John McClane is back, and he still hasn't got a clean vest. Die Hard: Vendetta is the GameCube's first exclusive first-person shooter and, despite some problems, it puts the [expletive deleted] back into yippie-kai-yay. There have been lots of attempts at making video games out of the Die Hard films; the only decent one so far has been the original Die Hard Trilogy for the PSone. This new game isn't based on any single film but features its own story that takes place several years after Die Hard with a Vengeance and so has nothing in common with the recent PC game Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza. With Vendetta it seems as if the developers are trying to "do a GoldenEye", taking an established action franchise and building a fairly unique shooter around it. Although it's not as inventive as its inspiration, there is a genuine attempt in Vendetta to provide something new: the real-world police settings are well conceived and the constant set-pieces are exciting and well scripted (complete with lots of foul language). Where the game falls down is in the awful graphics and some questionable level design--in particular a number of irritating jumping sequences. But if you can persevere with these there's much to enjoy, especially some of the neat little touches such as being able to hold bad guy leaders hostage and build up Matrix-style bullet time by saving innocent people. It can't be recommended unequivocally but if you like the films or first-person shooters in general, Vendetta is well worth considering. --David Jenkins.

Features:
- New Storyline featuring the characters from the original film, new characters and the actual voice of Reginald Vel Johnson, Officer Powell from the Die Hard film.
- Hero Mode As John McClane you take on multiple bad guys at one time as you fire off 6 shots before your enemy can shoot even once.
- Advanced AI Enemies hide behind corners when reloading and react differently according to where they are hit. Be careful - they will not think twice about killing hostages if you make a wrong move.
- Weaponry Dual weapons for more fire power and an awesome arsenal including night vision goggles, a sniper rifle, uzis and more.
- Stealth Gameplay Use enemy hostages in order to save others and take out enemies.