Customer Reviews
Resident Evil... Dinos?
Having played a rather large number of survival horror titles in my time, I uncovered this title at the local flea market for 3 bucks. Having missed it back on the ps1 days (I was too busy with Silent Hill and Resident Evil I guess...) and being a die hard fan of Survival Horror, I picked it up. First and for most, many people have claimed this to be Rresident Evil with dinosaurs. Don't get me wrong, the similarities are hard to miss, but this really is something unique. Enimies are fast... the slow moving zombie has been replaced with the screeching, agile, adreniline fueled velociraptor... Which makes this game pretty difficult. No, think about it. RE controlls... only with zombies that move faster than you. Get the picture? While this does ramp the difficulty significantly, it isn't too over bearing (You just have to learn that blasting dinos isn't a good idea and running away is). Despite the more frentic combat, the game still moves at a sluggish pace that survival horror players have either come to love or hate. This is due in large part to a vast number of puzzles (which make little sense, as usual... colored key cards, statues, crate moving, etc.)and back tracking, in true RE fashion. However, this game offers some really chilling atmosphere, and despite the slow moving speed, it really does feel faster and more frentic than it's compitition, just because dinos are everywhere, you are always running and usually have an extremely low ammount of ammo at all times. Because nearly every area has key items, you have to explore. Because these same areas feature dinos, you have to use ammo to kill them. Because dinos are so fast and hard to kill you are always taking damage. You use healing items to cure wounds, so there for, unlike Resident Evil, it is pretty damn hard to hoard ammo and healers... all this results from fast moving enemies, and because you almost always just barely escape every situation by the seat of your pants, this gives dino crisis an exciting edge that most other horror games still haven't perfected. Add to this, "choose your own adventure" style twists in the plot where you call the shots as to which direction the story goes, the ability to combine items to create more powerful weapons, new types of ammo, and more potent healing items, and some pretty nifty graphics (they really aren't that bad, considering this game is almost 5 years old)and you have a winning title. As for the not-so-juicy parts, well... there are only about 4 types of enemies. And if you ever saw Jurassic Park or opened up a childrens Dinosaur book, you already know what they look like and how they will act. I'm not complaining, because each dino still scares the crap out of you when it pops out of a vent shaft or chases you down a corridor at high speed... but they lack that what-the-hell-is-it? factor of the mutants seen in RE and Silent Hill... Before you ever encounter them, you already know exactly what the enemies will look like, and how they will try and kill you. It just isn't as disturbing as the freekish encounters experienced in most other games of the genre. More so, the weapon selection is a little limited (3 weapons: Pistol, Shotgun, Grenade Gun), which offer a nice balance of speed, ammo availability and power... but it still leaves something to be desired, as pistol ammo is far too week to be useful (7 to 10 hits for a kill on a fast moving enemy... yeah right) and shotgun ammo is far to scarce to be wasted on anything but important circumstances (obviously grenades are saved exclusively for bosses if you actually want to beat the game). A good middle ground weapon would have been nice, just to lower frustration and make combat more stream-lined. In short, if you never liked Survival Horror, this isn't going to turn you into a fan. But if you like the corridor romping, the solving of mundane puzzles that pop out of no where and a few heart pounding marrathon runs while being chased by savage lizards, this is a game you should check out. Dated by today's standerds, but still decient enough to replay to see the 4 different endings. I give it a solid 85 out of 100.
A Great Survival Horror Game
Dino Crisis is an overall great survival horror game. The storyline is a bit boring, but is enough to keep you playing the game. The graphics are okay, for a playstation game. The game itself is not as scary as other survival horror games, like Resident Evil, but features enough horror to make it a game to remember. One great thing about this game is that it has easy to use controls, which makes the game a little easier to play. Dino Crisis is definately a game to purchase if you are looking for a great survival horror game.
not a bad game
I really liked this game! Bad graphics, though. I know a lot about dinosaurs, so I knew there was one big flaw in the game: those bulky raptors (which are called Therizinos in the guide to the game) don't exist! Why the heck did the people who made the game put those things in the game? Were they just mutated from raptors? There is one plant-eating dinosaur that existed that was probably what those things were based on. It's called Therizinosaurus, and it's about the same size as a T-rex, and it's front paw claws are 26 inches long!! Overall, I'd say the game was great. I also have the guide (I couldn't get halfway through the game without it!). (spoiler, sort of) Here's what types of dinosaurs there are: Velociraptors (careful, the blue ones are stronger than the green or yellow ones, but also are pretty- pretty dangerous!!) Therizinos, Pteranodons, T-rex and Compsognathus (they aren't very dangerous, but they will bite you
after a few seconds of running around you). Overall, not bad. I'd recomend this to a real dino-fan (like me! But I own it anyway)
