Operation Backlog Completion 2025
Oct 092020
 

Sometimes I wonder if the name of this celebration should be changed, since we often talk about horror games where “spooky” isn’t exactly the right word… such as today, with Dino Crisis.

Although I got into the Resident Evil series quite a while ago, I never actually tried Capcom’s other classic survival horror game until this year. Dino Crisis always struck me as being Resident Evil with dinosaurs instead of zombies, and that’s the general impression it left me with.

There are gameplay differences between the two (and I liked how you have separate inventories for key items vs. consumables, although I prefer Resident Evil’s item boxes), but the general format of solving puzzles and unlocking doors has a flavor very similar to that of the classic Resident Evil games.

So of course I loved it, because that’s one of my favorite parts of survival horror. Some of the puzzles are pretty fun, too.

Dino Crisis might not be exactly scary in the same way as a zombie game, but it definitely had tense moments. I tried to avoid combat whenever possible, so I always felt dread whenever I entered a room and heard the telltale signs of a dinosaur nearby.

Story-wise, it’s basic but entertaining enough, and I liked the characters.

Click for Dino Crisis spoiler
Although I kept expecting Gail to be a traitor, so I felt a little bad by the end for mistrusting him for the entire game.

Overall, Dino Crisis left me with a single question: why did Capcom leave this series to die? There has to be a market out there for Resident Evil With Dinosaurs.

I know the later games shifted more toward action, which is disappointing, but as I played through the original, I couldn’t help but imagine it remade RE2make-style or with a new Dino Crisis entry that returns to the classic survival horror gameplay.

Dino Crisis is one of the major classics I missed, so I’m happy I finally had a chance to play it. How do you feel about this seemingly-forgotten (by Capcom) survival horror game?

  4 Responses to “Celebrating All Things Spooky: Dino Crisis”

  1. I think the “Celebrating All Things Spooky” name is fine, gets the point across… though actually, “All things” spooky is a little wide-ranging considering it’s mostly video games 😛

    • True… but “Celebrating Spooky Games and Also My Novellas” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. (I think the first year I threw in a couple movies, but yeah, it’s been mostly games since then.)

  2. I forgot this game even existed. I remember seeing it in a magazine and thinking it looked pretty cool.

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