Dino Crisis was released on the Playstation in September of 1999. Before this game's release, there was quite a bit of hype generated for its release, mostly because it was being made by Shinji Mikami, well known for his role in creating the Resident Evil series. Would this game turn out to be just Resident Evil with dinosaurs? Let's see.
Dino Crisis' story starts out simply enough, with a team of black clad soldiers landing on Ibis Island, in pursuit of the renegade scientist Dr. Kirk. They have been ordered to document his experiments and take him into custody. The team consists of Regina, Gail, Rick, and Cooper. The winds blow Cooper off course and he lands in an isolated area. He suddenly hears the ground rumbling and is quickly devoured by a T-Rex. The presence of dinosaurs on this island is one of the many questions that will be addressed as you play through the game.
Dino Crisis' graphics were a unique case for a PSX Capcom game. Best known for the prerendered, static camera angle visual feast that are the Resident Evil series, fans of Capcom were surprised to learn that Dino Crisis would not follow suit with such a display. Instead the camera would follow the player, allowing a more panoramic view of the many corridors that you must traverse in your search for clues. Because of the lack of prerendered backgrounds, the environments often look sparse and not particularly full of detail, this results in a game in which many an area looks the same as the previous. I believe this was more the fault of the Playstation hardware than the developers, as fully polygonal backgrounds were not really used in many games until the Dreamcast.
Besides the backgrounds, the characters are well realized, with the lead Regina being quite the babe. I also like Gail's gruff exterior. The dinosaurs of course steal the show, looking like they were ripped right out of Jurassic Park. Velociraptors, pteranodons, and others all look exactly as they should.
The music in Dino Crisis is not as exciting as the similar horror series Resident Evil, but it still has very effective moments, mostly revolving around the arrival of dinosaurs or a surprise attack by such. The save room theme is a pleasant piece, reminiscent of Resident Evil again.
The sound effects really make the game shine. The dinosaurs sound exactly as depicted in other media of the time, giving them a real presence for extinct animals in a fictional game setting. Naturally the highlights are the roar of the T-Rex and the clicks of the Raptor's feet as they chase after you. The weapons used by the characters really should have been kicked up a notch, the handguns sound like peashooters and the heavy weapons aren't much more impressive. Shooting the dinos with darts produces a funny audio reaction though.
The gameplay in Dino Crisis plays quite similar to Resident Evil, explore rooms, fight enemies, look for items to use elsewhere, fight a boss occasionally, repeat. This was to be expected, due to the same creative team and it is not a bad thing. There are plenty of unique traits to Dino Crisis' gameplay though. You can collect many more types of health and resuscitation items to save you from dinosaur mauling. A mixing system allows you to create more potent healing items as well as darts that can temporarily incapacitate the dinos. Mix certain items and you even make instant kill darts that work on most enemies. The only odd thing about the darts is that Regina apparently shoves them into her shotgun to fire them, wouldn't that cause a bit of a problem due to the residual shotgun shell dust?
New "Danger" minigames have been added, that require the player to mash a button quickly or take the consequences. Dino Crisis also has some seriously tough puzzles, the most frustrating of many of these games, and I've played them all. The puzzles involve completing electronic diagrams, playing number games, and amateur plumbing. They aren't much fun either, just time consuming. The DDK door lock system is especially dumb, as you need to collect items before you can even try the puzzle to open the door. Ugh.
Challenge is hard. Dino Crisis is definitely difficult even for veterans of Capcom's horror games. The enemies require quick thinking (don't expect a handgun to hurt raptors much) and use of the environment to evade them. It is true that evasion is often better than fighting the dinosaurs, so do what you can. The puzzles definitely contribute to the steep learning curve, as I can imagine some gamers giving up on figuring out the puzzles themselves, and rushing to an FAQ, I know I did.
Replay value is present through multiple endings based on your decisions throughout the game. There are also new costumes to unlock and an unlockable weapon if you obtain all the endings. The bonus mode "Operation Wipeout" is nothing special. Overall the multiple endings are worth pursuing for storyline possibilities. Replayability is good.
In summation, Dino Crisis is a great start for a series that would receive sequels in the following years. It successfully blends survival and panic horror with Resident Evil elements to create something new. The potential gimmick of fighting dinosaurs never materializes. The player just comes to accept them as enemies, and then promptly flees. I would recommend this game to fans of Capcom as well as gamers looking for a pretty cerebral challenge.
- Ugly Bob
article id: 396 | poster: uglybob
