Daikatana

by Eidos

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00001ZT47
• Item Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: May 24, 2000
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,323 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

John Romero, codesigner of Wolfenstein 3-D, Doom, and Quake, unveils his action masterpiece in Daikatana. Using sidekicks, a supernatural time-traveling sword, and role-playing elements, Romero made the game of his dreams. Whether its the game of your dreams depends on your appreciation of classic action gameplay and your patience with sometimes screwy artificial intelligence.

Utilizing id Software's Quake 2 engine (since eclipsed by Quake 3, released last fall), Daikatana's graphics are sharp and serviceable but lack the cutting-edge special effects of recent games. Gameplay follows the standards set by Romero's Doom and Quake designs and rarely deviates from "shoot first, ask questions later."

Daikatana's enormous amount of content offsets its graphical and gameplay shortcomings--there's simply a lot of game to uncover. Players assume the role of Hiro Miyamoto, on a mission to uncover the secrets of a mystical sword called the Daikatana. Over the course of 24 large levels, Hiro travels through four time periods--futuristic Japan, ancient Greece, the Dark Ages, and near future San Francisco--each featuring completely new weapons, artwork, music, and enemies.

Many Daikatana levels feature impressive architecture, particularly in the Greek and Dark Ages episodes. However, most of the splendor goes to waste as there isn't much to do besides knocking off a handful of bad guys. Weapons are explosive and plentiful; the variety of weaponry and enemy creatures keeps the action frantic despite the one-dimensional gameplay.

Daikatana's one innovation is the inclusion of computer-controlled sidekicks, feisty Mikiko and burly Superfly Johnson, who can accept player commands. Players use the keyboard to issue simple commands such as to attack, get, and retreat. The sidekicks add to the story line, but weak artificial intelligence often complicates gameplay. It's tough to be a hero when your lackeys accidentally shoot you or have trouble navigating a door.

Daikatana's epic single-player game should keep players busy for many hours, and a wide assortment of multiplayer modes, including deathmatch, capture the flag, and cooperative play, extend Daikatana's shelf life even further. Though Daikatana can't possibly live up to the hype, its fast-paced carnage should please old-school first-person shooter fans looking for a modern-age Doom. --Doug Radcliffe

Pros:

• Extensive game covers four distinct time periods
• Several sections of impressive level architecture, primarily in the Greek episode
• An intriguing arsenal of weaponry for both single and multiplayer modes
• The Daikatana gets more powerful the more you use it

Cons:

• Weak enemy and sidekick artificial intelligence
• Dated graphics and gameplay

Product Description

From the legendary co-creator of the Doomseries Heretic Hexen and Quake comes Daikatana. Product Information Believe the hype. 64enemies 32 weapons and 40 levels that span four periods.The noble samurai looked down from Mt. Fujiyama and chanted his final prayersto Amaterasu goddess of the Sun. In his trembling hands he grasped theDaikatana his labor of love. His quest to imbue the sword with the magicof time travel had led him to this cliff to this ultimate sacrifice. TheDaikatana lacked only his soul to become a talisman for all eternity. Withthe fierce eye of a warrior the samurai thrust the sword deeply into hisflesh as drops of fresh blood rained down from the holy mountain. Dr. Toshiro Ebihara leads an archaeological dig in the year 2455. He happensupon the Daikatana a legendary samurai sword. The legend states the swordhas many mystical powers one of which is time travel. Toshiro's work isbeing financed by his wealthy grandfather Dr. Tetsuo Ebihara. Tetsuo discoveredthe cure for AIDS in the year 2030.Toshiro's evil assistant steals the sword beheads Toshiro and runs offby himself. He intends to use the Daikatana to travel back to 2030 killToshiro's grandfather and steal the credit for the AIDS cure. This is where you come in. You're Hiro Miyamoto Toshiro's loyal student.You set out to get the Daikatana back and make sure history is not altered.You start in the year 2455 but must travel back to 2030 AD to save thefuture. However there's a problem. You end up in 2030 BC instead! Youregroup but are only able to travel as far ahead as 560 AD. Eventuallythrough masterful management of your power you make it to 2030 AD whereyou'll make sure things are made right!You will travel through four episodes The Dark Ages Ancient Greece Japanand San Francisco. Each episode bears distinct weapons monsters musicand scenery. You'll seek out 35 weapons and battle over 60 monsters inyour search for the evil assistan

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Ugly. Just... ugly., June 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Daikatana (CD-ROM)

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.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A review unbaised by "The Hype.", May 31, 2000

By 

G. Long (United States of America) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Daikatana (CD-ROM)

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.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars John Romero, what WAS this???, December 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Daikatana (CD-ROM)

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...