I have to be honest. I was never a big fan of zombies. It’s not the gruesome looks of decay or anything, it’s the jumpscares in movies that skewed my perspective. Because of that I remember getting to play Resident Evil with a certain dose of wariness. And to my surprise – no real jumpscares. At least not in the style that I don’t like. But then again, as a kid my sole obsession was dinosaurs. I remember making a presentation for my family about certain dinosaurs and thinking about how I would become a paleontologist. Imagine my joy seeing a Resident Evil-esque game with dinosaurs instead of zombies. I was excited! And what did it get me? Jumpscares! But let us go back and find out how Dino Crisis even came to be.
Dino Crisis is born
The first moment of life for Dino Crisis was in 1996. This was the time, when Capcom first started an idea of a new game, but it wasn’t yet called Dino Crisis. It didn’t even include dinosaurs or labs. In this concept, the player would traverse the jungle and fight off primates, reptiles and other jungle animals. Fortunately for us, this idea has eventually been scrapped by no other than Shinji Mikami who suggested to change it to dinosaurs, although not because of Jurrasic Park movies.
To be honest, there’s no special reason behind it. I just like dinosaurs.
Shinji Mikami
Playstation Magazine 5/99
Looking at the year it’s no wonder – the first Jurrasic Park was 3 years earlier, Lost World was coming next year – dinosaurs were all the rage. Compared to the scientists in Jurrasic Park, Shinji Mikami wasn’t only preoccupied with if he could, but he also stopped to think and knew that he should. And thanks to this change and brilliance, a new subgenre of horror games was born – Panic Horror.
Panic at the Dino
As you know, Shinji Mikami was responsible for the Biohazard/Resident Evil series, which introduced zombies as the main monsters. The tension in Resident Evil was build gradually, but with moments of respite. Those moments gave the player time to breathe, to think, to feel safe. But Shinji Mikami was in the middle of producing Resident Evil 2, and wanted this new game to change the pace compared to RE series. His main idea was to induce constant fear in the player, with fast-paced enemies that could get to you at any moment, from any place.
Resident Evil was more about that fear of what might be lurking around the next corner. In Dino Crisis, the menace doesn’t just wait there; it comes right for you.
Shinji Mikami
Playstation Magazine 5/99
So the moments of peace we know from Resident Evil are gone and we’re on our toes all the time. No place is safe, no moment is sure. This is the reality of Dino Crisis.
This shift in atmosphere makes Dino Crisis a very different game to Resident Evil despite shared roots and the same person responsible for both. This becomes even more evident when you look at another very important element of Dino Crisis.
Mixing it up
With normal enemies in games it’s usually “the bigger the gun the better” going as far as naming some guns “BFG”. And obviously that works against normal enemies, demons, zombies and giant mechs, but dinosaurs? Those are apparently way tougher than that. And let’s be fair – there’s not many big guns laying around in a research facility on an island compared to, say, Phobos, or gates of hell.
That’s why Dino Crisis introduced a unique system for dealing with dinosaurs: mixing. This system involves creating ammunition combined with chemicals. Thanks to this, we may not be able to dispose of the ever-encroaching dinosaurs permanently, but we can do like Jigglypuff and put them to sleep.
This is what’s so cool about dinosaurs in a video game: using a tranquilizer is a pretty creative way to deal with an enemy, and it’s something you can only do with a living creature. And even if you do manage to hit them with a nice big dart, they’re still a danger until they’re completely knocked out. I wanted to evoke that terror in Dino Crisis, too. You don’t know when they’ll wake up either…
Shinji Mikami
Playstation Magazine 5/99
Of course there isn’t just one type of ammunition to be created by mixing. The amount of concoctions we can make is truly extensive. Add to that different enhancers that combine to improve the quality and duration of effects, medpacs and other healing elements, and you’re not just playing Dino Crisis, but getting your PhD from biochem as well.
To 3D or not to 3D
One important element of the first Dino Crisis was the use of fully 3D locations. It was one of the first survival horrors that used PS1 potential and swapped prerendered backgrounds to a full 3D environment. And in by itself that would maybe not be that important to disclose, but according to Shu Takumi (involved in Dino Crisis 1 and 2 as game director for part of the development time) swapping to 3D made it very resource-heavy and kind of directed the game type to survival horror, as there was not much computing power left in hardware back then to make Dino Crisis more of an action game. This is evident aswell in some dinosaur models – the T-rex is made of just 500 polygons, as anything more would be too heavy to handle for the systems.
