What is Dino Crisis 2? Watch the hilariously bad engrish E3 trailer:
What do you get when you take a successful zombie survival franchise, turn all the undead into velociraptors, realize making good games actually takes effort, then repent by making a decent sequel? You get Dino Crisis 2.
Originally released in 2000 and ported to the PC in 2003, this game takes the 'survival horror' genre and twists it just enough to keep it from being a monotonous spinoff. We revisit the depths of last decade's design decisions with 'tank controls' (only being able to move forward in the direction you're facing, while left and right turn your character), fixed camera angles that hide enemies until the worst possible moments, and over-the-top voice acting and storylines.
But wedged inside this archaic schema is actually an exhilerating, almost arcade-style 3rd person shooter where you can combo your kills for cash, buy and upgrade weapons and medkits, and shoot dinosaurs with shotguns!
You play as two special forces members (hilariously acronym'd "TRAT"), Dylan and Regina, sent through a time warp that has isolated a modern day science facility in the Cretaceous Era. Your task? Saving civilians from being hunted down by nature's most ancient and feared killing machines.
How is this structured? I am completely new to this game, outside of a trip to the first saveroom. This will be a blind run for me. I'm a veteran of the Resident Evil titles and when I saw this game available for digital download, I thought it'd be a blast to play through and share my initial experience with you guys. The reason for the blind run is that, given my knowledge about the genre, this game will probably spend its best jumpscares, plot reveals and unintuitive puzzles on the first playthrough, and playing through in advance will ruin the genuine atmosphere these games create. At worst, if I turn out to be dead wrong and the game devolves into 40 hours of monotonous backtracking and fetch questing, we can't say we didn't try! I'll try to take input from you guys and do my best to keep you all entertained.
A brief note about spoilers- Since this is a blind run, please keep all potential plot and gameplay spoilers in tags. Again, the justification for the blind run is based on the fact that the velociraptor jumping through the window, or the T-rex shooting down our escape helicopter with a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher, can only keep their awe factor if I don't know they're coming!
Ha, I loved the first one, and I don't think I ever finished the second. Will definitely watch this later. I don't agree with your comments about the original at all though.
thanks for the positive feedback guys! My schedule's not too rough so I should be able to post at least bi-weekly updates until its beaten. To ease the process, I've edited the first post to show the date of the most recent update.
I played Dino Crisis and Dino Crisis 2 on the PlayStation. The latter really disappointed me. I felt like the "almost arcade-style 3rd person shooter where you can combo your kills for cash, buy and upgrade weapons and medkits, and shoot dinosaurs with shotguns!" aspect completely killed the survival horror element from the first game. I didn't particularly care for the story, either.
I've never played Dino Crisis, but I'm really enjoying watching the episodes. It has all the excitement of that new toy feeling you get when you have a new game to explore.
You're such a freaking pansy, running from every dinosaur. You've taken many times more damage from running than you would have from fighting. If you don't practice dealing with the basic monster, bosses and tougher monsters are going to beat the shit out of you. Furthermore, these areas look like the size of a college dormitory room, hence aren't meant for dodging monsters. And I'm sure those secondary weapons have to moderately useful in fighting them.
I had never played a shooter adventure when I started Resident Evil 4, and by the end I was keeping my weapon holstered, knifing, and kicking the heads off level 1 zombies.
On June 22 2010 16:45 igotmyown wrote: You're such a freaking pansy, running from every dinosaur. You've taken many times more damage from running than you would have from fighting. If you don't practice dealing with the basic monster, bosses and tougher monsters are going to beat the shit out of you. Furthermore, these areas look like the size of a college dormitory room, hence aren't meant for dodging monsters. And I'm sure those secondary weapons have to moderately useful in fighting them.
I totally agree here, I went in with the wrong mindset. This game is the antithesis of ammo conservation because ammo is dirt cheap and available everywhere. In the same era resident evil titles, monsters were slow and telegraphed their attacks. They took up very little of the screen and it was greatly beneficial to play it safe and sneak around them, because ammo was scarce and you couldn't move while shooting. In this game, the dinosaurs are fast and can attack quickly even from a distance. They're bulky too and impossible to run around, and killing them nets a MUCH greater reward then running. Every single kill so far rewards more bullets, pointwise, then what it takes to kill them.
Except those damned pterodactyls man... Edit: I would kick myself if it turns out I missed the Dino Files for the pterodactyl.
