17 out of 17 people found this review helpful.
Snap, Crackle, Pop, Yummy Humans!
Date of Review: Jan 6, 2001
Released in 1999, the original Dino Crisis added a new title for Capcom?s survival-horror sub-genre. It took the Resident Evil formula of scares, suspense, and chills and its control scheme and added dinosaurs. It turned out pretty freakin creepy, who wouldn?t be scared to fight the damn T-Rex? Because of it?s similarities to the Resident Evil series, it was quickly dubbed by some ?Jurassic Evil?. Capcom decided to take a different approach with the sequel (aww, c?mon, it?s Capcom, who wasn?t expecting a sequel?), probably to show that it can dramatically change game sequels if it want.
In Dino Crisis 2, Capcom kept the same relative Resident Evil control scheme (up moves you forward, R1 raises your weapon, etc.), but took away the suspense, scare you outta your pants formula. Not that that?s a bad thing, if Capcom can get another good formula going. And, boy, did they ever?
To shorten it out for you, and make it easier on the eyes, I?ll tackle this game like every other, with graphics, control, story, sound, and replayability/length
Graphics
Ooh?look at all the pretty trees?and the dinosaur?so pretty. That?s what I thought when I first started playing the game, all the characters have smooth animations, the backgrounds are all crystal clear, and the dinosaurs move with a vicious smoothness. The first Dino Crisis used real time backgrounds, letting the camera pan and swing different places and adding a cinematic quality to it. Capcom obviously wanted a higher polygon count for the characters and dinosaurs, because in this installment they return to Resident Evils pre-rendered backgrounds. That means the backgrounds are crisp and clear, although things that you?re supposed to pick up do stick out. These are some of the best graphics the Playstation can offer, even better than Resident Evil 3: Nemesis?s graphics (and those are some of the best in the survival-horror genre).
Control
If you?ve played a Resident Evil game or the first Dino Crisis, then you?ll be right at home. If you haven?t, then you may need some practice, as the controls at first do feel a little awkward. You press up to move forward, and R1 (or whatever button you customize it to) to raise your gun. Once you do learn, though, you?ll blast those nasty raptors with the greatest of ease.
Story
It begins simply enough (which I?ll explain later), but you quickly find out your mission won?t be so easy. The story keeps you on the edge of your seat, with no let downs. There are a few twists, but not a whole lot. It?s a fairly good story, but I?ve seen better.
Sound
Very nice, those dinosaur yells, snarls, and chirps all sound very good, you?ll actually think you went back in time and are really hearing a raptor snarling at you. Even the surface your running over sounds like it should, if you?re running over cement, you?ll hear a ?Clomp clomp? sound, and if you run over some leaves, then you hear a ?Rustle rustle? sound. It adds to the feel of the game.
Replayability/Length
Well, the game is fairly short, about six hours or so. And it?s rather easy (any game where you blast everything in sight is gonna be). I rented it for 5 days, beat it on the 3rd. Replayability is about medium, nothing extreme. You can play several various mini-games, but the one I played (Dino Coliseum) didn?t seem all that much. The game is fun while it lasts, though.
The game is set a year after the previous Dino Crisis. The government shows just how moronic they are and start to mess with the Third Energy stuff that Dr. Kirk was doing. But something happens to the laboratory, they screw up and are sent back in time. The military, always fixing the governments mistakes, sends last years survivor, Regina, and a whole team from TRAT (Tactical Reconnoitering and Acquisition Team). In the beginning cinema, you see all of team TRAT become dino-dinner except for Dylan, a young member, and some freak with a cowboy hat and Indian stuff. The game then follows Regina and Dylan as they try to come to senses with their situation and attempt to complete their mission (rescue the people and use their machine to get back).
The game has very few cons. It?s short and easy, but it?s also fun while you are playing. The FMV cinemas are very nicely done, but don?t look as good as the first Dino Crisis?s, and sometimes when you?re aiming at a dinosaur, you?ll completely miss even if the dino doesn?t move. It gets annoying, but you can quickly follow up with a second bullet to show that dinosaur who?s boss. Also, fighting five dinosaurs at once can get a little hard, especially if you have some behind you and some in front of you, as these things can move fast. Also, I highly doubt, no matter how big the sucker is, that a T-Rex can survive 10 consecuative tank-blasts and still come at you with a grin on his face. C'mon, it's still an animal, I don't think the skin is THAT though. That and I also doubt all these dinosaurs lived in the same period.
Overall, this game is worthy of purchase. You may beat it quickly, but it?s fun enough to come back to. I can?t see playing this game 2 months after you beat it for the 5th time, though. It?s still a worthy addition to your Playstation library, it?ll do ya proud! This game is rated M, for Mature, since a dinosaur eating a human with blood spraying out may not exactly do good for your kids
Overall-3.5, rounded up to 4 stars
