is a survival horror video game by Capcom

Capcom

is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...

, originally released in 1999 for the PlayStation and later ported to Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

 and Dreamcast in 2000. It was directed and produced by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami

Shinji Mikami

is a Japanese video game designer best known for creating the seminal survival horror series Resident Evil. He also contributed to some of Capcom's most popular post-32-bit era franchises, including Viewtiful Joe, Devil May Cry, and Ace Attorney, where he served as an executive producer...

, and developed by a team of staff members that would later become part of Capcom Production Studio 4.

In the game, a special forces

Special forces

Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...

 team must find a way to survive in a secret government

Government

Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...

 facility that has been infested with dinosaur

Dinosaur

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...

s. It features survival horror gameplay similar to the Resident Evil series and was promoted by Capcom as "panic horror".

It was followed by two sequels, Dino Crisis 2

Dino Crisis 2

is a Action-adventure video game for the Sony PlayStation, published by Capcom in North America, released on September 13, 2000 and publish by Virgin Interactive in Europe, release on November 4, 2000. It was developed by Capcom Production Studio 4...

and Dino Crisis 3

Dino Crisis 3

is a survival horror video game for the Xbox. It was developed by Capcom Production Studio 4, and is the fourth and final video game in the Dino Crisis series. Like the previous iterations of the series, gameplay revolves around fighting dinosaur or other reptiles...

, and a light gun

Light gun

A light gun is a pointing device for computers and a control device for arcade and video games.Modern screen-based light guns work by building a sensor into the gun itself, and the on-screen target emit light rather than the gun...

-based spinoff in Capcom's Gun Survivor series, known as Dino Stalker

Dino Stalker

Dino Stalker, known as in Japan, is a first person shooter video game created by Capcom that was released for the PlayStation 2 on June 27, 2002. It was developed by Capcom Production Studio 3, and is an offshoot of the Resident Evil light gun shooter games, but based on the story of the Dino...

. A Game Boy Color

Game Boy Color

The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...

 version of Dino Crisis was planned by UK developer M4, but the port was apparently cancelled.

Gameplay

Dino Crisis is best described as a Panic Horror game, with the focus of the game not on action, but high suspense, and often puzzle based gameplay. There are, of course, times when resorting to using weapons is your only hope of survival, but weapons and ammunition are often hard to come by. However, this can be aided by creating your own forms of darts.
The game's storyline is carried out exclusively at night, aiding the eerie and often disturbing feeling of the game. The music also contributes to the sense of isolation in the facility, and there is often no warning as to when a dinosaur may ambush the player.

Dino Crisis' weapons include a handgun, shotgun and a grenade launcher, with varying forms of ammo found in the facility, including tranquillizer darts that can be modified using various substances into deadly poison darts. Generally, the larger the enemy, the more firepower is required to kill them, with Therizinosaurs

Therizinosaurus

Therizinosaurus is a genus of very large theropod dinosaur. Therizinosaurus lived in the late Cretaceous Period , and was one of the last and largest representatives of its unique group, the Therizinosauria...

 and Pteranodon

Pteranodon

Pteranodon , from the Late Cretaceous geological period of North America in present day Kansas, Alabama, Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota, was one of the largest pterosaur genera and had a maximum wingspan of over...

s being the hardest animals to kill.

The game integrates a range of puzzle solving into the storyline, with various disks and password keys needed to open doors. Other puzzles involve logistics, such as moving pipes and crates in the right sequence to allow gameplay to proceed. During puzzle solving, there are generally no dinosaurs to harass Regina. Also, whenever a DANGER sequence occurs, the player has to hit all control buttons (excluding the Start, Select, and Analog buttons as well as sticks).

Characters

• Regina (Stephanie Morgenstern
  Stephanie Morgenstern
  Stephanie Grace Morgenstern is a Swiss-Canadian actress, filmmaker, and screenwriter for television and film. Born in Geneva, Switzerland and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Morgenstern began her acting career when she was 15. She has worked extensively on stage, film, and television in both English...
  
  ) - The player's character; an intelligence and weapons expert, specializing in weapons maintenance.

• Rick (Richard Yearwood
  Richard Yearwood
  Richard Yearwood is an English-Canadian voice-over artist, director, producer, and character actor, who performs the voice of Donkey Kong in Donkey Kong Country, and other roles....
  
  ) - The third member of the team and an expert computer hacker. He believes the lives of the team are more important than the success of the mission. He carries a sniper rifle
  Sniper rifle
  In military and law enforcement terminology, a sniper rifle is a precision-rifle used to ensure more accurate placement of bullets at longer ranges than other small arms. A typical sniper rifle is built for optimal levels of accuracy, fitted with a telescopic sight and chambered for a military...
  
