for this game. Like The Phantom Menace, there's no way that this game could live up to the hype... but it really does a good job trying. This might be the first FPS game to have an actual storyline (told through cut-scenes), the graphics aren't too bad, and the idea of having buddies that tag along and help you is GREAT. on the downside, the AI in this game is HORRIBLE. after playing Half-Life, there's no excuse for enemies that stand by casually as you slaughter their friends. there's also quite a few puzzles that force you to leave your buddies behind while you try to open a door for them - sure, you can leave through the vent, but they can't. it's also frustrating to get through a level and have to start over because Mikiko decides that she wants to take on an enemy in another room - without ammo - and kills herself. and the graphics - while not bad at all - look kinda dated. Multiplayer isn't bad, but with Quake III already out ... why bother?

A review unbaised by "The Hype."

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 15 / 15
Date: May 31, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Hype? What hype? I didn't even know about this game until I downloaded the demo! I haven't been exposed to "The Hype," so my review is going to be completely unbaised. So, what do I think of this game?

In many aspects, simply vanilla.

I don't care what engine a 3D game use, as long as I enjoy the game. Just as the realistic gore and fun seperated Soldier of Fortune from the rest, Daikatana's storyline set it apart. Plus, in Daikatana, you can "level-up" and alter your stats as you kill more enemies. You can increase your weaon's damage, speed, your jumping height, maximum health, and your running speed.

The weapons are innovative, to say the least, with 6 unique weapons in each of the four episodes. along with the Daikatana itself. When you use the Daikatana at first, it's a slow as crap. But as you kill more enemies with it, the sword becomes more powerful, until it reaches level 5, at which point a flick of the wrist can kill anything. The downside to this is that YOU don't get level-ups. Oh well, you've got to break a few eggs to make an omelette, I guess.

Also, the locales are especially unique. You travel through four time periods, and in each one, there is unique architecture that really sets the mood of the level, from the icy lands of 560 A.D. Norway to the temples of ancient Rome. Unfortunately, those are the ONLY things that set Daikatana apart. The rest of the game is the usual "find key/switch/artifact, open a door, repeat" formula.

Now, for the BAD part of the review - the AI! In the game, you'll get two sidekicks that help you. A few levels later though, you'll want to call them "groinkicks," because they will impede your progress so much that you'll want to give them just that! The sidekicks get in the way of your aim, they shoot YOU when you get in THEIR aim, they fall off ledges to their deaths, and they'll go after an enemy, even if they have no weapons! And guess what? If they die, so do you! Most of the time, you'll order them to stay put and finish the level yourself. And the enemies? They're cannon fodder. No brains at all. With the exception of the civilians, all they do is rush you. Believe it or not, the smartest enemies are...the doors! I'd swear that they have the minds of sadistic killers! They just LOVE to ambush hapless heros - they stay open until either you or a sidekick walks through the doorway, and then they suddenly close, crushing all that are in the way! Enemies know well enough to avoid them, so I guess in a certain respect, they ARE smart!

Overall, as I mentioned before, Daikatana is vanilla. There are new innovations, but when you get down to the gameplay, it's more of the same thing.

John Romero, what WAS this???

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 15 / 17
Date: December 27, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Thinking that this would be an awesome game, I had purchased and then played and tried (emphasis on 'tried') to like this game, even before reading the really horrible reviews this game has been getting. Sad to say, the bad reviews this game had been getting were right on the mark.

The sidekicks and AI for this game were just horrible. The levels murky and convoluted and just a big mess. Random crashes, glitches and being attacked by your own comrades... Need I say more? Video games are supposed to be fun, not excruciatingly painful. And somewhere along the line, this concept seems to have been lost by it's maker. This game was NO fun at all! I'm really sorry to say that I acually paid money for this kind of garbage. After my friends found out that I actually owned a copy of this game, they actually laughed and had pity on me... Talk about one of life's most embarassing moments.

This game deserves no stars whatsoever. And I will never buy another one of Romero's games. The only star given this game is due to the fact that the game and the box makes a nice glass coaster for my coffee table.

If you had the mispleasure of owning this game, don't tell anyone unless you want to be ridiculed for having an abomination like this in your home! The only accolades this game will probably get is it's going to be known as one of the most dissapointing games in history. Just bloody awful...

The biggest gaming dissopointment ever?

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 14 / 17
Date: June 01, 2000
Author: Amazon User

OK, this game was meant to be out 2 and a half years ago but what ever way you look at it, even if it had came out when it did it would still have struggled to be competitive back then.

What the creators have tried to do is take a new approach by putting 4 games together in one through the different ages played by the lead character. All of them are as bad as one another. It plays like doom did and the AI is possibly the worst ever, in an age when AI is as good as Theif and SS2. I think Pong had more intelligent coding then Daikatana. Unlike games where you injure someone and he runs to find his mate. Shoot a baddy in Daikatana and his mate will stand lifelifeless next to him watching the world go by.

I was hugehly dissopointed as I thought this would be a rival to Half Life and would easily be the best first person shooter of the year (to which Soldier Of Fortune holds the crown so far for me). This game rivals Doom but I think you'll find Doom is 10 times better! Still, it gets a star for the 4 ages idea and em... a star for the logo and nice box!

