Dino Crisis for PlayStation 1

Capcom, the company that has brought us the popular Resident Evil series is once again at work with another great survival horror title. For those of you who are fans of the Resident Evil series should find a lot to like here and some new ground to cover as well.

The story revolves around three special agents who are sent to a remote research island to find an elusive doctor who has reportedly died in a lab explosion. Needless to say they arrive on the island to find something a bit more sinister is going on there.

The game will undoubtably bear some resemblances to Resident Evil but Capcom has added a few new features to the mix to keep things fresh. First of all there is the most obvious of replacing zombies for dinos. This aspect of the game puts a whole new spin on the game as well. Now you are fighting smarter, faster dinos in contrast to stupid, slow moving zombies. At times during your adventure you will encounter a "danger" scene. During these scenes your character is cought in a dangerous situation, and you must rapidly mash the buttons to escape in time. Failing to do so often results in taking a little extra damage but can sometimes result in instant death. If you are attacked hard enough you will also drop your weapon and must scurry to retrive it or be unarmed and helpless. You can also now move while having your weapon drawn. This helps to eliminate those times when you are attacked while raising your weapon. The camera is also more free then it was in the Resident Evil titles. The camera is still fixed but over a much wider area so the camera will follow you until the next screen. This cuts down on those times where you can only see your enemy until it attacks but doesn't get rid of it completely.

You will also be fighting a wide variety of dinos, each with it's own unique traits and methods of attack. Raptors will hunt you down waiting for the right moment to pounce. Compys will always attack in large numbers. Pteranpdons will knock you down only to lift you up and throw you back to the ground, or even worse into a wall. The most devestating of course is the T-Rex who will just use his power and brute force to try and make you his next meal. You will have an arsenal of weapons at your disposal to defend yourself with. While the number of guns is somewhat limited with only three, there are many different types of ammo to arm them with. All of the guns are also upgradeable to some degree.

One of the game's biggest flaws seems to be the substancial amount of back tracking you must do during the game. At times you will have to back track to places you have already been two or three times before. What makes this most troublesome is that is certain areas dinos respawn and ammo is in very short supply.

The game's graphics won't dissapoint but won't amaze at the same time. The characters are well detailed for the most part and fit well with the lo res surroundings, but at times during close ups characters and dinos have awkward, bulky polygons that make them look more chunky and unrealistic then they should. The game's sound on the other hand is wonderful. The game has the perfect mood setting music that put the survival horror genre on the map. The sound effects are just as equally good. Your guns's going off sound nice and the painful shreiks of a fallen raptor is more the enough reward for killing one.

Dino crises' control scheme is almost identical to Resident Evil's making it easy for Resident Evil vets to pick up the controler and and get a feel for it right away. In fact the only real differences are a one button press 180 degree turn, and you can move while aiming.

Fans of the Resident Evil series will find a lot to like here. The game has enough new features to help it avoid being more then just a Resident Evil clone. From the opening cinema to the ending credits you will be having a great, suspenceful time.