With the arrival ofDino Crisisand its first sequel on PC, it’s scarcely been easier in the past 25 years to enjoy these unique survival horror titles. First released in 1999 for the original PlayStation (with Dreamcast and Windows ports to follow),Dino Crisisis exactly what it says on the tin: a survival horror game featuring a menagerie of massive, prehistoric monsters. The originalwas a critical and commercial hit on its initial release, and, while its popularity hasn’t been quite so enduring as that of other PS1 games, fans still havean appetite for Dino Crisis.
Dino Crisis 1 & 2 Are Now Available On GOG
The Survival Horror Series, Ported To PC
A major benefit to playingDino Crisisis that it’s never been easier. No longer do players have to spend hundreds of dollars on retro hardware, or fiddle with fan patches and virtual machines to makeDino Crisis' 25-year-old PC port work properly: now,they can simply buyDino Crisis 1and2on GOG. The games cost $9.99 USD each, but can also be purchased as a bundle for $16.99. They can also be downloaded directly from GOG’s website - no need for another launcher.
Of course,Dino Crisis 1and2have undergone some serious enhancementsthat go beyond the bare necessities of making them work on modern PCs. It features higher resolution, and more in-depth color than the original version. Several issues with stable performance and corrupted save files have been fixed. A full suite of graphical options allowsDino Crisisto be customized to run smoothly and look its best on almost any PC. And bonus features from the originals, including post-game challenges like Dino Duel and Operation Wipe Out, have been faithfully ported over.
Why Dino Crisis 1 & 2 Are Worth Playing
A Treat For Survival Horror Fans
Simply put, for anyone with even a passing interest in survival horror or retro games as a whole,Dino Crisisis absolutely worth playing in 2025. Regardless of its fancy, enhanced PC port, the game stands on its own merits:Dino Crisishas been favorably compared toResident Evilsince its inception, evoking a similarly tense atmosphere, and demanding a similarly strict sense of resource management in order to survive. Fans ofREand similar survival horror staples will find a lot of familiarity inDino Crisis.
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But what’s even more interesting aboutDino Crisisishow it innovates on survival horror tropes. Sure, players will be fighting dinos, solving puzzles, and managing supplies to survive, but each of these familiar aspects of gameplay have unique wrinkles inDino Crisis. Combat is faster and more dangerous than inResident Evil, andfeatures what can only be called status effects: the protagonist, Regina, will sometimes be disarmed, or bleed profusely, and have to resolve these to regain her advantage. This adds an extra degree of tension to its already terrifying gameplay.
For those who have only played theResident Evilremakes, know thatDino Crisisdoesn’t have the same kind of snappy, modern movement; it uses tank controls like the originalRE.
Inventory management is complicated by a series of color-coded stash boxes; although players can store excess items in them, they can only access them from other boxes of the same color, which requires a little extra advance planning.Dino Crisis 2takes the familiar dual protagonist structure ofResident Evil, but forces the player to switch between them multiple times instead of splitting them into two different campaigns.Each protagonist has a unique gameplay styleinformed by their signature weapons, and swapping can help open new paths.
So, for total series newcomers,Dino Crisisis almost certainly worth checking out now that it’s on PCdue to its unique perspective on survival horror and evolution of gameplay tropes established by similar series. But what about those who have played the game before?
Why Dino Crisis 1 & 2 Are Worth Replaying
Two PS1 Classics Reborn
Ultimately, it comes down to the player and their individual experience with the series. But for anyone who’s enjoyedDino Crisisin the past,it’s almost certainly worth revisiting now. Besides the graphical and performance improvements now available in the PC port, if it’s been a decade or more since their last run ofDino Crisis, then it’s worth replaying just for the rediscovery and the nostalgia of it all.
And besides that, if Capcom is planning a biggerDino Crisisrevival, then there’s never been a better time to catch up. But even if it’s not,Dino Crisisis an excellent game in its own right, and deserves a look by anyone interested in the survival horror genre, similar game series, or even just dinosaurs in general.