  .

• Gail (Adrian Truss
  Adrian Truss
  Adrian Truss is a British-born Canadian actor, writer and director whose more recent work is as a voice actor for animated children's TV shows and Movies.Since moving from England to Canada in 1957, he has starred in many movies, plays, and television shows...
  
  ) - A veteran spy, and the leader of the team. He is well known for his cold demeanor. He believes that the success of the mission is more important than the lives of his team, as well as his own. He carries an assault rifle
  Assault rifle
  An assault rifle is a selective fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine. Assault rifles are the standard infantry weapons in most modern armies...
  
  .

• Dr. Edward Kirk (Alex Karzis
  Alex Karzis
  Constantine Alexander Karzis is a Canadian film and television actor, voiceover artist, singer, and musician. He was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario....
  
  ) - The genius behind the Third Energy Theory. He was approached by the Borginian Republic who were interested in the properties of Third Energy as a weapon, and promised him all the funding, facilities, researchers and equipment he needed. To that end, he staged his death and moved to Ibis Island, to where a Third Energy research facility had been set up for him. During the course of the game he eludes the dinosaurs as well as the player, and even kills some of his researchers to cover his tracks. He shows no remorse for the consequences of his actions, and only cares about his work.

• Tom (Bino Tautorrez
  Bino Tautorrez
  Tony Bincentio Bhino Tautorrez is a Canadian born voiceover artist. He is known for providing the voice for Pilot #2 in the Dino Crisis Capcom game in 1999, but it was uncredited. Tautorrez also provided the voice for Tom and served as the character model for that character as well, and also...
  
  ) - An agent of SORT, who has infiltrated the Ibis Island facility to investigate the reports of a new type of weapon being researched. He is wounded by a Pteranodon
  Pteranodon
  Pteranodon , from the Late Cretaceous geological period of North America in present day Kansas, Alabama, Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota, was one of the largest pterosaur genera and had a maximum wingspan of over...
  
  , and later killed by a Velociraptor
  Velociraptor
  Velociraptor is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that existed approximately 75 to 71 million years ago during the later part of the Cretaceous Period. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in the past. The type species is V. mongoliensis; fossils...
  
   to save Rick.

• Cooper - The fourth member of the extraction team. He is blown off course at the start of the mission and eaten by a Tyrannosaurus
  Tyrannosaurus
  Tyrannosaurus meaning "tyrant," and sauros meaning "lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other...
  
  . The rest of the team never learns this, and he is declared MIA
  Missing in action
  Missing in action is a casualty Category assigned under the Status of Missing to armed services personnel who are reported missing during active service. They may have been killed, wounded, become a prisoner of war, or deserted. If deceased, neither their remains nor grave can be positively...
  
  .

• Pilot (Robert Tinkler
  Robert Tinkler
  Robert Tinkler is a Canadian actor and television actor who is primarily known for his voiceover work. He is the voice of Howie on Almost Naked Animals, Max on The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police, Delete in the series of Cyberchase, Cenotaph & Brooklyn in Beyblade, Rubeus in the...
  
  ) - He brings the four agents to the island in the helicopter. He is later contacted by Regina after the team finds Dr. Kirk. She orders him to scrap the original plan and pick them up immediately. However, as he is about to land to pick up Regina, Rick, and Dr. Kirk (Gail is absent when he shows up), the T-Rex attacks and destroys the helicopter, presumably killing the pilot. Because he was in the air when the team parachuted down, it is possible he saw the T-Rex kill Cooper.

• Mike A guard found dead in a control room close to the end of the game. It is presumed that he was killed by a Velociraptor
  Velociraptor
  Velociraptor is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that existed approximately 75 to 71 million years ago during the later part of the Cretaceous Period. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in the past. The type species is V. mongoliensis; fossils...
  
   or Therizinosaurus
  Therizinosaurus
  Therizinosaurus is a genus of very large theropod dinosaur. Therizinosaurus lived in the late Cretaceous Period , and was one of the last and largest representatives of its unique group, the Therizinosauria...
  
  , since he had a communicator on him. After his corpse is found, he is identified by name as a surviving guard (who is later killed by the T-Rex before it gains entrance to the base along with two other guards) calls him on the communicator telling him to meet up at the watercraft they were planning to use for escape. Because of this, it is presumed he survived for a while after the dinosaurs broke in.

• Paul Baker Another researcher for Dr. Kirk. His corpse (minus his right arm) is found by Regina when she scours the base. He is identified by name on a memo on another corpse. Paul was presumably killed by a Velociraptor which then ate his arm before the team showed up, since his corpse signifies that.

