My 50th review: "Plant eaters my fanny!" [Xeno3998's Capcom Week Write-Off]
Pros:
Atmospheric, action-packed gameplay, great sound and graphics
Cons:
A mite short, though I enjoyed playing it again after finishing it
The Bottom Line:
Original, fun, atmospheric, action-packed gameplay. Add excellent graphics and sound to this, and you have a must-have game. Way to go Capcom!
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
If you read my review of Dino Crisis, youll find that I thought it was a Resident Evil-rip-off at best, where zombies were replaced by dinosaurs. So I didnt expect all that much when I started playing Dino Crisis 2. To my surprise, the game didnt go for the survival-horror-genre like its predecessor, and its rather action-oriented gameplay made for a surprisingly fun gaming experience.
And then there were three
In Dino Crisis 2 you control two of the three surviving members of the first dinosaur-conflict: theres Regina, a dino hunter veteran and also team leader; and Dylan, who is both recon and infiltrator. The third member of your team is a cowboy type with Native American tendencies. Hell give you a hand from time to time, but you cant control him.
Although many of their weapons and equipment are the same, both playable characters have their own distinctive abilities and strengths. They complement each other nicely, and I was very grateful being able to switch between them to get myself out of specific sticky situations. Of course theyre both quite good at shooting down prehistoric carnivores, a talent theyll have to use more than once
The quicker and the dead
The sense of involvement is far greater here than it was in the first game: I really felt I was in the middle of a genuine dinosaur crisis, because the island where we stranded was literally swarming with monsters. Whereas in Dino Crisis you had to solve puzzles while from time to time a dino gave you some trouble, Dino Crisis 2 offers just the opposite: a minimum of puzzles, and loads of dinos often attacking in group. There are more than ten different types of dinosaurs, and plenty of variants for each. Developer Capcom has created a totally new combat system for the game, which makes it faster and simpler, and therefore more exciting than the original. I feel the game comes quite close to an arcade shooter.
Move over Bruce Willis!
Instead of carefully finding your way through dark, creepy corridors where you had to save your precious ammunition and medikits, Dino Crisis 2 encourages you to jump into the fray with blazing guns. The game awards you points for each dino killed, and more if you kill several in a short period of time. The more combos you score, the more bloodthirsty the dinosaurs get. You use the points you earned to buy weapons, ammo, tools and medikits.
Although Regina and Dylan cant use two weapons at the same time for maximum firepower, you cant combine all weapons. Think of a fantasy Role-Playing game where you can use a sword in one hand and a dagger in the other, but you use both hands to wield a two-handed sword.
Another change that I noticed in Dino Crisis 2s combat system is that you can run a lot faster while shooting. No more standing still while shooting Bruce Willis-type bullets at the enemy, now you can run around while spitting hot lead. It may not sound very spectacular, but I can assure you it is.
You mean this isnt a PS2 game?
Graphically, Dino Crisis 2 looks much better than the original. The first time I saw it, the animation was so nice and smooth I assumed it was a Playstation 2 game! Learning from their mistakes, Capcom obviously decided to take their distance from the first game, and compose the background out of pre-rendered images, making everything look really cool
and more than a little unsettling. The camera angles arent as annoying as they were in the first game it made the game unplayable at times and they give the game that movie-like look, highlighting the dramatic events. The prehistoric creatures look more realistic, and more frightening too. The cutscenes were made using the same engine as the one the game uses, so there is no annoying switching between formats. Dylan and Regina move very convincingly whether theyre running, shooting, or
getting hurt.
Sounds that will make you soil your pants
Nothing but praise for the sound. Whoever was put in charge of audio has done a perfect job. The whole game sounds very detailed, resulting in different sounds for different gunshots, footsteps that sound different depending on the ground youre walking on, and perhaps most importantly, a big difference in dinosaur screeches and growls. Voice acting is spot-on too. The music is well suited for the situation, with up-beat techno during hectic gunfights, and more of a trance-sound during quiet moments. Although I usually dont like this type of music, it really added to the overall atmosphere.
No wonder they were extinct!
Dino Crisis 2 has managed to break free from the tradition, and has evolved from a mediocre Resident Evil-clone to a brand new game type. It offers original, fun, and involving gameplay, while still earning a respectable place in the survival-horror-genre. And yet it has managed to avoid the stereotypical elements of the genre, showing me one of the most refreshing approaches of a third person shooter that Ive played in a long time. The only criticism I could find is that it didnt take too long to finish
but it did make me come back after Id completed the game. A worthy addition to anybodys game collection!
Write-Off
This review, my fiftieth, is dedicated to the Capcom Week Write-Off, hosted by Xeno3998. Check her profile page for the complete list of participants to the Write-Off.
