Highlights
- The newly-released survival-horror game Dinobreak is inspired by Capcom's Dino Crisis franchise, which was well-received in the late '90s and early 2000s.
- The Dino Crisis series declined in quality after the second game, with spin-offs like Dino Stalker and Dino Crisis 3 receiving mixed to negative reviews.
- While Capcom hasn't shown any interest in reviving the Dino Crisis franchise, Dinobreak offers a budget alternative for fans craving a similar experience, although it may feel derivative to some.
Newly-released survival-horror game Dinobreak is clearly inspired by Capcom's Dino Crisis franchise. The first Dino Crisis released in 1999, and effectively played like if Resident Evil had dinosaurs instead of zombies. Gamers responded well to this premise, as the original Dino Crisis earned critical acclaim and is generally pointed to as one of the better survival-horror games of its era. The 2000 sequel, Dino Crisis 2, was more of an action game than survival-horror, but it was still generally well-received.
Unfortunately, the Dino Crisis series went off the rails after Dino Crisis 2. The light gun shooter spin-off Dino Stalker was met with mixed reviews from critics, the first-person shooter mobile game Dino Crisis: Dungeon in Chaos never left Japan, and sci-fi shooter game Dino Crisis 3 was completely flopped. The negative reaction to Dino Crisis 3 seems to have killed the series, as it's been dormant for 20 years at this point.
Game Director Says Dino Crisis Content Might Be Added to Exoprimal
The director of Capcom's Exoprimal hints at the possibility of crossover content from the Dino Crisis franchise being added to the game.
Capcom has not made any indication that it plans on reviving the Dino Crisis franchise. While Dino Crisis fans hold out hope for a Resident Evil-style remake for the first game, they may want to check out Dinobreak in the meantime. Dinobreak is an indie horror game from Dead Drop Studios that clearly takes inspiration from Dino Crisis. The game is a budget release at just $19.99, so survival-horror fans shouldn't go in expecting AAA production values, but it may still scratch the Dino Crisis itch. User reviews on Xbox and Steam have been mostly positive so far, so while it may not be quite the same as getting a proper new Dino Crisis game, it at least offers a somewhat similar experience.
Based on the trailer, it seems like Dinobreak actually marries the concept of Dino Crisis with a setting that's more like Raccoon City from Resident Evil 2. The main character is even somewhat reminiscent of Resident Evil 2 protagonist Claire Redfield. Fans of Capcom's older survival-horror games may very well find a lot to like with Dinobreak, though others may find it a little too derivative.
Regardless, it's always nice to have more classic-style survival-horror games to play, especially a dinosaur-themed one since Capcom seems unwilling to bring back the Dino Crisis series. Maybe it's something the company will consider after it's finished remaking the Resident Evil games, but fans shouldn't get their hopes up. In the meantime, there are plenty of other new horror games launching this month, so fans of the genre should have no shortage of fresh horror games to try this Halloween.
Dinobreak is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
