Forgotten Horror Masterpieces: Dino Crisis

3 Jan, 2011

As a huge fan of the Capcom brand of survival horror, when I heard tell of a fresh take on the genre – a hybrid of their very own zombie outbreak franchise Resident Evil and Spielberg’s reptilian mishap movie Jurassic Park – I was suitably excited. Twelve years later I headed back to Ibis Island for my first gaming regression of 2011.

Labelled ‘panic horror’ by developer Capcom, Dino Crisis is a visceral, sci-fi action title set in the present day. A special tactics team are sent on a classified reconnaissance mission to a remote island base where a secret weapons project is being developed by a scientific research team, headed up by “deceased” evil genius Dr. Edward Kirk.

Team captain Gail, tech-savvy hacker-type Rick and our leading lady Regina parachute onto the island. Within five minutes ill-fated fourth-in-command Cooper’s been blown off-course and received more than an affectionate nibble from a gigantic bipedal beast, the mission’s gone to hell and the facility is crawling with “big-ass lizards”. The team set about infiltrating the research building, locating the mysterious doctor and uncovering his sinister plans.

Dino Crisis is played from a third-person perspective, much like its biological warfare-themed counterpart. Combat is also very similar, with the added bonus of being able to aim while moving, though this really has no benefit within this style of gameplay. The first thing the player will notice is just how spectacularly cinematic the game looks and feels. Dino Crisis substitutes Resident Evil’s gorgeously detailed, pre-rendered backdrops for slightly blander but fully 3D environments and a dynamic, moving camera which, together with the oft-hilarious ‘crap disaster movie’ soundtrack, is the perfect compliment to the calamitous, frenzied nature of encounters.

Your scaly foes are also a world apart from the fleshy, shuffling undead of Raccoon City. Not only are they lightning-fast and super-intelligent, they’ve got sharp teeth and a tough hide. Dispatching dinos can take more than an entire clip of ammunition, only to be replaced by another carnivorous horror. Even worse, it can be exceptionally difficult to outmanoeuvre your enemies. The small but fearsome line-up of dinosaur species ranges from the velociraptor to the pteranadon, led by the king of dinosaurs, the Tyrannosaurus Rex. They are quick and clever, they can follow Regina from room to room and can disarm her with a well-timed tail-whip attack. Ammo is in such limited supply there simply isn’t enough to take out every dinosaur, though similar to a concept thrown out with the first iteration of Resident Evil 2, laser fences can be operated to keep them at bay. Dino Crisis, perhaps more than any other game of its type, truly asks the question – fight or flight?

Several other gameplay aspects can alter the course of the game in a flash. Much like the quick-fire ‘Live Selection’ featured in Dino Crisis’ 1999 bedfellow Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Regina’s bickering comrades Rick and Gail will proffer vastly differing plans of action at key points during the game, leaving the final decision in the hands of the player. These choices will ultimately decide which of the three endings you will receive. Also, at various points the player will be engaged in button-mashing quick-time events which can determine the difference between life and death.

Though weapons seem to be in increasingly plentiful supply in Raccoon City, Regina’s arsenal is actually smaller than that of the first Resident Evil back in 1996. Each firearm can be upgraded with various parts but this doesn’t seem to add much, if anything to the guns’ functionality save for allowing the use of more powerful types of ammunition. The inventory screen is also streamlined from the one used in Resident Evil. Like the combination of herbs that we’re familiar with, health packs and tranquilizer darts can be mixed together or with other chemicals to create stronger variants. The puzzles featured are impressively baffling, though once you get to grips with them you’ll be cracking codes and tearing down firewalls like an experienced hacker.

Dino Crisis is not a big game, clocking in at around five or six hours for first-time players, reduced to around three for seasoned operatives. However, there’s plenty of replay value on offer with several different routes through the game, the aforementioned three different endings, plus a selection of bonus outfits and even Operation Wipeout, an unlockable mission-based mini-game to kill a couple of hours when you’re done with the main story.

It’s impossible not to – perhaps unfairly – compare Dino Crisis to Resident Evil. Having said that, Dino Crisis really does stand on its own two feet as a brand of its own, setting itself apart from its admittedly-superior predecessor. The story is typical Capcom B-movie fare with a contrived storyline, terrible script, mediocre voice acting and some fairly bland characters.

However, Regina is a very likeable, feisty heroine with a sharp wit, plenty of sass and a fabulously unachievable hair colour. Dino Crisis’ 2000 sequel is undoubtedly the better game, but survival horror fans, especially those that may have overlooked Dino Crisis first time around, are sure to enjoy it. Much like Resident Evil, the dramatic, action-packed set-pieces and superbly tense gameplay of Dino Crisis more than makes up for its shortcomings.

Dino Crisis is available for PlayStation, Dreamcast and PC.