Dino Crisis 3 (Xbox)

CNET editors' rating: 2.5 stars OK
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Overall score: 5.4 (2.5 stars)
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Product summary

Gamespot editors' review

• Reviewed by: Brad Shoemaker
• Reviewed on: 09/18/2003
• Released on: 09/16/2003

Capcom isn't a company to put a good franchise out to pasture. Case in point: Dino Crisis. The series deservedly known by many as "Resident Evil with dinosaurs" has been moderately successful in the past, so now we're getting a third installment, this time on the Xbox. The newest iteration brings a few changes in the story and gameplay categories that help to differentiate the game from the survival horror genre. Unfortunately, what could have been a pretty cool game is mired by a slew of poor design decisions, and, ultimately, playing Dino Crisis 3 is far more tedious and frustrating than it is fun.

If you like shiny things, you'll definitely like the look of Dino Crisis 3.

The biggest surprise about Dino Crisis 3 is its setting--the game takes place on a derelict starship in the year 2548. Strange place to find rampaging dinosaurs, eh? But find them you will. You play as members of SOAR (Special Operations and Reconnaissance), who are sent to investigate the sudden and mysterious reappearance of the Ozymandias, a large colonial starship that vanished 300 years before. Once you board the ship, you'll run into all manner of nasty reptilian creatures that are, of course, out to get you. These monsters don't exactly look like dinosaurs--they can often do strange things like generate electricity--but their dinosaurian parentage will become more evident as you uncover the plot. The storyline is a bit hokey (dinosaurs in space!), a fact that isn't helped by the typically B-grade writing and voice acting, but at the least it's nice that Capcom did something a little more ambitious here than remaking Jurassic Park.

Dino Crisis 3 is effectively a shooter and a platformer, but many of its gameplay mechanics betray its survival horror heritage. The SOAR team members are equipped with jetpacks that allow them to jump to great heights (which facilitates all the platforming) and also to glide and dash around nimbly (which assists you in combat against the dinos). You'll also accumulate a score of sorts by racking up credits when you kill monsters, and you can augment your credits by finding collectibles hidden around the ship. These credits can be cashed in at save points to purchase more items, augment your stats, and that sort of thing. The jetpack is what makes Dino Crisis 3 feel like an action game, since otherwise it's very much like your basic survival horror game--you'll be searching for keycards, gaining new weapons from time to time, and reading leftover ship's logs and memos that slowly unravel the storyline.

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