What do you get when you mix Jurassic Park and the guy behind the Resident Evil Series? Dino Crisis of course! Is this game worthy enough to join the ranks of such games as Resident Evil 1&2 and Silent Hill? You'll soon find out...
You (Regina) and two of your comrades are sent by the government to an island in search of a scientist. However, this is not your ordinary search and retreival. There's dinosaurs on the loose at the island! Dino Crisis's storyline isn't linear, so it's up to you to do the right things to get the desired endings (four total).
Dino Crisis's gameplay involves plenty of problem solving, thinking, and fast reactions. Through out the game, you'll encounter puzzles that need to be solved in order for you to progress. That's where the problem solving comes in. Also through out the game, you'll be forced to choose between two ideas that your comrades had given you. The idea you choose will determine what you will do next. Plus, in order to progress through the game easier, you must mix the items you find. Be careful though when mixing because once you mix, you can't reverse the process. These are where the thinking comes in, because you'll have to figure out which idea is best for you to follow (in your current condition) and what items are needed for mixing. These things now gives the player alittle freedom.
The fast reactions comes in when you are freakin surprised by a dinosaur appearing out of nowhere and when a "danger scene" happens (mash on the buttons when you see "danger" on the bottom of the screen to save your ass!) When you see a dinosaur, you basically have two choices: 1) Avoid getting heavily damaged by either using "running away tactics", a tranquilizer dart, or by being smart by activating an electric wall between you and the dinosaur. 2) Kill it with either a poison dart, a shotgun, grenade gun, or a regular looking gun (guns are upgradeable). However, I should warn you that there's a downside of running away. Sometimes, the dinosaur you have escaped from chases you even if you went to another room! Boy, for having such small brains, those lizards are pretty smart! Oh! About the weapons in Dino Crisis; there are only a few. Because of that, you would mostly spend your time running away from the dinos instead of killing them. Where's the action to that? The good news though is that if you shot a certain dinosaur, exited the room, and then came back, the shot still counts! Cool huh?
Dino Crisis's graphics are pretty cool. The characters, the dinosaurs, the environment, everything are well drawn. Since Dino Crisis is fully a 3D game, somethings are pixelated, but it wouldn't bug you much. What's good about the 3D though is that it adds more realism to the game, which in turn, makes it more scary!
Dino Crisis has great sound effects. The dinosaurs sound pretty much real. The voices of the characters can be heard clearly and they don't sound korny. The music doesn't really come on during the game only if there's something happening. A great technique to add fright! Overall, Dino Crisis did very well in this catergory.
For those who played the RE series, the control in Dino Crisis is almost the same. The only differences are that you can now walk while having your gun armed and ready, that you can turn around 180 degrees and aim automatically, and you can aim "a la Tomb Raider" style. Great additions from Capcom!
Scoring great overall in all the catergories, Dino Crisis is pretty much a good game to buy. If you don't have the cash, no sweat, just rent it! Oh yeah! About the question whether it joins the ranks of the horror games (RE series and Silent Hill) well... it's close.
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Dinos are freaking smart!
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Not really scary.
Not much action.
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"Here lizard, lizard
lizard, lizard.."-RJ2
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