Dino Crisis 2

Dino Crisis 2 picks up the plot threads remaining from that game. However the style of the game varies heavily from the prequel, This is a little more like the Resident Evil games (From the same producers), set at a faster pace and heavily dosed up on Adrenaline.

The Plot? The heroine of the first game, Regina, is brought in to consult on a particularly dangerous mission. Experiments first brought to light in the prequel have gone awry once more, but this time rather than bringing a handful of dinosaurs through time, this particular faux-pas has catapulted not only the lab responsible through time, but has dragged along a military base and a small city as well. So, Regina is called in to assist the mission commander, Dylan, as an elite team is sent back to bring back as many survivors as possible.

Of course, it's never that easy. No sooner has the special forces unit set up camp than they are attacked by natives of the time, Velociraptors (Jurassic Park style, hence larger than 'real world' raptors - Closer to Utahraptors for anyone with a paleontological bent). As the survivors think they've beaten off the Raptors a second attack comes, from another familar creature, a T-Rex.

With the setup out of the way, the player takes it in turns to control both Regina and Dylan as they journey between the lab, the base and the city, searching for survivors and trying to find a way to repair their damaged time-travel equipment. The action is presented in a cinematic style, with the three-dimensionally rendered characters travelling through pre-rendered locations, each with a fixed 'camera' viewpoint.

The game itself is a balance between exploration, problem solving and combat. This is a nicely balanced mix, the problems are scaled pretty well, and the combat is usually fast paced, and is often initiated when a dinosaur gets the drop on you.

As you proceed you get to upgrade your weapons and equipment, and explore a prehistoric world, fighting to survive every inch of the way.

In comparison to other survival horror games this fares well, it's faster paced than the Resident Evil games or Alone in the Dark, but there isn't the same sense of foreboding as you'll find in those games. This is not at the expense of the plot though, which is probably richer than any of those games, with little mysteries and twists to keep you involved right up until the powerful climax.

To conclude, this is a visually stunning game, which is action-packed and engaging all at once. With prettier graphics than it's predecessor, a greater variety of opposition and a plot which can keep you on the edge of your seat it's definately the better of the two.

DC2 is way to over the top - there are now so many dinos that it just becomes annoying when they appear constantly en masse, especially as they are so quickly and easily killed.

The puzzles have gone completley. Instead of re-wiring circuitry to open a door, (as in the first one) you now just wander round until you find the key laying on the floor. Instead of scribbling down passwords, key codes, identity numbers, you know just keep your finger on the trigger of some ridiculously enormous weapons and keep (yawn) firing.

Part of the skill of playing the original was to use ammo and recovery items carefully because once you emptied a box - that was it. Now, as long as you have the points, you can spend the entire game as some sort of mobile nuclear power-station, with unlimited ammo and recovery items available from the "shops".

The lack of puzzles and all-round head-scratching means that the game can be completed in just over five hours - leaving your brain feeling bored and your firing thumb feeling sore.

As a dino shoot 'em up - it's great - bags of ammo, loads of weapons and hundreds of dinos. But as a sequel to Dino Crisis - it's disappointing to say the least.