Imagine being John Romero in 1996. Between Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake, you have developed – or co-developed – three of the greatest masterworks in PC gaming history. Although with a few caveats, you can call yourself one of the creators of the entire FPS game genre. Forget videogames. You’ve changed the entirety of popular culture, forever. So what do you do? You do what anybody would – you make your dream project. One of the most storied, controversial, and infamous shooters ever developed, if you haven’t played Daikatana for yourself, it’s nowhere near as bad as everyone says. For less than $1, it deserves to be experienced first hand.
The legend of Daikatana, from its enormously ambitious early concepts, troubled production, and notoriously ill-famed poster campaign (which John Romero didn’t create, by the way) has gradually overshadowed the game itself. You might have heard of Daikatana. You might be aware it’s this epochal, shuddering, great cautionary tale that game developers tell to their children at night. But if you’ve never played the FPS game for yourself, I promise you it’s well worth a look – even if it’s just as a curio.
You play the suitably named Hiro, who has to travel through a variety of time periods, past and future, on a mission to recover the eponymous Daikatana. Created by Ion Storm Dallas, sister studio to Deus Ex developer Ion Storm Austin, Daikatana boasts a lot of ideas that are ahead of its time. You have AI companions, an arsenal of weapons that change depending on the time period, and customizable stats and abilities. For a big-budget shooter in the year 2000, this was novel.
Now, it’s not perfect. Daikatana is buggy. Daikatana is convoluted. Daikatana is occasionally frustrating and flat. But if you play it for yourself, you might find it’s not the catastrophic failure that gaming history has recorded. Daikatana has its moments, and for anyone interested in videogame or FPS history, it’s worth playing, especially now, when you can get it for just 88¢ / 69p. Just click on the buttons below.
Alternatively, try some of the other best old games, or maybe the best single-player games on PC.
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