Dino Crisis

Other products by Capcom

Product Features

• 1 Player

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00000K1VE
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: September 28, 1999
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (93 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,385 in Video Games (See Bestsellers in Video Games)

Product Description

Platform: PlayStation

Editorial Review

Note to Parents: Realistic violence, gore, horror

An abandoned research complex on a remote jungle island, a team of special forces operatives, a horde of vicious velociraptors, and one big, mean Tyrannosaurus rex constitute the setting and cast of Dino Crisis, the latest masterpiece from the makers of Resident Evil.

You play as Regina, a member of a four-person team sent to retrieve an expatriate scientist. Your radio man became a midnight snack for the T.rex, so it's up to you and your two remaining teammates to explore a dino-infested research station, rescue the scientist, call for a helicopter retrieval, and escape with your lives. Along the way you'll uncover the grizzly remains of those who got in the dinosaurs' way, and you'll unravel the mystery of how a top-secret energy research project turned into a Jurassic nightmare.

And about those dinosaurs: they're all over the island. One instant you'll be walking along a second-story balcony, admiring the view, the next instant you'll be dodging a T.rex as it smashes its huge maw through the concrete walls. Velociraptors chase you down blood-spattered corridors, flying reptiles circle the outdoor areas, and your only weapons are your pistol, whatever else you can salvage, a dwindling supply of ammunition, and your wits.

Packed with clever puzzles and heart-pounding surprises, all superbly presented with realistic graphics and horror-movie camera angles, Dino Crisis is a triumph of survival-horror gaming. --Mike Fehlauer

Pros:

• Great sound effects and music
• Well-integrated, varied, and clever puzzles
• Awe-inspiring, terrifying dinosaurs
• Branching story line improves replay value

Cons:

• Doors impervious to explosives

GameSpot Review

When you're Capcom, there's no such thing as too much of a good thing. This is evidenced by the impending deluge of Resident Evil/Biohazard spin-offs; Resident Evil: Code Veronica, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Oni-Musha (the RE-style samurai game), and now Dino Crisis. A brand new excursion into the world of survival-horror, Dino Crisis is a fresh experience that abandons that creepy Umbrella laboratory for a taste of Jurassic Park. Not only that, but Dino Crisis is unique in that it so closely borrows from the RE series. But in regards to the storyline, this game is not related to it Resident Evil at all.

Conceived and directed by Shinji Mikami, the mastermind behind the RE games, Dino Crisis will be very familiar to anyone who's played the Resident Evil games. The dramatic camera perspectives, the control scheme, and the eerie settings are all classic Mikami. However, instead of slow-moving zombies shuffling after you like drunks staggering home, you're faced with velociraptors and other big lizards with lightning-fast reflexes and huge appetites.

"This isn't a joke, you idiot! We were just attacked by a big-ass lizard!" says Dino Crisis femme-fatale, Regina, to her computer-expert cohort, Rick, who, at the time, is trying to unlock electronically secured doors throughout the base where you've been searching for the missing Dr. Kirk. Your other teammate, Gail, is missing, and the last you heard from him were some aborted screams and the sound of gunfire.

As you might now know, the backgrounds in Dino Crisis are fully polygonal as opposed to prerendered CG stills, like they are in Resident Evil. Perhaps it took Capcom all this time to get up to speed with the PlayStation hardware, but this makes all the difference in the world. Despite being completely 3D, the game still moves at the same speed as its brethren, without any slowdown. The game's graphics are also very sharp and appear to be running in a medium to high resolution. The character models are very well done, with excellent light-sourcing effects, giving Regina and her posse a very solid feel. The use of polygonal backgrounds enhances the feeling of fear even more than Resident Evil. For example, when you're walking down a hallway, viewed from a typical RE-ish perspective, it becomes even more tense when the camera angle suddenly pivots to an overhead perspective or swings to a worm's-eye view. The engine also allows for shifting camera positions rendered on the fly, keeping Dino Crisis moving along at a quicker tempo than Resident Evil's. Thankfully, the camera, with all its flexibility, is not abused or overused by any means. It is used sparingly, and only to enhance rather than to distract.

Since the game is completely 3D, it is not as easy to pick out necessary clues as it had been in Resident Evil because everything looks uniform. In Resident Evil you'd be able to tell what to look out for since the polygonal details would stick out from the prerendered backgrounds. In Dino Crisis, you must really be on the lookout for anything and everything. The camera angles are vintage RE, designed to provide the maximum tension possible. If that weren't enough, the soundtrack is designed to provide chills and thrills as well. The simple act of walking down a hallway becomes a terrifying exercise in fear when the violins start playing. If you're not too chicken, this game is best played in the dark with the volume up.

As previously stated, the controls in Dino Crisis are virtually identical to Resident Evil's, with a couple of crucial enhancements. Since the basic control configuration works well enough, potential problems arise since velociraptors are a lot quicker and savvier than RE's zombies. As a result, adjustments to the combat system were necessary to avoid an unwanted Regina-burger. When you press the R2 button, your character does a 180-degree turnabout, allowing you to put some space between you and your pursuer before turning around and filling your opponent with lead. The second enhancement is the ability to walk with your gun held out, primed to fire. While you walk slower with your gun outstretched, it sure beats making a sitting duck of yourself each time you want to fire your weapon. With all this meat-eating terror stalking the hallways (and windows and air-vents, etc.) it would get annoying to have to manage the ribbon-saving system found in Resident Evil. Instead, Dino Crisis features save rooms that prompt you to record your data whenever you attempt to leave or pass through one of these rooms. The number of times you save (or continue, should you die) affects your final score/rating and should be used sparingly.

