Post by JPController on Jan 20, 2004 9:09:16 GMT -5
After the shape shifting ship, the Ozymandius, destroys an innocent scout ship, Patrick and his team are sent in to investigate the source of the attack. After a few minutes of reconnoitering, a rampaging mutant Tyrannosaurus Rex attacks Patrick and company. Soon after the attack, the ship separates Patrick from the rest of his pals, forcing him to explore this dinosaur infested environment on his lonesome.
Where did this T-Rex come from? Why are dinosaurs roaming through an abandoned ship? What happened to the original crew? You, Patrick, and I are all asking the same questions, and in Dino Crisis 3 it is your job to guide Patrick through this ship in search of answers.
The first noticeable thing about DC3 is the beautiful cinematic scenes depicting the Ozymandius opening fire on a scout ship and your first encounter with the dinos. The look of the game is reminiscent to visuals from Event Horizon, as well as the basic concept of an abandoned ship gone out of control.
It's easy to pick up and play DC3 without any introduction to the control scheme. The X button is your primary fire, and you can hold it down for a laser guided explosive charge. Another weapon at his disposal is the WASPs. These "wasps" are robots that Patrick can unleash with the Y button that will fly towards and attack nearby predators. But, in case you aren't in a location where you can hit dinos without becoming lunch, Patrick is also equipped with a jet pack that allows him to perform a boost jump with B, and a dash move when squeezing the right trigger.
When you are finally able to control Patrick, you'll find yourself amidst a swarm of small dinosaurs intent on eating you for a light afternoon snack. Being small dinosaurs, they don't take a lot of effort to dispatch, but being able to see where they are before the leap at you would have aided in the process. The most glaring problem with the current build of the game is that it seems to have adapted a camera style similar to the previous Dino Crisis titles and the Resident Evil series. Fortunately, you do have standard control of the character, so you won't find any navigational woes in DC3. But, you will encounter instances where you can't see what is attacking you or what you are shooting at.
Luckily, you do have two tools at your disposal to help compensate for the camera. One is that Patrick has an auto targeting system that will aim at the nearest dinosaur. The second is that by clicking in the right thumb stick you can bring up a first person look around view that allows you to get a bearing on your surroundings and figure out what your next objective is.
In the E3 demo I didn't witness any of the ship shape shifting that is supposed to be so central to the game play of DC3, which is that the environment is always changing, so you often won't be able to return to previously explored areas. But, that is a function of not progressing far enough in the game rather than its absence from the game.
The game itself does look good. The parts of the ship I saw have an industrial feel with dull silver walls and black metal grating. The character models look and move like actual people. There is little that can compare to a dinosaur head butting Patrick and watching as he flies across the room and crashes into the floor. The dinosaurs are also highly detailed. You can catch glimpses of their muscles beneath their limited skin coverage (reminiscent to the dogs from Resident Evil). Along with the somewhat gory visuals, including blood that spatters against walls when shooting dinos or when Patrick receives an exceptionally brutal toss across the room.
Overall, Dino Crisis 3 looks and plays well. It's fun, and you're quickly able to get into the game. It will be interesting to see how exactly the shape shifting elements affect play. The camera situation is the only disappointing part of DC3 since there is no way to center it behind Patrick, but it does aid in setting up some rather beautiful, almost cinematic shots during game play.
Where did this T-Rex come from? Why are dinosaurs roaming through an abandoned ship? What happened to the original crew? You, Patrick, and I are all asking the same questions, and in Dino Crisis 3 it is your job to guide Patrick through this ship in search of answers.
The first noticeable thing about DC3 is the beautiful cinematic scenes depicting the Ozymandius opening fire on a scout ship and your first encounter with the dinos. The look of the game is reminiscent to visuals from Event Horizon, as well as the basic concept of an abandoned ship gone out of control.
It's easy to pick up and play DC3 without any introduction to the control scheme. The X button is your primary fire, and you can hold it down for a laser guided explosive charge. Another weapon at his disposal is the WASPs. These "wasps" are robots that Patrick can unleash with the Y button that will fly towards and attack nearby predators. But, in case you aren't in a location where you can hit dinos without becoming lunch, Patrick is also equipped with a jet pack that allows him to perform a boost jump with B, and a dash move when squeezing the right trigger.
When you are finally able to control Patrick, you'll find yourself amidst a swarm of small dinosaurs intent on eating you for a light afternoon snack. Being small dinosaurs, they don't take a lot of effort to dispatch, but being able to see where they are before the leap at you would have aided in the process. The most glaring problem with the current build of the game is that it seems to have adapted a camera style similar to the previous Dino Crisis titles and the Resident Evil series. Fortunately, you do have standard control of the character, so you won't find any navigational woes in DC3. But, you will encounter instances where you can't see what is attacking you or what you are shooting at.
Luckily, you do have two tools at your disposal to help compensate for the camera. One is that Patrick has an auto targeting system that will aim at the nearest dinosaur. The second is that by clicking in the right thumb stick you can bring up a first person look around view that allows you to get a bearing on your surroundings and figure out what your next objective is.
In the E3 demo I didn't witness any of the ship shape shifting that is supposed to be so central to the game play of DC3, which is that the environment is always changing, so you often won't be able to return to previously explored areas. But, that is a function of not progressing far enough in the game rather than its absence from the game.
The game itself does look good. The parts of the ship I saw have an industrial feel with dull silver walls and black metal grating. The character models look and move like actual people. There is little that can compare to a dinosaur head butting Patrick and watching as he flies across the room and crashes into the floor. The dinosaurs are also highly detailed. You can catch glimpses of their muscles beneath their limited skin coverage (reminiscent to the dogs from Resident Evil). Along with the somewhat gory visuals, including blood that spatters against walls when shooting dinos or when Patrick receives an exceptionally brutal toss across the room.
Overall, Dino Crisis 3 looks and plays well. It's fun, and you're quickly able to get into the game. It will be interesting to see how exactly the shape shifting elements affect play. The camera situation is the only disappointing part of DC3 since there is no way to center it behind Patrick, but it does aid in setting up some rather beautiful, almost cinematic shots during game play.