it as only being Resident Evil with dinosaurs, my argument to that it is, it’s Resident

Evil with dinosaurs. It was a solid survival horror game with an awesome dinosaur theme.

So when the sequel came around, I thought it was going to go the Resident Evil route,

with the sequel taking the series to new heights. Well, it did take the series somewhere new.

While Dino Crisis 1 was straight survival horror, Dino Crisis 2 is much more action.

This change may upset people who were fans of the original because it is so different,

but after you play a little you will see it is still a fun game.

The game takes place a little after Dino Crisis 1. Now on a remote research facility, “An

accident has occurred,” and the town has disappeared and replaced with a prehistoric

jungle. A team of TRAT is sent in to travel back in time and rescue what survivors they

can. Quickly they are attacked by Raptors and a T-Rex, killing most of the team except

Dylan and Regina, from the first game. The story is strong enough, being mostly about

the secret dealings of underground research and moves the game along well. Like Dino Crisis

2, the game focuses on 2 main characters. But instead of playing basically separate

games for each, you will be switching back and forth between Dylan and Regina. One will

get trapped somewhere and the other will have to come rescue them. It works well, if not

a little predictably, but keeps the gameplay fresh.

And speaking of gameplay, that has gotten a drastic change from the first game. Instead

of focusing on the slow paced, methodical puzzles and fetch missions, this game is much

more focused on the action. The developers understood that a lot people just wanted was

to shoot dinosaurs and that the first game had you running away more often than not.

That is not the case this time. Now you can not walk 5 feet without being ambushed by

raptors. Luckily you are given a powerful gun that will kill them in a shot or two.

This came as a big surprise to me. I was treating this like survival horror when I realised

quickly it is not. There is even a combo counter tracking how many dinosaurs you’ve killed

in a particular area. That awards you will points, that you can use at save stations

to buy new weapons, upgrade weapons, or buy health. Now you will always have plenty of

health and ammo, making you not fear the dinosaurs but instead have them fearing you.

The world is not as open as the first game, having you running down linear paths to get

from one area to the next instead of finding your way. This works very well for the style

of gameplay, having many good boss scenes and attacks along the way. And the world is

brought to life with some of the best graphics on the PS1. This game is really pretty.

The only slight grip I have with the game is the controls. It still uses the classic

survival horror controls, which is personally the way I prefer to play my horror games.

But this is not survival horror and the controls can get in the way when you have 5 raptors

around you. You will get used to them, and enjoy the game, but the game would be just

that much better with analog controls.

The game is very good and very fun, but very different from the first game. If you are

looking for more of the same then look elsewhere but if you are looking for solid action involving

dinosaurs, then you won’t be disappointed.