I was fairly excited about the aspect of Dino Crisis when it first came out, back when I was a wee little survival horror buff. Completely 3D backgrounds that could be destroyed sounded like a good thing, and it was. However, in Dino Crisis, everything is kind of... bland. You get tired of moving through the same silver hallways throughout the whole thing, facing the same vicious raptors. The highlight of the whole thing is running away from the T-Rex on the rooftop! Now that is cool. Still, in the long run the game is pretty challenging. Not because you're being hunted by some nasty dinosaurs, but because you run out of ammo a tad too easily. Aside from that, Dino Crisis is a decent game that offers up it's share of scares. Score: 6
Finally, in Dino Crisis 2 we are treated to jungle levels, outside catwalk levels, and even underwater levels. This is a great step forward in the series, because it offers more variety. However, this addition is not the biggest change between the two games. Dino Crisis 2 playes a lot more like a fast paced action shooter. You run through areas, not letting off the fire button. All those kills you get accumulate as points with which you can buy better weapons, items, and more ammo. While it's pretty short, you might want to play through it several times to unlock the cool characters for the game's additonal 'arena' and 'fighting game' diversions. Score: 8
I was probably one of many people duped into playing this game due to the Evil Dead thing... Let me tell you this is the worst game I've ever played. Atmosphere is okay... voice acting is very good... story is lame... fighting is God awful. Enemies respawn and pop up all over the place, which is not good because fighting them is a pain in the ass. Your guns do little damage and have poor range, plus you can't find or make too much ammo. You must resort to a face to face hack fest with a chainsaw on one hand and an axe in the other. You always take hits, because the enemy can dodge and counter like a pro. No wonder there are so many healing aids lying all around. You NEED them. Score: 1
Continuing on with really really bad games, there is Fear Effect. I'll go through the usual stuff... Long load times after you get killed are a major no-no, having to solve a puzzle EXACTLY 100% perfect or else you die is a no-no, not being able to tell what your health is like is a no-no. The FMV backgrounds and cel shaded characters are nice, but not nice enough to cover up really disappointing and annoying gameplay. Score: 3
Really bad voice acting aside, Resident Evil is a great game. There's nothing more satisfying than taking a shotgun to a group of bloodthirsty zombies. The mansion and surrounding areas provide quite a few interesting rooms to explore, and quite a few interesting enemies to deal with. Hunters still give me a sense of overwhelming dread. However, as I said, the voice acting is terrible... I'm glad they got a few new (and more talented) people for the following games. Score: 6
Resident Evil 2 was my very first survival horror game, back when it came out for PC. Now that the virus has reached Raccoon City, players are given scores of new areas to explore, including a police station, the sewers, a train station, and the Umbrella laboratories. The new heroes, Leon and Claire also have much better voices and a better selection of weaponry with which to combat even more fearsome creatures. The story is stepped up a notch, and because it differs depending on which character you play as first, the replay value is increased. Visuals are much improved, and the music is incredible. Just wait till you hear "The Second Malformation of G". Score: 9
Resident Evil 3 has a few new things, and a few drawbacks. First of all, your main character is Jill Valentine from the first game, and you only switch off to Carlos for a brief period of time. It would have been cool if his entire story had been played out in an alternate scenario, like in Resident Evil 2. You can now mix gunpowders to create your own ammo. (I enjoyed making magnum round after magnum round) At some points, you'll have to make a manual choice, such as fighting a monster to gain an item, or running away to do without it. Plus, Jill has a cool new ability to break free of a monster's clutches if you mash the buttons just right. This is a good thing, because she'll need it when going up against the Nemesis, an enhanced version of the guy in the black coat from Resident Evil 2. The Nemesis often sports a rocket launcher, is incredibly fast and powerful, can follow you through rooms, appears when you least expect it, and can kill you with one hit if you're not lucky. This creates a very tense feeling throughout the game, which spans areas such as the police station from Resident Evil 2, downtown area, the park, a church, a hospital, a cemetary, and a sewage treatment plant. This is as good as Resident Evil gets on the Playstation. Score: 9
When it comes to survival horror, Silent Hill is the greatest. Seriously, this is the scariest story I have ever experienced... book, movie, or game. As Harry Mason, it's your job to find your daughter in a town where things are not as they seem. It's snowing in the middle of summer, everyone is missing, there's mist all around, streets simply end in large chasms, and horrible skinless creatures lurk in the fog, where you can't see. But that's not the worst. At some points, you'll have to play through two versions of a place... the regular version, and a dark and twisted version where there's blood and rust staining the walls, the floor turns to greating, and bodies are strung up for display. In these places, the only thing you can rely on is your flashlight and your instincts. You may walk into a room and hear something make a noise, but it's out of your flashlight's range. For most gamers, the lack of story closure may be a downfall, but I think that the game actually prompts you to come up with your own ideas and opinions of "what the hell just happened?" And if not, visit http://www.gamefaqs.com and read the Silent Hill plot FAQ. I find this to be the most sound explanation so far. I just can't wait to play Silent Hill 2 when it comes out for the Playstation 2. Score: 10