This aspect of course changed and evolved in next titles of the series, with Dino Crisis 2 going back to prerendered backgrounds, which allowed it to adapt more action-focused gameplay, and with future titles developing very different aspects of the 3D game world.
Nevertheless, it seems that technical limitations aren’t always hindering the games – sometimes they force creation of a new sub-genre.
Dino Crisis and beyond
Dino Crisis is a game series that is very important to gaming history, with some titles even now being considered as their legacy in one way or another, but for now, let’s recap the games in Dino Crisis series.
Dino Crisis
The story follows Regina, a special agent sent with her team to investigate a research facility on Ibis Island. The facility’s work with Third Energy, a powerful new energy source, has caused a time displacement, bringing dinosaurs into the present day. With dinosaurs roaming the facility, Regina and her team must navigate the dangers, uncover the truth behind the experiments, and find a way to survive.
Dino Crisis 2
Regina returns, now teamed up with new protagonist Dylan Morton. The duo is sent to a different time-displaced environment to rescue survivors and retrieve data on the Third Energy experiments. The storyline expands on the mysterious nature of the Third Energy and introduces new locations and dangers.
“Dino Crisis 2” shifts from survival horror to a more action-packed experience. The fixed camera angles remain, but the game emphasizes combat and exploration over puzzle-solving. Players can switch between Regina and Dylan, each with unique weapons and abilities. The game also introduces a points system, rewarding players for defeating dinosaurs, which can be spent on new weapons and items.
The shift in gameplay style was met with mixed reactions. While some players appreciated the faster pace and increased action, others missed the survival horror elements of the original. Nonetheless, “Dino Crisis 2” was praised for its engaging combat, impressive graphics, and the continued thrill of facing off against dinosaurs.
Dino Stalker
A spin-off title that serves as a light gun shooter, “Dino Stalker” takes place in the “Dino Crisis” universe but focuses on a different character, Mike Wired. After being mysteriously transported to a prehistoric era, Mike must survive against waves of dinosaurs while searching for a way back to his own time.
The gameplay of “Dino Stalker” is a departure from the main series, featuring arcade-style shooting mechanics instead of the third-person action and puzzle-solving elements. Players use a light gun controller to aim and shoot at the oncoming dinosaur threats. This change introduces a fast-paced, on-rails shooting experience to the franchise.
Dino Crisis 3
The third installment in the series takes place in the distant future, aboard a spaceship called the Ozymandias. Players control Patrick Tyler, a member of an elite military force sent to investigate the ship after it reappears following a long disappearance. The game introduces a new enemy: mutant dinosaurs created through genetic experiments gone wrong.
“Dino Crisis 3” marks a significant departure from the previous games with its futuristic setting and science fiction elements. The game retains the action-oriented gameplay of “Dino Crisis 2,” but introduces new mechanics such as zero-gravity environments and the ability to maneuver in three-dimensional space.
Dino Crisis: Dungeon in Chaos
A mobile game spin-off, “Dino Crisis: Dungeon in Chaos” offers a simplified and portable experience set in the “Dino Crisis” universe. Players navigate a series of dungeon-like levels, fighting off dinosaur threats and solving puzzles to progress.
The game adapts the core mechanics of the main series to a mobile platform, offering a more casual and accessible experience for fans on the go. While it lacks the depth and complexity of the console titles, it captures the essence of the “Dino Crisis” atmosphere and challenges.
The most prominent change in “Dino Crisis: Dungeon in Chaos” is its adaptation to a mobile platform, offering a simplified and portable version of the franchise’s core gameplay mechanics. This shift makes the game more accessible for casual play and on-the-go gaming.
Dino-sized footprints
“Dino Crisis” games, especially first two titles, left a lasting impact on the survival horror genre. They demonstrated Capcom’s ability to innovate and provided a fresh take on the formula established by “Resident Evil.” The blend of science fiction and prehistoric terror remains a unique and memorable aspect of gaming history.
Over the years many games either adopted the dinosaur theme or survival aspects of Dino Crisis, with Ark and Monster Hunter being on the very top of the list.
