McClane has fallen on hard times, after moving to New York City and breaking up with his wife, he's developed a drinking problem and has been suspended from the NYPD. However, his past comes back to haunt him in the form of Simon, a terrorist bomber who has been using McClane as his contact as he plants a series of bombs in public places and gives McClane inane 'clues' to their whereabouts in the form of riddles and bizarre games. John McClane and a store owner must play a bomber's deadly game as they race around New York while trying to stop him from causing more destruction.