While Brad and I agree on the overall quality of the Dino Crisis 2, I am no where near as ecstatic about the title. My feeling on Dino Crisis 2 is that it's too little, too late. I have a good respect for the original because it tried to do a few things differently then most survival-horror titles, and while it wasn't anything earth-shattering, I still appreciated the effort. The sequel follows along the same tradition, and I really enjoyed the switch from typically scrambling cowardly and hoarding items conservatively to standing my ground firmly and letting loose with some unbelievably wicked firepower.
At the same time, some things in the genre never change. Like most survival-horror titles, logic takes a backseat in Dino Crisis 2 in the worst kinds of ways. Characters often separate on different paths when it obviously makes much more sense to team-up and watch each others' back (how's that for a next-generation feature?). Some weapons are curiously accessible to both characters while others remain exclusive. Why is that? I have no idea. Speaking of weapons, why do computers in the area even dispense high-tech weapons of mass-destruction like some sort of vending machine? I know there are readers who always complain that I need to lighten up on "nonsensical" criticisms. My response is that after years of similar theme games, you would think that the developers would find more clever and innovative ways to mask these obviously banal gameplay conventions and devices.
Topping off my list of complaints, I also found the costumes of particular characters as well as the term "Extinction Points" to be so campy at times that the game felt more like a the trashy episode from Land Of The Lost then the big-budgeted special-effects extravaganza Jurassic Park.
In spite of the negatives I mentioned, Dino Crisis 2 still managed to hold my interest by keeping up an intense, but efficient action packed pace. I also kept playing largely in part to see what other new cool weapons and items I could accumulate. Had this title been released a year or even two years ago, I would have been proclaiming Dino Crisis 2 a much needed breath of fresh air in a suffocating genre. Unfortunately, the genre is already all but dead to me, and any effort like Dino Crisis 2 is like trying to resuscitate a corpse that has been rotting for months. And for all you survival-horror fans out there, that last comment is meant to be taken figuratively!
Somewhere between all the gaming, Chi some how managed to finish high school and get into the New York Institute of Technology. At the same time, Chi also interned at Virtual Frontiers, an Internet software consultancy where he learned the ways of HTML. Soon after acquiring his BFA, Chi went on to become the lead Web designer of the Anti-Defamation League. During his tenure there, Chi was instrumental in redesigning and relaunching the non-profit organization's Web site.
Today, Chi is the webmaster of the American Red Cross in Greater New York and somehow managed to work through the tragic events of September 11th without losing his sanity. Chi considers GameCritics.com his life's work and continues to be amazed that the web site is still standing after the recent dotcom fallout. It is his dream that GameCritics.com will accomplish two things: 1) Redefine the grammar of videogames much the same way French film critic Andre Bazin did for the art of cinema and 2) bring game criticism to the forefront of mainstream culture much the same way Siskel & Ebert did for film criticism.
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