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Dino Crisis 3
GameRatio Review
XBOX |
View Full Game Info
Published by
Capcom
Released on
2003-09-16
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| 51% GameRatio |
75% GR% Review |
xenoranger
Reviewed on
2004-04-02
Space is where you go to die.
Let me start by saying that I was expecting Capcom to do a terrible job on this game because it’s the Xbox. My expectations for Xbox games are mostly graphics over content. In some games, that was the true, but in Dino Crisis 3, I was pleasantly surprised. The truth is, Dino Crisis 3 isn’t just another pretty game, it actually has content.
First off, I dread when good series are taken into space. Look at every movie series or trilogy that takes a turn for space exploration. Ranging from Critters to Leprechaun, series generally run out of ideas, make a lame sequel in space, then die off. To my pleasant surprise, this wasn’t the case. Not only are the battles fresh, but the story seems to have a continuity of its own. The story starts with an abandoned 300 year old space craft. Your team’s mission is to discover the events that lead to the death of the crew. Upon approaching the craft, your vessel is shot down. As a result, you are forced to take refuge within the ghost ship. Upon entering the ship, you discover that it has been taken over by mutated dinosaurs. After accessing the main terminal located on the ship’s bridge, you find out that the ship was instructed by the captain to use the DNA samples to start a human colony onboard. Unfortunately, there were more than just human DNA samples on board. The ship was a research vessel, and the logs left behind seem to indicate that the dinosaurs were genetically engineered as bio-weapons. Where the story takes a cliché or two is when mother (the overly used name for the ship’s main AI) detects another human on board. Now, questions arrive as to how she survived, and is she the key to unlocking the chain of events that lead to the untimely demise of the crew? Can you survive this nightmare of a ship, or will you wind up in a steaming pile of raptor dung?
Steven Spielberg’s revolution in Jurassic Park has been a source of much imitation when it comes to audio. From the bellows and roars of the Tyrannosaurus hybrid to the squeals of the Velociraptors, it is obvious this cretaceous period isn’t a Capcom original. Though tweaked slightly, I’m not impressed one bit with the usage of sound mixing to reproduce each dino’s roar. What did impress me was the voice acting isn’t nearly as cheesy as in the original two Dino Crisis games. There’s just something about hearing someone say they were attacked by a “big ass lizard” that really breaks the mood. But this time around, the focus seems to be more on keeping a military feel to the characters. The interaction between Jacob, Patrick, and Sonya (the main characters) gives more of a sense of urgency, than the lax dialog featured in previous Capcom titles like Resident Evil (both original and remake).
Furthering the ambiance is a soundtrack that is on par with Jonathan Williams (composer of the Jurassic Park score).It sounds like Capcom spared no expense to ensure that the music not only adds suspense, but also gives players a better idea of when they’re not in danger. The problem with the sound track is that it sometimes gives away too much, but in cinemas, the flawless usage of ambiance can scare the pants off you.
This game is absolutely beautiful. They attention to detail is obvious. When fighting the T-Rex, players can watch the creature salivate as it runs after you in anticipation of a meal. Seamless models make the game even more believable, where as the previous were blocky due to the technology available. Even the effects used on the weapons have their merits. The laser actually looks like a plasma stream being blasted from the nozzle of your rifle. Though these effects have been done in games like Metroid Prime, Dino Crisis 3 was sure to keep everything on par with modern gaming. My only complaint about the visuals is that creatures like the T-Rex look too much like Resident Evil throwbacks. The story behind the T-Rex is that they wanted to create a creature that could withstand the vacuum of space, but instead, the DNA mixture failed, leaving the muscles exposed. In the end, it looks more like a Zombie Dinosaur than an original creation. Capcom makes up for this by including mutated Velociraptors. As nice as they look, their heads remind me of the unnamed monsters from Pitch Black. Over all, it’s mostly the animation that gets my attention, whereas the actual models seem more like concepts put together with crazy glue. A notable reference is the young Caren, who bares a striking resemblance to Regina from the original Dino Crisis games.
The most notable difference between this and its predecessors is the control. Players now use the analog stick to point the character in the direction they want him/her to go. So long as you hold the direction, the on screen character will continue running in that direction, even if the camera angel changes. There is also an auto tracking ability which keeps the gun trained on the area that poses the highest threat. This is definitely nice if you can not see the opponent due to a bad camera angles. Another new feature is the ability to jump using a jet pack. This is required to solve twitch based puzzles. Along with the jump ability, the jetpack also has a booster which will allow players to move 4 times the normal speed. This comes in handy when evading or escaping from larger reptilian threats, as well as reaching those high places. Dino Crisis 3 also features a first person mode, but this only serves to allow players to aim at specific targets and is not recommended during onslaughts of more than 2 weak opponents. Overall, the control improvements are a welcome change.
Should this series have gone extinct? I rather consider Dino Crisis 3 to be a good way to continue the series, but unfortunately nothing we haven’t already seen before in other games. If you were a fan of previous Dino Crisis games, you will love this latest addition to the series. Overall, this is not a bad game, but it’s not the Game of the Year either. Players who purchase this title will not regret it.
GameRatio review by xenoranger
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