Capcom’s Resident Evil franchise is at the height of its popularity once again following the release of Resident Evil 4’s remake. There is a direction in this continuity of remakes that seems obvious for Capcom to pursue at this point. Meanwhile, Resident Evil’s mainline continuity has a number of different directions it has the opportunity to pursue. Because Resident Evil is as popular as it is and can stand on its own merit, though, it would be a great opportunity now for Capcom to exhume a long-dead franchise and remake its ‘panic horror’ title, Dino Crisis.
Dino Crisis is often lauded as being Resident Evil with dinosaurs instead of zombies, and its adherence to the survival-horror genre is perhaps its best asset. Characters such as Regina, Gail, Rick, and Cooper are all as interesting as Jill, Chris, Barry, Wesker, and Brad from the original Resident Evil, and fans are still left unsure why Dino Crisis never got its own modern reimagining or sequels after Dino Crisis 3. If Capcom wished to revisit any of its older titles, it could have great success reviving Dino Crisis like the Resident Evil remakes or EA Motive’s Dead Space remake.
What Dino Crisis Could Learn from Resident Evil’s Remakes
Resident Evil’s remakes have been popular for their return to a third-person perspective while still maintaining the survival-horror mechanics that the original games had. This change helped to make gameplay feel modern, which was favorable for many players.
Rather, the only concern fans have ever had with Resident Evil’s remakes is whether the reimagining would adapt the original faithfully, meaning that it needed to have the same narrative beats and include all the beloved content fans have a nostalgic connection to—not unlike Dino Crisis. The Resident Evil 2 remake had arguably lackluster B-side scenarios with either Leon or Claire compared to the original game, but because it was Resident Evil’s first third-person remake it won a lot of praise for everything else it managed to faithfully reinterpret.
Resident Evil 3’s remake then disappointed fans with how starkly it detoured away from the original game’s content, and Resident Evil 4’s remake has clearly been the most faithful reimagining overall. If Dino Crisis was to follow in Resident Evil’s path, a remake would do well to adapt the original as closely as possible.
What Dino Crisis Could Learn from Dead Space’s Remake
Dead Space did not have as large of a hurdle to leap as Resident Evil 4 when it came to its own remake, but the subtle improvements and additions made to it are leaps and bounds more accessible and engaging than in the original. Thanks to the quality-of-life improvements that were already introduced in Dead Space’s sequel, EA Motive’s Dead Space already had a template to draw inspiration from for its zero-gravity flight and Kinesis impalement among other mechanics.
Otherwise, Dead Space’s remake was also far greater in terms of its graphical fidelity, with volumetrics and lighting making a huge impact on the atmosphere and tone aboard the USG Ishimura. Dino Crisis’ low-poly fidelity is obviously not the modern standard for games, and imagining what its dark facility corridors and horrifying dinosaurs could look like with today’s graphic capabilities is enough for fans to want a remake.
The fan-made Unreal Engine 5 remaster for Dino Crisis is likely only a taste of what an official remake could look like, for example, as big-budget horror games continue to be more immersive and satisfying in that regard. Either Resident Evil or Dead Space could be phenomenal templates for a Dino Crisis remake, especially after how successful and well-received they have both been lately