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Dino Crisis
Copyright © Capcom 1999
Sony PlayStation
Survival Horror
1 Player
SLPS-02180
$49.99
Available now in Japan and the USA
Where to buy
FAQ
—by Eddie Kwon
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Back in 1996, Capcom created and released a game for the then
relatively new Sony PlayStation. Being a software company most well known
for side-scrolling action and 6 button VS fighting games, this new game was
a departure in style, genre, and content from their prior creations. This
game could have easily faded away into console obscurity, but instead it
marked the birth of a whole new gaming phenomenon and introducing the
category of Survival Horror. This game was, of course, BIOHAZARD (renamed
RESIDENT EVIL in the USA).
Yes, this reviewer acknowledges that the PC game
ALONE IN THE DARK, came out earlier than
BIOHAZARD, but Capcom created a
game with such style and direction that could frankly, scare the
living crap out of a player.
Riding on the coattails of this phenomenon, many other developers attempted
to copy this success with their own horror and non-horror action games
based on the same engine. Yet, no other game has been able to achieve the
same financial, or critical success of the BIOHAZARD franchise. So who
could possibly outdo this Capcom creation other than Capcom itself? Enter
the latest entry in survival horror action—DINO CRISIS.
Simply put, DINO CRISIS is
JURASSIC PARK combined with BIOHAZARD. Like its
predecessor, you start as a member of a special missions force. Instead of
investigating a research facility housed in an
upstate countryside mansion, you begin the story being airdropped over a
tropical island which houses a research facility. And like their
predecessors, the heroes in DINO CRISIS start out together, but become
quickly separated, as you play most of the game alone, while making
encounters with your teammates at scripted points in the story. Instead of
decaying zombies, you must now fight off vicious genetically recreated
dinosaurs as you play through the game. Unlike the slow, somewhat easy to
dodge zombies in BIOHAZARD, the velociraptors in this game are quite fast
and deadly. Wait too long to think and a raptor will pounce on you and
knock down your life with a few swipes of his claw.
Being an evolution of BIOHAZARD, the controls
are basically laid out the same. Movement is controlled on the d-pad and is
relative to the direction the player is facing in the game, and not on the
direction relative to the screen. What this means is that no matter which
direction a character is pointed towards on screen, you press left, he will
turn left, you press right he will turn right. For seasoned
players, this control scheme is quite familiar while rookies may find it
frustrating at first when they try to run away or past a ravenous dino.
One significant change to the control is the addition of a "quick
turnaround" button defaulted to R2. This allows a player to make a quick
180 degree, allowing him to take on a charging raptor with a quick shotgun
blast. And, to this reviewer's dismay, DINO CRISIS supports the vibration
feature of the Dual Shock controller, but not the analog sticks.
Sound in this game is the typical high quality that we have come
to expect of Capcom's PlayStation offerings. The array of Hollywood
style film score music, while forgettable on its own, is quite appropriate
for the for the eerie and tension-filled moments that make up this game.
Sound effects are also quite well done, from the sounds of weapon blasts to
the shuffling of dino claws down a darkened hall. What is most amazing is
the voice acting in the game. DINO CRISIS has elevated its dialog delivery
from B-movie camp, to A-list Hollywood style acting, and the script is
decent as well.
The fully generated 3D backgrounds offer a
a much nicer and more consistent look between the characters,
dinosaurs and backgrounds than the prerendered backgrounds of other games.
An added benefit is that when the characters
move around in a scene, the camera can actually follow the character and
the background will change angles, in the same style as Konami's SILENT
HILL, creating an even greater cinematic feel. However camera angles are
still carefully chosen to reveal as little as possible and not give away
any heart-stopping surprises around the corner. The dinosaur
models are excellent as well, with terrific animation. If dinosaurs were
alive today, it would be fair to say that the movements of these reptiles
were motion-captured to reproduce the realistic movements.
DINO CRISIS is another fine offering to the survival horror genre
as well as notable effort by Capcom. It does an excellent job capturing
that Hollywood cinematic feel and combining it with good game play.
(This review is based on the import version of the game. For a USA release, the difficulty level will be increased and the
number of continues available will be reduced.) 
Rating: 8.0/10 |
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