On the first shop screen, couldn't you upgrade bullet capacity (especially for Dylan?). And I'm still sure the knife must be useful for stunning enemies at close, since they tend to recoil for a few seconds. Knife them when they're down, or maybe you can even hit them out of midair.
Yeah, you can upgrade bullet capacity at the shop, and I'm going to need to soon. At this point every screen is flooded with so many enemies that getting from savepoint A to savepoint B costs me my entire clip. And I played with the machete a bit after I lost my save, and although it comes out quick, it does like no damage and very little stun. Maybe the stunrod is actually useful but for Dylan, when shotgun shells are dirt cheap, I can't justify letting these guys get in melee range of me.
cool. i've never played or seen this game and its pretty fun watching you play through it. I wish someone would do this for FF7 and 8 bc i never finished them! lol
Reminds me so much of my beloved Dreamcast. Dreamcast 2 please, Sega.
Edit: More on topic, now that I've watched all the videos, I must say that I'm a fan. Highly entertaining to watch, and I now have an itching to play the game. Though I'm a bit disappointed you've chosen to save your heavy machine gun/rocket launcher for later videos, as I'd love to see them in action, and it's not like finding ammo for them would be difficult.
Where did you pick up the game, by the way? Is it freeware now, or did you pay a couple bucks for it on Steam or something?
I bought the game for digital download from the Gamestop website. I had just finished a resident evil binge and bought the game on a whim. I was also heavily inspired by Khad's series of blind Let's Plays of horror games on the SA forums, and I figured this game would lend itself to that kind of run, so I went for it. I had no idea it would be far less horror and far more action, but it all works out.
On June 28 2010 02:00 Tehpanda wrote: I bought the game for digital download from the Gamestop website. I had just finished a resident evil binge and bought the game on a whim. I was also heavily inspired by Khad's series of blind Let's Plays of horror games on the SA forums, and I figured this game would lend itself to that kind of run, so I went for it. I had no idea it would be far less horror and far more action, but it all works out.
Yeah, that's what I thought. I looked around for it and that's the only place I saw it for digital download. It's a bit disappointing though, as fun as it may be, it's still a nine year old game; charging $15 for it seems really high. I was going to download it if it were a bit cheaper, but now I really have to think about how much I want to play along. Especially since I've always absolutely hated the tank control scheme.
this weekend after a long game of soccer i went to my friend's house to get some drink and i saw his little brother playing old games
iunno y, but i suddenly felt nostalgic and i went to the local GS and impulse-purchased like 3 old ps1-2 games i haven't played in awhile lol. dine crisis2 was one of them. kinda wanta play this after this class is over lol
The game controls surprisingly well on PC. I was never a fan of the Resident Evil games on consoles because it was so damn hard to control turning and moving with the analog. Using the arrow keys make everything so much easier.
Ouch, that's harsh man. I was about to say the pterodactyls haven't been giving me too much trouble. At least when you get the SMG, anyway. Just holding down the aim button while either doing circles or backing into a corner, turning to the enemies as they fly down, and firing controlled bursts. They still get a hit or two every now and then, but I've been able to clear the screens without much of a problem. Weapon wise, I bought the electric cannon weapon, and it was a bit of a disappointment. Flame thrower is just as effective for killing the other dinosaurs, and when you have 4000 bullets in the SMG, one shotting raptors isn't the biggest deal.
Oooo finished downloading and installing today, just played for about 45 minutes. + Show Spoiler +
I just escaped from the T-rex and am in the military facility at the second save point. Only got about 9000 extinction points since I ended up using my heals and bought some more along with a +100 capacity for my shotgun. I want that solid shot!
And let me tell you, the vast amounts of my own stupidity, coupled with the snails pace of moving in water, really sapped me, and I have a funny feeling this game isn't done playing with water segments yet.
I only really played the 1st one. I prefered the survival style of 1 to the arcade style of 2. I especially loved mixing items, and the dilemma between making poison darts or keeping resutation. Dino crisis is defininetely one to remember. Cool puzzles, scarce items, deceiving camera angles and scary. atmosphere. It was also the 1st game i ever say in which you could bleed to death without the right health pack and instead of a health bar, you have to judge by badly you're limping.
On June 29 2010 12:37 Tehpanda wrote: I'm actually playing the PC version with a mock Playstation controller, so the tank controls are just as frustrating as ever.
