Daikatana is a very long game. It is in fact one of the longest shooters I've ever played. Daikatana, like the legacy of its creator, is mired in the mid-nineties. And you'll see concepts; textures, weapons and monsters that seem ripped from better shooters like Quake 2, Heretic 2 and Unreal but play like they belong in Quake, Redneck Rampage and Island Peril. This is mostly because the mid-nineties are when it was conceived and partially because that was the last time John Romero made a game. But gameplay has advanced by leaps and bounds since the days when Quake ruled the roost and most of those cliches just aren't acceptable any longer.
Daikatana is extremely ambitious. The game proposes to do what no other game has done before. It offers some 60 creatures, 25 weapons, two AI controlled sidekicks and four distinct episodes featuring unique textures and level design. To its credit it offers all of that, but none of it is offered well.
The four episodes are rather refreshing, or would be if they featured better level design. The opening episode seems the weakest but proves to be the strongest by simply offering the most cliches. It's standard run, gun, find the switch, shoot the box, open the door and go gameplay in the swamp, sewer and prison levels. Greece is sparse and silly, offering architecture that's vaguely classical and only a few mythological beasts. Greece also seems developed on a hub design that briefly gained popularity when Hexen 2 debuted. This means to solve a puzzle in this episode’s levels you often have to backtrack your way to hit switches and find items. This would be fun if you remotely have any clue of what you are supposed to do next. Greece is haphazard where Japan is focused and linear. It's a refreshing change that quickly proves frustrating instead. Norway is kind of a mix of the two gameplay styles and San Francisco returns us to standard run and gun gameplay. The effect is jarring only because Daikatana's idea of a puzzle is a ladder you can barely see or a switch located behind something. It's not particularly intelligent, just obscure.