Even more, because of Monster Hunter, the Dino Crisis saga might not get a new title, as Shinji Mikami doesn’t see the space for another DC game.
The awesomeness of dinosaurs and the stuff you can do with dinosaurs, that’s been kind of really nailed down by Monster Hunter in recent years. So even if I were to decide to make a remake or a new version of Dino Crisis, I don’t really feel like there’s a whole lot of space for that kind of game right now, just since Monster Hunter has become such a big game. But yeah, it is surprising.
Shinji Mikami
Gamescom talk with Eurogamer, 2024
As you can see, Shinji doesn’t talk just about new titles in the series, but also about remakes. Having this in mind, I think it’s even more important to ensure the preservation of the original Dino Crisis and focusing on the compatibility of Dino Crisis with current systems.
This is one of the reasons why we brought Dino Crisis 1 and 2 to GOG.COM. The other reason being a massive popularity of Dino Crisis in terms of wishlist votes. And actually those votes helped bringing Dino Crisis to GOG.
The voices of the fans and GOG’s community wishlist requesting these titles was a factor that made us decide to bring these titles back with GOG.
CAPCOM TEAM
And fun fact – we also introduced a new version of our wishlist – now called Dreamlist. Go check it out and vote. As you can see – the votes count and publishers see it! And if you don’t know what to vote for – maybe check out GOG Staff Picks and see what our gamer souls want to see brought back.
Dino Crisis – a story of preservation
Bringing back any game that was unavailable for some time usually proves some kind of a challenge, but of course this is what we’re here for. The story was no different in terms of Dino Crisis. But why listen to me?Let’s spend a minute (or five) to hear from two of GOG employees that were paramount in bringing back Dino Crisis. If you prefer the ancient art of reading text instead of watching a video, the full transcription is available below.
Video transciption:
It was a long and hard journey. Now we are ready to roar.
Dino Crisis comes back to PC.
It’s one of those games, that really pushed the boundary.
Dino Crisis was definitely, definitely, one of those games that deserve to be brought back and that we really, really fought hard.
For too long this gem was unavailable on PC. Now Dino Crisis returns, ready to roar again.
When working on Dino Crisis, the obvious thing to do, was to actually make the game work on the modern systems. and that would be Windows 10 and 11.
We were trying to convince Capcom that we are the right partner for the job. Two Polish dudes coming to them and saying “hey, we just need those, and to give us a couple of months and we will create Windows 10, Windows 11 compatible versions of those games, right?”
From dusty CDs to Capcom’s oversight. Every detail was carefully handled.
The game needed new resolution support. We upscaled to almost 4K. So then they are downscaled to the display resolution you actually want to play the game and this makes for a crisp and nice image.
The biggest thing we’ve added would be the new DirectX renderer that also gives you a a variety of additional options. Such as being able to play the game in window mode, apply vertical sync, anti-aliasing and gamma correction.
For the display engine, we also improved alpha transparency. So now transparent textures are displayed a little bit nicer.
We’ve added support for modern controllers. So now you can play the game using your PlayStation controller or Xbox controller and it doesn’t matter if it’s cable or wireless, it will work.
We’ve also added hotplug support. What hotplug means? If you are running from a Velociraptor and you’ll accidentally unplug the cable from the PC, you still have time to plug it again.
Every mode, every feature, and every detail was polished to perfection. Basically Dino Crisis 1 has six different languages. Those are actually separate builds. You could say that those are separate games. So when we test it we actually need to test six games.
We also found some lacking things, like I think with Spanish version of Dino Crisis some of the videos would have subtitles missing. So what we did is we encoded new subtitles to those videos. So now, users can actually experience the whole story with Spanish subtitles.
There was game mode called Arrange mode. So basically it was mode in the game, that gave the game some replayability. So it’s a cool feature. What what it meant for us, that we needed to test all of those modes.
What makes the GOG version of Dino Crisis special?
With our release we ensure that the game will work on all the modern systems, we also guarantee that it will work on any modern system in the future.
And those two points perfectly add up to what preservation mission is at GOG. Meaning that you obtain a game that is as close as possible to the original one, but also ensuring that it will work on any modern computer that you have.
From Capcom’s archives to your modern PC. This is the definitive version of Dino Crisis.
Play it on PC now.
Only on GOG.