• Mark Doyle A researcher for Dr. Kirk. He is badly wounded by a Velociraptor during the overrun of the base. Regina finds him in a room leaning against a desk. She asks him where Dr. Kirk is, and he claims Kirk is a fool. He gives Regina his I. D. card, then succumbs to his injuries and dies. The T-rex then smashes through the window, drags his corpse out and eats it, before fighting Regina for the first time in the game.

• Dr. Sherwood An old researcher. She is found dead in the rest station when Regina finds her. Only part of her is seen then, but other times her whole body is seen. Presumably killed by a Therizinosaurus, since there was one in the rest station

Creatures

• Velociraptor
  Velociraptor
  Velociraptor is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that existed approximately 75 to 71 million years ago during the later part of the Cretaceous Period. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in the past. The type species is V. mongoliensis; fossils...
  
  - The first encountered and most recurrent adversary in the game. Referred to as 'raptors,' their physical appearance is more like that of the Deinonychus. They hunt in packs, chase the player through rooms and are sometimes seen sleeping or on other occasions playing dead. The tougher blue-backed raptors are seen in the later stages of the game.

• Tyrannosaurus
  Tyrannosaurus
  Tyrannosaurus meaning "tyrant," and sauros meaning "lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other...
  
  - The main antagonist of the game, it is never killed directly by the player though it is fought on several occasions. It is believed that it is the same Tyrannosaurus each time and therefore may possibly be the only one on the island.

• Compsognathus
  Compsognathus
  Compsognathus was a small, bipedal, carnivorous theropod dinosaur. The animal was the size of a turkey and lived around 150 million years ago, the early Tithonian stage of the late Jurassic Period, in what is now Europe. Paleontologists have found two well-preserved fossils, one in Germany...
  
  - A small group-hunting scavenger encountered around the facility, they are easily killed individually, but become challenging (even frustrating) when in larger groups.

• Pteranodon
  Pteranodon
  Pteranodon , from the Late Cretaceous geological period of North America in present day Kansas, Alabama, Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota, was one of the largest pterosaur genera and had a maximum wingspan of over...
  
  - Flying reptiles that will take turns swooping down at the player, either knocking them down or picking them up to be thrown to their deaths.

• Therizinosaurus
  Therizinosaurus
  Therizinosaurus is a genus of very large theropod dinosaur. Therizinosaurus lived in the late Cretaceous Period , and was one of the last and largest representatives of its unique group, the Therizinosauria...
  
  - Tough and odd-looking dinosaurs seen towards the end of the game. Ironically now known to have been herbivores, in the game they are ferocious predators that take quite a lot of damage to beat. Normally found in pairs.

Story

The game takes place on a fictional location known as Ibis Island in the year 2009. The Secret Operation Raid Team (SORT) has sent an agent, Tom, to investigate a research facility. During the recon mission, he learns that Doctor Edward Kirk, a world-renowned scientist who was reported dead three years ago, is leading a secret weapons project within the facility. SORT sends four agents (Regina, Gail, Rick, and Cooper) to acquire Kirk and return him to custody.

They arrive onto the island via parachute

Parachute

A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...

. Cooper is blown off course and lands in a jungle. A Tyrannosaurus rex appears and chases him a short distance before eating him. The other three agents, unaware of his death, proceed with the mission.

Once inside the base, they discover the mutilated and partially devoured corpses of security personnel and scientists. Shortly thereafter, they discover that dinosaurs are the reason behind the bloodbath at the base. They evade and dispose of many dinosaurs. During this, they find Tom, badly injured. Rick takes him to the medical room, however a Velociraptor attacks them, and Tom sacrifices himself to kill it, saving Rick. Later, Regina and the team manage to locate Kirk and apprehend him. As they are preparing to leave via helicopter, the T-Rex returns and destroys the helicopter, forcing them to flee back into the base. Kirk escapes them during this time. After the T-Rex manages to enter the base after killing three survivors in the elevator, Regina and Rick locate keys to a watercraft, but find a vortex in the way of getting to it. Regina enters a passageway and is held up by Kirk,. He is about to kill her when the gun is shot out of his hand by Gail, and they arrest him again.

