Dino Crisis: The forgotten survival horror video game series
When I was a kid, I was obsessed with the Stephen Spielberg movie Jurassic Park. In my 5-year-old mind the premise seemed very plausible; An eccentric billionaire hiring the best scientist’s money could buy to resurrect dinosaurs (or something close to them). Of course, chaos inevitably ensues as the staff at Jurassic Park find themselves unable to control their creation. It’s almost a modern retelling of the classic Mary Shelly novel “Frankenstein”.
I would go on to learn everything I could about dinosaurs. The science in the movie appeared to be sound. The concept of Jurassic Park at some point becoming a reality seemed like a distinct possibility. Over the years, I would go on to collect all things Jurassic Park related and re-watch the movies hundreds of times.
The only thing that was missing in my mind was a solid Jurassic Park video game. The source material was so intense and exciting. A video game based on the movie seemed like it would be an absolute no-brainer. Much to my chagrin, I was unable to find a game that I deemed worthy. The franchise has a long list of lackluster video games. I tried out quite a few of them and it felt like none of them could really capture the horror and intensity of the movie.
A few years I found myself at my uncle’s house. He casually mentioned that he had been playing a Dinosaur game on the PlayStation 1. Naturally, my interest was piqued. He became extremely animated while talking about how impressive the graphics and gameplay were. He popped in the Dino Crisis 2 disk and that was when everything changed.
I’ll never forget the first time I saw the opening cut-scene where the T-rex chases the protagonists over a cliff. It’s hard to say for sure but I imagine that my jaw hit the floor. For the next 3-ish hours no one could pry me away from the TV. It was everything I wanted, yet never could quite get, from an official Jurassic Park game.
The Dino Crisis series was the brainchild of the legendary video game publisher, Capcom. The team who created resident evil, led by director Shinji Mikami, also worked on the Dino Crisis games. This is one of the possible reasons for the similarities between the two franchises. While both IPs have a similar feel and game mechanics…calling Dino Crisis “Resident Evil with Dinosaurs” is doing the series a grave disservice.
The original Dino Crisis game follows the story of a special operations team sent to a secret research facility on an island to rescue a scientist, Dr. Kirk, who has gone missing. The team, led by Regina, soon discovers that the island is inhabited by dangerous dinosaurs, and they must fight to survive while also uncovering the truth behind the facility’s experiments.
Personally, I found the first game to be much slower than the second. Dino Crisis 1 had a feel similar to games such as Silent Hill 2. It felt like the team really took the time to cultivate a tense atmosphere. Not entirely different from movies such as Alien where tension is built up throughout the movie.
The second game took a different approach and shifted its focus to balls to the wall fast paced action. The plot is even more fantastical than the first and when the action starts it does not let up. Initially, you play as Dylan Morton, a member of the Special Tactics and Rescue Squad (STARS) who is sent to an island called Ibis to investigate a series of strange energy readings. The already questionable situation continues to deteriorate as soon as the team arrives on the island. Of course, No over the top action game would be complete without appearances from mercenaries, dinosaurs and time travelers.
The fans would describe these titles as survival horror at some of its finest. Mystery, missing persons, lab experiments gone awry, smart puzzles and vicious dinosaurs. There is definitely a reason why Dino Crisis has a devoted cult following over 20 years after the games initial release. I recommend you do yourself a favor and give these games a try.
(PS: What about Dino Crisis 3? Well….we don’t talk about that one.)