Playstation controller, Dual Shock:
Logitech controller, "Dual Action":
While those are nice, I prefer this. Six face buttons and four shoulders:
I'm using my logitech dual action USB controller to play it as well. no major problems yet, but there always tends to be something in most games I've played with it.
This is an awesome Let's Play! I love your attitude to the whole thing and your montages (by the way great music choice on all of them!) I can't wait for the next installment!
I hope this doesn't go against the spirit of self discovery, but I saw somewhere that they highly recommended using the missile pod against Pterodactyls. It shoots 3, auto-tracking rockets, letting you rack up the points quickly.
As always, the OP has been updated. This game is really starting to crank up the durability on the dinosaurs. I have a feeling I'll be relying almost entirely on the big guns for the next segment.
About updates: As I said earlier, I'm trying to keep them on a biweekly schedule, with at very least one episode a week, until the game is finished. I have no plans at the moment for games after this one, but I'm always open for suggestions.
On June 29 2010 18:47 Grobyc wrote: fancy schmacy^
I'm using my logitech dual action USB controller to play it as well. no major problems yet, but there always tends to be something in most games I've played with it.
I use a logitech dual action as well now simply because I can't find another 990. The floating d-pad came off during Megaman X6 after having marathon streamed Megaman 1-6 then X 1-6. The stick eventually broke down after hours and hours of endless platforming and dashing. I did finish out the stage though using the sharp nub that remained.
On topic: cool LP, I enjoyed this game a lot when I owned it, though its nothing next to one
And with that, we're finished with Dino Crisis 2. Thanks for all the positive comments guys, it's very appreciated The only question that remains is what to do next...
Unfortunately i've beaten all the resident evils by now, except for 0, which i gave up in disgust about 20 minutes in. I have the equipment to lets play straight up console games w/o emulating, as long as the game doesnt cost like $300
I vote for Shenmue if you haven't played it already. Though it would be a longer experience, and doesn't have quite the arcadey vibe the Resident Evil/Dino Crisis games have. But it's one of my favorite games of all time (granted it has been a good five years or so since I've played it), and your commentary would make it an absolute blast to watch.
yeah ive beaten all the canon metal gears except 4, including the really good but fairly obscure msx ones. But just because i've played it before doesn't mean I can't lets play it, just means i can't lets play it blind
edit: I played the hell out of shenmue until i got the job, then i messed up a qte and got stuck there, so I shoved crates all day until I had enough money to just buy a plane ticket, then I gave up.
On July 15 2010 10:25 Tehpanda wrote: Final video! Blip.tv link
And with that, we're finished with Dino Crisis 2. Thanks for all the positive comments guys, it's very appreciated The only question that remains is what to do next...
I call shenanigans, google has no mention of a pc only resident evil ending. I haven't played any resident evil other than 4, but my searching suggests you just took the Regina outfit in Resident Evil 3. God I wasted so much time trying to figure this out.
On July 15 2010 15:53 igotmyown wrote: I call shenanigans, google has no mention of a pc only resident evil ending. I haven't played any resident evil other than 4, but my searching suggests you just took the Regina outfit in Resident Evil 3. God I wasted so much time trying to figure this out.
On July 15 2010 15:53 igotmyown wrote: I call shenanigans, google has no mention of a pc only resident evil ending. I haven't played any resident evil other than 4, but my searching suggests you just took the Regina outfit in Resident Evil 3. God I wasted so much time trying to figure this out.
On July 15 2010 15:53 igotmyown wrote: I call shenanigans, google has no mention of a pc only resident evil ending. I haven't played any resident evil other than 4, but my searching suggests you just took the Regina outfit in Resident Evil 3. God I wasted so much time trying to figure this out.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
It kind of seems obvious when you say you've played all the Resident Evils and then go, "Maybe we can find out where I am?" when there are zombies and it says R.P.D. with the guy yelling S.T.A.R.S.
Such a bad ending. I knew it was a bluff though because there's no way in hell you'd play through that crap again.
Watching that really makes me wonder what went on during the game's design. I know people weren't paying much attention to stories then, but what kind of person could seriously write that stuff? Did they fail highschool english or something?
It was so terrible i was honestly convinced there must be some kind of new game plus with an extended ending. That, plus the fact that the 'last boss' was a pushover, made it a real anticlimax for a game with otherwise really great action scenes.