Dino Crisis 2 - Reception

Reception

Dino Crisis 2 received a positive response from critics, with an average score of 82% at Game Rankings based on 22 reviews and an 86/100 at Metacritic based on 13 reviews.

In a review by GameSpot, they mentioned it was possible to argue that the first Dino Crisis just "replaced the zombies with carnivorous dinosaurs" as a Resident Evil spin-off. However they found Dino Crisis 2 "an original, enjoyable experience that can no longer be considered just another entry into the survival-horror genre", as it "avoids the stereotypes of the genre and delivers one of the most refreshing takes on the third-person action shooter to date." IGN concurred by saying it was "stripped of its slow-paced Resident Evil shell and its haunting, creepy shockeroo tricks". They particularly praised the game’s artwork and level design that "the creatures and the design are both excellent, and the jungle backgrounds, and especially the underwater environments, are simply top-notch." On the game’s sound effects, GamePro stated the "Sound is solid, with an unobtrusive musical score that blends well with gaming effects, i.e. the telltale rustle of foliage preceding a raptor's leap for your throat isn't drowned out by J-Pop."

As a survival horror however, Game Revolution felt the "arcade-like" gameplay "detracts a bit from the whole survival-horror theme". And while they praised the sequel for not over-using puzzles and key fetch objectives, "the back and forth gameplay gets tired after a while" and can make it "very easy to get distracted from the storyline and get sucked into the process of amassing an arsenal."

Like its predecessor, Dino Crisis 2 was a commercial success. The PlayStation version of game has sold 1.19 million copies worldwide.