The details in Dino Crisis are excellent too. If she takes a little damage, Regina will hold her side, limping a bit. If she takes a lot of damage, she'll be absolutely stagger around. She'll also drip blood on the floor, adding to the realism in Dino Crisis. Fortunately, there are plenty of power-ups (health kits, weapons, etc.), and an accessory-customization system similar to the one in Parasite Eve. Other things like head tracking, and auto-aiming sort out any additional combat-oriented complaints from the RE series as well. Interestingly, analog support does not seem to be featured, although the Dual Shock action is intact. Loading times between rooms are also severely reduced, due to the polygonal environments that take less space to store in memory.

So, from the looks of things, it appears as if Capcom has another winner on its hands. Dino Crisis is less disturbing than the RE series, but possibly more frightening since each of the creatures in DC hold about the same shock value as the Dobermans did in Resident Evil. While cannibalizing its own library could have backfired with a "been there, done that" aftertaste, Dino Crisis walks away under the strength of its own merits. The control improvements and graphic reinvention make DC its own game, with little owed to Resident Evil. The storyline is sound, and the replay value is high, with three different endings to reveal and a multitude of secrets to find (multiple costumes, a timed dinosaur hunt, mini Regina and giant Regina, etc.). With Oni-Musha, Nemesis, and Code Veronica on the horizon, Capcom might have this genre all to itself. While games like Carrier, Blue Stinger, and Alone In the Dark 4 will try and crowd the limelight with similar offerings, for the time being, it looks as if Capcom is king of the survival-horror hill. --James Mielke
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dino Crisis, December 4, 1999

By A Customer

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

You and your team are dropped on an island in the ocean searching for a renegade scientist,but something is wrong, there is a large hole in the security fence, the guards have gone walkies and just when things looked like the could'nt get any wierder you are attacked by a very large, very hungry dinosaur, what is going on here? Welcome to the world of Dino Crisis. Dino Crisis is the latest offering from Capcom, the makers of the Resident evil series and although this is evident from the games look at style of play, it is not a bad thing.Resident Evil was the best of its type and Dino crisis is better, the dinosaurs scare the life out of you and are difficult to kill and look frightningly realistic, the puzzles are tough, but not so tough as you're tearing your hair out and flinging your joypad around and for any body who has played any of the resident evil games easy to pick up. This is a game with style, imagination, wit and class, in short it is the game Jurasic park and lost world should have been, another excellent offering from capcom.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This game is a dream come true, whether you liked RE or not!, November 12, 1999

By A Customer

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This game is a few steps ahead of Resident Evil! The camera angles are improved, and perfected. Some will hopefully be used in future RE games! The FMVs are absolutely amazing. They run perfectly, making the game as realistic as humanly possible. The graphics, sound and music are all great! The graphics really push the Playstation to its limit, but keep it to where it still plays without a problem! The storyline branches at points, making it all that much more enjoyable. The story itslef is absolutely great. The way the saving works could have been made better, but it sure beats the heck out of finding ribbons and typewriters. This game is almost flawless, and I reccomend it to anyone who enjoys RE, or just likes being scared. If you hated RE because of the zombies' slowness, then this is the game for you. The dinosaurs are FAST! You'll like RE more after you've beat this game. Contains life-like graphics, very light language, and extensive gore. Rated mauture; 17+

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just another resident rip-off, August 3, 2001

By	Poo Poo Pooey (bradford, yorkshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

it would be unfair to pass this game by as another resident evil rip off because, although the basic premise is the same it is actually a very different game in every respect. And with the exception of 2, dino crisis easily excels any of the resident back catalogue.

The graphics are very good and use a different technique than RE allowing for much more user interaction. In RE the graphics are made up of pre-rendered backgrounds but DC uses polygonal characters and backgrounds to better effect and look very much like the areas they are trying to convey. This style of graphics works better than in RE and heightens the tension very well.

The gameplay is more innovative than in the RE games with more puzzles and less emphasis placed on action. DC's weapons are reasonably feeble compared to those in RE but this works for the better. Instead of just splattering every enemy you come across you need to think of alternatives as shooting everything will soon either get you killed or make you run out of ammo fast. Throughout the game you have to use security fences to your advantage, running past a raptor when its back is turned, past a sensor and then turn on the fence, much better than just killing the raptor and more satisfying to boot.

Enemies are also more intelligent than in RE games, as they would need to be, and will chase you through doors and follow your trail of blood. They are all also more agile than those in RE and so those encounters you cannot avoid are made even more visceral.

The use of puzzles through the game is also well done and some are real brainteasers, they are also more inventive than in RE, such as finding the right combination of gases for a poisoned room to gain entry or searching corpses for fingerprints to make a keycard. Much better than RE's simple need key, find key approach.

The enemies in the game is where it starts to slip a bit with not too many variations in there but this isnt much of a problem as dino encounters are not all that frequent anyway. The way the dinos are presented to you is good and the ways you are encouraged to beat them is refreshing. such as guiding a pterodactyl into a fan or electrocuting a raptor.

The main boss, although it hd to be a T-Rex, is better a good alternative to the tyrants in the RE series and provides a constant menace much like in RE3 and always seems to be breathing down your neck. Even when you think youre safe he bursts through a window or finds some way of spoiling your day.

The longevity of the game is pretty much what you expect of a game of this type, a fast play through can take approximately 3 hours but the first time took me about 5 1/2.The game length did surprise me though as at one point i was sure that i had finished the game but i was only half way through.

There is significant replay value in the game with three endings and many different costumes to be unlocked and with the game made in such a way you can play through and experience it differently each time.

Overall there is not much to gripe about with this game and i really cannot find much fault with it at all. Although the game length is expected with this sort of game it can seem annoying to others for it to be over so fast but with MGS the game is so enjoyable that this isnt a problem. Also hardcore blasters may complain about the puzzle orientated gameplay but if you ask me its far better this way.

i'd give it a 95%

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