DINO CRISIS

CAPCOM has done it again. They stole RESIDENT EVIL from NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Now, from JURASSIC PARK, they get DINO CRISIS. No allusions are made to the contrary. One of the characters even utters the line, "This is just like that movie." That it is.

DINO CRISIS has you as a female spec ops operative named Regina. With your two partners, you descend upon Ibis Island. You are told that your mission is to bring back Dr. Kirk, the rogue scientist in charge of the base there, as well as a spec ops team member who had infiltrated the base prior to you.

Amazingly, Dr. Kirk's experiments on the island were not designed to resurrect long dead dinos, but were of an entirely different nature. Dr. Kirk was searching for a source of unlimited, free, pure energy. He called it Third Energy. It was drawn out of the very air we breathe. Third Energy was not what anyone expected.

This game is not RESIDENT EVIL. This game is not RESIDENT EVIL. It is very different... VERY different. The first subject is that of the dinos. Dinos are NOT zombies. Zombies only prove troublesome in large groups. Most of the time you can just walk past or side step them (if you choose to do so). The NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD remake, starring Pat Tallman, beautiful illustrates this. You know the scene.

Dinos aren't zombies. The basic dino is a velociraptor. The raptors are accurately sized and modeled. They haven't been built up as in JURASSIC PARK. Raptors are quick. Raptors are very quick. A single raptor proves quite hard to kill. I've been met with two raptors at times. It is not fun. It is VERY HARD to make it out alive. Don't even attempt to go head-to-head with three. They'll just tear you apart.

After the raptor, there are larger and uglier dinos. They are slow, but a single swipe CAN be fatal. The final stage dinos mark the return of the raptor... only they're changed.

You also must deal with pteranodons and compies. Neither are too bad. Oh, there's also a T-Rex. You can't kill it. Don't even try. When the chopper crashes midway through the game, RUN. That is all that you can do.

The last hour of the game marks a rapid increase in dino activity, the halls flooded with the beasties. What's a girl to do?

You don't have RESIDENT EVIL's arsenal. You have but a handgun, shotgun, and grenade gun. You can remodel each with various parts through out the game. The handgun's fun to play with, but it's like RESIDENT EVIL's knife. The grenade gun is too slow and cumbersome. The shotgun's your best bet. You can fire a wide range of projectiles with it. Besides standard and slag ammo, you have darts. You need to mix the darts manually to create the best punch. They can do little more than slow the dino down to take it down in a single shot. It's all about the mix.

In RESIDENT EVIL, you are stagnant with you draw you gun. You can't move. In DINO CRISIS you can. This is one of the game's best features. You can walk the length of the complex with your weapon trained ahead of you. It comes in quite handy. Seconds count when a raptor lunges at your pretty little head.

Still, if you don't want to do battle with "big-ass lizards" as Regina puts it, you can creep through the complex's various airducts and vents. This way of passage cuts MASSIVE time off your journey.

The environment isn't a backdrop that you simply pass though. DINO CRISIS takes place in a rendered polygonal world, combining RESIDENT EVIL style shots with third person movement. The camera is dynamic and a true plus that adds to the overall excitement and intensity of the game.

The game's puzzles are very well done. They aren't RESIDENT EVIL's "find the key open the door" time wasters. All of DINO CRISIS's puzzles deal with the DDK lock system. You need to collect to interconnecting cards to open secured areas. You need to enter a passcode. The passcode is a numerical puzzle that takes smarts to solve. The DDK system gives the game an overall uniformity.

You must also upgrade your passcard, stolen from an eviscerated corpse early on, from time to time. You go about this by taking fingerprints from various dead lab techs and bloody fingerprints. Fun!

It's a wonderful game! Dinos aren't zombies. Dinos were Earth's ultimate predators of the past. We are Earth's ultimate predators of the present. It is the ultimate test of skill. Further, you are Regina... a woman... a mother.

There are two approaches to DINO CRISIS. Many times throughout gameplay, you are given the option of following Gail or Rick, the other team members. Gail sticks to his mission. I didn't say "your mission". Play the game to find out. Gail thinks with his gun. His ways are heavy on the shooting. Rick, however, thinks things though. If you follow Rick, expect a more cerebral game, dealing with sneaking around and constructing computer components. Neither way is the clear cut better option. You need to take a path which incorporates both.

In FINAL FANTASY VIII, my memory card deleted all my disc III data. My opinion of the game was stained. Upon completion of DINO CRISIS, my memory card, again, deleted my saved files... twice. Unlike FFVIII, I was driven to play DINO CRISIS again. You can beat the game in under four hours. It's fun.

Upon completion, you get access to OPERATION WIPEOUT. It's like RESIDENT EVIL 2's Hunk scenario. No puzzles. Just dinos.

You also get different costume choices and different endings. You need to beat the game three times to get all the goodies. It's more than worth it.

DINO CRISIS is not RESIDENT EVIL. It's not supposed to be. DINO CRISIS was a little game. The credits reveal just how small a team designed it. It was a pet project a CAPCOM. DINO CRISIS is one of the best games that I have ever played. DINO CRISIS stands side-by-side with RESIDENT EVIL.

There is a ferocity and panic found but only in this game. Being jerked about by a raptor like a rag doll or thrown back into a bulkhead by a dino cannot be emulated by zombies. Leaving a trail of blood, after being slashed in the stomach, as you run down a cold metal hall, the only sounds being the snorts and footsteps of dinos lurking behind and ahead, will push you further.

You won't let Regina die.

You won't.

Ever.

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Peter Tatara
11.13.1999

http://www.klink.net/~tatara/DFFQI.html