I cant wait til Duke Nukem Forever, if its as bad as this I'll cry!

IF THE SHAME IS TOO MUCH TO BEAR...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: November 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game failed in so many ways it has become a legend!
Where should one start? The (mid 90's) gaming-industry prima-donna John Romero with his touch of midas and fleet of Ferraris spearheading the development; the announcement of the greatest game-ever-experienced; the impossible schedule to be in stores before Christmas of 1997 with less than 7 months in production; the in-your-face advertisements that over-hyped this game like no other..
Then came the delays...and the postponements...and Christmas of 2000 - and then QUAKE III came along and everything felt so yesterday...

To be fair, this is NOT as bad a game as its reputation.
True, I hated the sidekicks so much (total lack of ANY intelligence - with the exception of finding ways to getting themselves killed and ending the game!) I had to let it steep for a whole summer before finishing it off. True, it was not fast enough or graphically impressive enough to compete by 2000.

On the other hand, most of the weapons were imaginative, the gameplay was innovative at times (incorporating some puzzles in an FPS game above the level of finding the...blue and red cards), the settings well designed (having to travel in different eras is not common in a futuristic games). What I really enjoyed, though, was its constant Japanese undercurrents, from weapons and sceneries to characters' dialog.

No game collection is complete without it I am afraid...

Installed the Game then Uninstalled the Game...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 14 / 20
Date: June 14, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Dont ever, ever buy this game! I knew it was going to be bad. So far this game beat the record for the shortest stay in my hard drive, even beating Trespasser by 2 days. A game that took 4 years to develop, well, you know something's not right. Lets start with the graphics. Really very dated OpenGL graphics. If this game came out 2 years ago, it would've been awesome. Interface: No In-Game save. Only way to say your progress is by picking up Save Gems. No Gems, no save. Control: Ok, so it's like any other first person shooter which is why I gave this game it's one and only star. AI: very very bad. Talk about having your AI teammates to back you up. You'll be saving them most of the time instead of them helping you. Also, there is a tendency that your artifical teammates to hit you by mistake. Story: just watch the old TV series "Time Tunnel". Overall: spend your money on another game.

Save your money

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 12 / 17
Date: June 07, 2000
Author: Amazon User

After all the years and all the hype I expected that this game would have *something* to recommend it. Sure, I realized it wasn't going to be the GAME TO END ALL GAMES. I always make sure to discount 25% for hype. But, my gods, what a poor showing this is!

There is next to no innovation. The graphics look like they were salvaged from Quake, the puzzles are of the annoying "find the panel that opens the door way the hell over there and backtrack, etc" style. The sense of immersion is zero. The sounds are poorly choosen. The enemies are, for the most part, utterly uninspired. The load times between segments (which uses the Half-Life formula) are ridiculously long. It's also utterly unstable and prone to crashing at any given moment.

Well, you get the point. If this were just another generic first person shooter that was being sold from $20 on the discount rack, maybe I wouldn't feel so annoyed. As it was, I went back and exchanged it for "Soldier of Fortune" which, well also not ground breaking, is solidly entertaining and, at least, mildly innovative.

Please, folks, don't get sucked in by the hype. Save your money for something better. In the meanwhile, I'll be hoping that Ion Storms next big product, Deus Ex, does a better job of living up to its reputation.

PC Game? More like trash.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: July 20, 2000
Author: Amazon User

1. You call this even half way descent graphics?

2. Should have been "lost forever."

3. Who cares about shooting 2' long mosquitoes and psychotic frogs?

4. Stick with Unreal (the first one).

Romero needs to go stand in the corner for this one.

The real truth about DAIKATANA

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: May 06, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I decided to re-evaluate DAIKATANA and I found I very ambitious game with a lot of features and some crazy AI. Yes, this was a much over-hyped game when it was released and it did have a lot of bugs in it, but what PC games released nowadys don't have any bugs that require a patch?

There is plenty of action in DAIKATANA and a variety a weapons. Some nice levels, but it all could have been better.

Ok, the good things about DAIKATANA. If you can make it to the Greek levels and the Norway levels, you'll be treated to some of the most stunning level designs ever in a game. The Greek levels in particular are quite stunning, almost beautiful. Plus the weapons in these levels are definately different from your standard FPS fare. In fact the Daikatana itself becomes the most powerful weapon in the game if you get it up in levels. DAIKATANA really tried to be different. There are a number of RPG elements in the game and this was a welcome change in the FPS realm. John Romero really had a great idea in mind for this game and I'll give him credit there.

Now the bad things about DAIKATANA. The much talked about sidekick AI. Yes, even I ran into this problem right away. There is a patch available that does make a difference. I suggest to download it after you install DAIKATANA. The first episode is just frustratingly bad. There is some truly garish level designs here as well in the final episode 4 in San Francisco. Also, I set this game on normal mode and it is SO HARD! Even in Easy mode, I died almost immediatly in the beginning of the game! This a bad thing in FPS games. The first few levels should be a cakewalk to build up your confidence to continue on. But not DAIKATANA. It is tough from the get go even on easy mode! This game took 4 years to make and it was over-hyped.

Even after the fact, this game should have been better. If you are curious enough to buy DAIKATANA, get the Prima games Strategy book. You'll need it.

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