Not GDR's words, but the words of Daikatana designer John Romero, formerly part of the team behind classic FPS Doom . In development since March 1997, time travelling first-person shooter Daikatana has attracted more negative publicity than the Millennium Dome, following delay upon delay, and reports of infighting and staff leaving the team. Attack of the killer mosquitoes First impressions from playing the first few levels are not good. Mosquitoes and robotic frogs live in Daikatana 's swamps - they are hard to pinpoint against the background shades of murky green. They like to lurk at your feet, or hover above head level, and FPS control methods make careful aiming straight up or down difficult.
Later levels are better, and, strangely, easier.
Most games start with the good stuff to draw the player in, and ramp up the difficulty from there. For some reason, Daikatana is different, and this will put many people off. Although the game is based on the ancient Quake II engine, Romero's team has really shined up the graphics. The light-sourcing on the weapons is used to good effect, but they are a generation behind the shiny wonderfulness of Quake III . Left, wielding the Daikatana.