Dino Crisis 2 for PlayStation 1

The first Dino Crisis was a game plagued with imperfections and expectedly, it was not as well received as others like the Resident Evil series. From its bland colors, poor sound effects and frustratingly complex puzzles, it was deservedly overlooked by many, including fans of the original Resident Evil games. With the release of Dino Crisis 2, it was such a relief to note that Capcom had taken the necessary steps in correcting their mistakes with the original DC as well as improving on virtually every aspect and taking it to another level.

Among other things, doing away with such mind numbing puzzles as the previous DDK system was indeed a welcome change from the frustration & monotony in the first game. The decision to increase the previously miserable quartet of dino enemies to include such notable baddies as the Allosaur, Triceratops, Plesiosaur ( a.k.a the Loch Ness monster ) & even a super sized T -Rex was a truly remarkable change of pace aimed at making the game more action oriented in contrast to its puzzle themed prequel.

Gameplay
The folks at Capcom had obviously taken the zillions of complaints on the first game pretty seriously, since DC2 wasn't a complete rehash like many sequels are but a totally different game altogether. In truth, DC2 isn't exactly pure survival horror with its rather toned down difficulty & unlimited supply of ammo. I would consider it more of a hybrid between the aforementioned genre and perhaps a mindless 3D shooter.

Speaking of weapons, DC2 features an awesome arsenal ranging from the standard pea shoter-like pistol to ultra powerful rocket launchers & huge anti-tank rifles. Ammo may be purchased using bounty points which are obtained from killing off dino enemies. Each dino enemy yields a differing set of BP values depending on size and difficulty. Most common among them are the age old favorite raptors, which make up roughly 70% of the would-be dino mincemeat in DC2.

The already excessive gore factor is taken up several notches making DC2 among the bloodiest games ever seen on the PS. Sadistic freaks would surely find the act of cutting a raptor to shreads with a machete or zapping one with a million volt stun gun strangely satisfiying. Yes, you get to do all this in DC2 and as an added bonus, you also get to hear the wounded dinos scream out in pain as you slowly slice them to pieces with that mean looking machete of yours. Of course, there are other less painful but equally efficient ways to dispose of them, one of which involves something callled a shotgun.

Much like Resident Evil, there is a considerable amount of back-tracking required in order to solve certain puzzles or to obtain a particular item. I do not have that many complaints regarding its gameplay with the exception of its underwater sequence, which I thought was especially painful due to its headache-inducing green graphics & slow-motion. The underwater scenery is often blurry but what made me hate it so much was how everything seemed to be of the same color ( green ) and how slow Regina moves in her bulky diving suit. It's a lot like being in space where you'd have to take it one step at a time or risk being hurled into orbit. The game however, makes up for this somewhat unfortunate flaw in many other ways, most notably with its killer sound effects, to be described later.

Controlwise, DC2 is highly reminiscent of most other games in the survival horror genre, right down to its ever so useful 180 degree quick turn. The biggest complaint however lies not with the overall responsiveness but with its potential confusion factor, especially among newbies. To get an idea what I'm saying here, try imagine yourself attempting to scale a tiny ladder located at the end of a screen while being chased by a T-Rex or a gang of Allosaurs. Under such situations, it is often near impossible to position your character without at least taking a couple of hits and this clearly ranks among the more serious of complaints plaguing DC2's controls. Overall grade: B

Graphics
The graphics are for the most part, impressive. DC2's lush tropical settings & eerie, blood-stained corridor walls looked almost as good, if not better than Square's Parasite Eve 2. With its smooth frame rate, the game gets an A+ in character animation, slowed down only when too many raptors show up on screen. DC2 utilizes a wider pallete of colors compared to its sad-looking prequel to include even such rarely seen in VG colors like pink. In certain cut scenes, Regina's hair turns out pink ( not red ) but you also get to see more of it during scenes involving a poisonous spore garden. The chief graphical drawback, in my opinion, would probably be the underwater scene. Although it does appear realistic but with it being green and all, I thought it was somewhat of a low point as Capcom should not have included it at all. Overall grade: B

Sound
Quite possibly the game's strongest plus point, its sound certainly blows away everything I've heard so far in the survival horror genre. If you thought the weak pistol shots sounded a little too beefy, wait till you get to hear what the anti-tank rifle sound like. The dino screams sounded about as real as it could possibly get, especially the ones from raptors when you slice them open with a machete. Having heard such solid effects, you'd want to either slice another one of them raptors open or shake your head in disbelief. There is nothing particularly impressive about its music, which from the sound of it, isn't quite meant to scare but was more like a filler between gunshots. Lastly, the dialogues were about the same as the ones found in the original, which sounded a lot like something you'd get out the average anime dub. Overall grade: A

Conclusion
If you haven't played the first game, don't bother. You'd be able to jump right in here without knowing what happned to that Dr Kirk fellow. After all, you wouldn't want to be wasting an additional 6 hours of hair pulling frustration, figuring out DDK puzzles when you could be having so much more fun blowing away raptors with your shotgun here. This is definitely worth a rental or maybe even a purchase if you're a die hard fan. I'd recommend getting it off sites like ebay where it would usually fetch $15 or less. Final Grade: B+