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RATING: (weak) 1 2 3 4 5 (awesome) (No Rating Assigned)
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IN BRIEF
Pros: Faster, simpler, more action and more dinosaurs (!) than the original DC. Cons: This is a good game--nothing to con about. In a nutshell: A great improvement on what was already a solid game with solid gameplay and great graphics and sound. *ESRB rating: M (Mature) |
FACTS
Game Title: Dino Crisis 2 Platform: Playstation Developer: Capcom Entertainment, Inc. Publisher: Capcom Entertainment, Inc. Release Date: September 30, 2000 Price: $39.99 |
THE REVIEW by Steven Kent for Gamers Today
A Fun Jurassic Lark
Regina, the video gaming world's most popular red-headed Japanese girl, is back and so are her carnivorous friends. Regina, the girl with the auburn bob hairstyle wearing a one-piece swimsuit with leotards and a big holster, is a female member of T.R.A.T., an elite S.W.A.T. team that, near as I can figure, specializes in knocking off dinosaurs. Regina has to be tough--her last assignment (i.e., Dino Crisis) pitted her against an endless supply of raptors, pterodactyls, and tyrannosaurus rex.
Last time out, Regina was mostly on her own. This time, in Dino Crisis 2, she has a partner--Dylan, a rather large partner with an equally large shotgun. While Dylan and Regina do stay together, but they certainly travel in the same circles they do run into each other from time to time.
Since you have to play Dino Crisis 2 as both TRAT members, you need to learn to work with their individual strengths. Regina is quicker than Dylan. Her handgun does not pack the same punch as his shotgun, but she can move to safe areas more quickly and fires on-the-fly. Regina does not get too deep in this mission before she runs into her first T-Rex, a slimmed down version of the king lizards in the first Dino Crisis, so learning to use her speed is very important. Move quickly, shoot even more quickly, and have lots of medical kits on hand, and you can re-extinct this beast with nothing but a pistol.
Dylan, on the other hand, starts out with a powerful shotgun instead of a pistol. Regina's pistol only shoots one raptor per shot; Dylan can knock three down if they are grouped together. It's the smaller dinosaurs that get his goat. With smaller targets in every direction, Dylan almost always takes damage.
Dino Crisis 2, like the original Dino Crisis, builds off the Resident Evil engine- meaning this is a game about moving into an area and killing off monsters, then moving into the next area and killing off more monsters. Resident Evil producer Shinji Mikami, Capcom's infamous master of horror, has designed some nice improvements into Dino Crisis 2.
The dinosaurs in this game do not drag their tails, and neither do Regina and Dylan. This time out, Regina and company run, and their basic guns have an endless supply of bullets. Walking and hunting for bullets may work in a town filled with slow-moving zombies, but speedy dinosaurs require a different kind of tactic.
Also, there were only three kinds of dinosaurs in the original Dino Crisis-raptors, t-rex, and pterodactyls. That limited variety worked okay in the first game, but Mikami needed to learn about a few more species to pull off a sequel. Dino Crisis 2 has more land species plus there are areas in which you have to swim and fend off swimming dinosaurs. Dino Crisis 2 also has more cinematic sequences to get you in the right Jurassic mood.
As sequels go, Dino Crisis 2 gets high marks for doing a great job of building on the foundation laid by its predecessors. Look for Dino Crisis to be among the big games this Christmas, and to establish the Dino Crisis series as a lasting line of video games.
*For a complete explanation of ESRB ratings, check out the official ESRB Web site.