Kirk reveals that the dinosaurs were brought to their time by an experiment he was running using his Third Energy technology. A rift in space was created and a pocket of the island from their time was exchanged with the same from the past, bringing dinosaurs back into their time. Kirk then tells them that if the reactors are set to overload, the energy coming from them and the vortex should cancel each other out if they come into contact. After Regina gets the stabilizer and initializer and uses them to overload the reactors, the energy shakes the base, causing a vent to fall on Gail allowing Kirk to escape again. Regina, Gail and Rick get to the control room branching off to the waterway to escape, but Gail says they still need to get Kirk. He starts to hobble away on his gun to go after Kirk, and orders Regina and Rick to leave without him if he does not return in twenty minutes. Rick informs Gail & Regina that they need an initializer and stabilizer in order to start the third energy generator. At this point, Regina is given the choice to either locate the completed initializer and stabilizer or gather the required parts, and the story takes one of three endings.

Endings

There are three possible endings based on choices made by the player. Near the end of the game, the player has the option to either go after Kirk or find their way off of the island.

The first ending (chase Kirk) results in Regina and Gail capturing Kirk. As a twist, Gail reveals that the whole mission was a front

Front organization

A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy groups, or corporations...

 and the government did not want Kirk, but instead wanted the Third Energy to use in warfare. Gail gives Regina a disk containing all the data on the Third Energy. Shortly afterward, Gail dies from injuries suffered when the vent fell on him. Regina, Rick, and Kirk, during their departure in a watercraft, battle with the T-Rex. Regina kills it using a remote explosive, and they escape.

The second ending (escape the island) results in Regina, Gail, and Rick escaping without Kirk. During the final battle, Rick fires a rocket

Rocket

A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...

 from a watercraft

Watercraft

A watercraft is a vessel or craft designed to move across or through water. The name is derived from the term "craft" which was used to describe all types of water going vessels...

. The rocket hits a fuel tank

Fuel tank

A fuel tank is safe container for flammable fluids. Though any storage tank for fuel may be so called, the term is typically applied to part of an engine system in which the fuel is stored and propelled or released into an engine...

, causing a massive overload in the Third Energy generator and completely disintegrating a portion of Ibis Island in the process killing the T-Rex and all of the other dinosaurs. The three agents escape safely, but the status of Kirk is unknown.

The third ending can be achieved by choosing to leave Kirk, but actually going after him. It can also be achieved by going after Kirk, but first finding the helicopter. Regina and Gail locate Kirk in a hangar

Hangar

A hangar is a closed structure to hold aircraft or spacecraft in protective storage. Most hangars are built of metal, but other materials such as wood and concrete are also sometimes used...

, preparing a helicopter

Helicopter

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

 to escape in (which becomes their only way of escape because the T-Rex destroyed the hovercraft while she chased Kirk). Regina knocks Kirk out, and informs Rick of the situation. The T-Rex chases Rick to Regina's location. Then Regina, Gail and Rick board the helicopter and flee. During their escape, Rick drops a bomb

Bomb

A bomb is any of a range of explosive weapons that only rely on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy...

from the helicopter onto the dinosaur, killing it. All three agents get out alive with Kirk.

Soundtrack

1. Dino Crisis
2. You Have Mail
3. Welcome to Genocide Island
4. Omen
5. Encounter
6. Place Is Deserted
7. Breakout
8. Set You at Ease
9. Entrance
10. On the Verge of Attack
11. Rushed
12. Rowdy in Ancient Ages
13. Rescue or a Mission
14. Where's the Doc?
15. Doctor Kirk?
16. Investigate the Underground
17. Murderers in the Sky
18. Where's the Survivor?
19. Wounds Are Pretty Bad...
20. Hanged and Dropped
21. Lamentation
22. Pounced
23. Lab in the Underground
24. Poisonous Gas
25. Confined
26. Make Your Choice
27. Elusive Dr. Kirk
28. To the Communication Room
29. Giant Bites
30. Get to the Heliport
31. Abandoned Hope
32. Hang in There
33. Underpass
34. Dark and Deserted
35. Heading for the Port
36. Giant Claws
37. Further Dread
38. Call from a Survivor
39. Violence
40. Distorted Space-Time Continuum
41. Find the Generator
42. Generator Located
43. Suspicious Shot
44. Glimpse
45. From the Experiment Arises Tragedy
46. What's Your Choice
47. Stabilizer and Initializer
48. Wiretap
49. Starting Up
50. There's No Turning Back
51. Overloaded
52. Faint of Breath
53. Last Selection
54. Believe
55. Port Battle
56. Explosion
57. Hidden Purpose
58. Lie Down
59. Hunter
60. Final Battle
61. At the Waterway
62. Chopper
63. Finally Captured
64. Troublesome and Ferocious
65. Burned Away
66. Reminiscent

Reception

Dino Crisis was a commercial success. The PlayStation version of game has sold 2.4 million copies worldwide, being listed as the 11th-best-selling Capcom game.