Capcom was at the top of their game when it came to survival horror games in the 32-bit generation. Not only did they popularize the genre, but their own Resident Evil towered over the imposters both critically and commercially. The Sony PlayStation alone had no less than three original installments (four if you include Survivor). Where could Capcom possibly go from here? A completely original survival horror game, of course. Dino Crisis was the result. This game bore more than just a passing glance to Resident Evil, but instead of zombies it featured dinosaurs. Back then I wasn’t too interested in the Dino Crisis despite being a huge fan of the genre. It wasn’t until years later I finally gave in, and I loved it. I decided to take a modern look at this classic. How does it hold up? Let’s check it out!
In Dino Crisis you play as a special government agent in an organization called SORT (Secret Operation Raid Team). This group is sent in to infiltrate an Island laboratory to investigate sightings of a brilliant scientist thought to have already been deceased. You play as a fiery haired member of the team named Regina. Upon arrival she and her companions discover the facilities to be left in shambles. There are dead bodies everywhere, and they appear to have been torn up by large predators. Soon dinosaurs rear their ugly heads, and the team must fend for themselves while still trying to locate the back-from-the-dead doctor. The plot is handled like a cheesy B-movie. That’s to be expected when it comes to survival horror games. There are lots of plot twists and turns, and it’s a mildly enjoyable story if you don’t take it too seriously.
Comparisons to Resident Evil are to be expected here. I’ll get the obvious out of the way. The lab and Island itself are not nearly as atmospheric or glum as the Spencer Mansion from RE. Not only that but Dinosaurs just don’t have the same horrifying effect as zombies. The research facility feels quite sterile, and lacks the ‘lived in’ quality the environments from Resident Evil have. Dino Crisis does however manage to carve out its own identity in terms of atmosphere. The environments and story have a very surreal feel to them. The big plot twist as to why there are dinosaurs present on the island is underwhelming, but it’s a fairly original idea. At times the plot feels like you’re moved along in spite of the dinosaurs, and not because of them. By survival horror standards it’s a pretty decent tale.
Gameplay is very similar to that of Resident Evil. You move your character through a variety of environments with dramatic camera angles using tank controls. Holding the L1 button draws your weapon, and this in conjunction with pressing X fires the equipped weapon. The big difference here is that the environments are fully 3D. For me this feels like a huge step forward in terms of Capcom’s survival horror offerings. Gone are pre-rendered backgrounds, and instead the camera actually pans along with you, or even follows your character. I was initially worried that the hardware wouldn’t be able to support the fully 3D environments, but Dino Crisis runs like a champ. Besides the fact that everything appears a little more blocky and pixelated there are almost no disadvantages going this route than using pre-rendered backgrounds instead.
When you first arrive at the facility you only have a small area in which you can explore. You have to find keys and other items to unlock new areas. In this case the sense of exploration is really well done even if the environments are generally very similar to one another. Unfortunately Dino Crisis can be a bit vague with your objectives. Sometimes you’ll find a locked door, and you won’t have the key. This isn’t a problem but you’re not told where to find it. Additionally, this may not even be where you need to go next. This comes with the territory, but I found Dino Crisis a bit more dense than your typical survival horror adventure in this sense. There are lots of locked doors, and little direction most of the time as to where you’re supposed to go next.
This brings me to the only big problem I had with Dino Crisis. There’s too much backtracking. Normally this isn’t a problem in survival horror games for me. In this case I found it to be really over the top. You’ll see the same bland corridors over and over again. You have to pay close attention to the environment because items don’t stand out as much as they do in other similar titles. I’m very thorough when playing survival horror games, but even I missed a few key items here and there. It can be very frustrating to return to the same rooms you just explored to make sure you didn’t miss the key that you need to move forward. I had to step up my game and after making that mistake a few times it wasn’t a big issue.
Enemies are more of a menace here than in most survival horror games. That kind of comes with the territory. Dinosaurs are fast, vicious, and smart. Capcom was able to re-create these elements in a believable way. Most of the time you’ll face off against velociraptors but as you progress you’ll find Pterodactyls, Therizinosauruses, and even the almighty T-Rex. Survival horror games regularly test your rationing of ammunition, and Dino Crisis is no different. What’s unique here is that enemies respawn. It’s a bit unpredictable, and because they’re fast you can’t easily get past them. This is especially true in the many narrow corridors. Ammunition is thankfully more plentiful than you would expect, and management isn’t quite the issue it is in other survival horror games. You will still need to conserve, but I was never left with just a handful of bullets and my good intentions.
The item management system is serviceable, but not amazing. You have a pretty limited inventory and can’t pick up recovery items or ammunition when it’s full. I’m thankful you always have room for key items, because that was a big problem in Resident Evil. When you’re out of space you can store items in specialized boxes on the wall. These can be retrieved only by accessing the same kind of box, but they’re universal so it’s not awful. I also really like the fact that you can combine healing items for a variety of effects. Dino Crisis pushes you to do this by showing you recipes, and giving you plenty of ingredients. You can also upgrade Regina’s arsenal by finding parts that can be combined with firearms. These systems are similar to what was introduced in Resident Evil 3, but it’s more in-depth here and significantly better because of it.
Despite the different venue than Resident Evil, Dino Crisis is still fairly scary. As I mentioned earlier the surreal atmosphere works well in highlighting the otherworldly reptiles you’ll be dealing with. The ammunition management, as well as respawning enemies also instills a good sense of dread. Unfortunately I didn’t think the jump scares worked particularly well. Capcom created a ‘panic’ system of sorts wherein you’ll participate in set pieces where you’re attacked out of the blue and have to respond quickly. At best these moments were only mildly startling. They even re-created the classic ‘jump through the window’ scare but it just wasn’t that effective in Dino Crisis. No matter how much I wished it were true dinosaurs just aren’t as scary as zombies, or supernatural deformities like in Silent Hill. Capcom does get an A for effort though.
Dino Crisis is one of my favorite PS1 games from a visual standpoint. As I’ve already mentioned the environments are fully 3D and dynamic. These don’t have the same fidelity of pre-rendered backgrounds, but the fact that the camera isn’t stuck on a tripod is well worth the trade. The character models and enemies look absolutely wonderful. The dinosaurs animate fluidly and are great to watch in motion. It feels realistic, or at least for how we’ve been taught the prehistoric beasts probably moved. The lighting effects are also pretty neat, and I liked the subtle illumination on Regina as she moved through well lit areas. The soundtrack is also really good and puts in some serious work in establishing the spooky atmosphere. There’s a fair amount of ambient noise, and this too sounds great. The voice acting unfortunately is low quality, but after a while I hardly noticed.
