Dino Crisis returns with modern Resident Evil-style remake

Dino Crisis fans will soon be able to enjoy a fan-made remake of the original game that introduces a load of modern quality-of-life features, including a Resident Evil-style over the shoulder camera.

The original Dino Crisis will be turning 30 in just a few years, and we’re still desperately wanting Capcom to do a fully-fledged remake of the game similar to what it did with Resident Evil.

In the meantime, fan projects are keeping the spirit of the series alive, offering brand new ways to play the original game that introduce modern improvements.

Developer Rotmill is now working on a recompiled version of Dino Crisis that converts the game into a third-person over the shoulder experience, very similar to the way modern Resident Evil remakes are played.

The original Dino Crisis used fixed camera angles similar to the original Resident Evil trilogy, so having a modern remake follow the trend set by the Resi remakes seems pretty appropriate.

Rotmill demonstrates this new style in a video posted to their YouTube channel, which showcases around four minutes of gameplay from the third-person over the shoulder camera angle.

Because the original Dino Crisis used fully real time 3D environments for its levels as opposed to pre-rendered backgrounds, converting this into a third-person experience doesn’t seem as daunting of a task.

It’s just a case of getting the camera and controls to function properly, which is a lot easier to do on a decompiled version of the game rather than emulation.

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A Dino Crisis remake in this style is exactly what's needed

If you’re not a fan of the new camera perspective, and would prefer a more traditional experience, Rotmill revealed on Reddit that a button to toggle between both styles will also be included in the full release.

In addition to this, the PC port should also feature “QOL improvements, minor gameplay changes” as well as support for changing textures and other assets.

Rotmill’s version of Dino Crisis is still in the testing phase, but the results are promising so far from what we can see in this video.

They say they intend to release it in October, and we imagine that public testing may also lead to further updates coming down the line. Ultimately, it seems like an excellent way to relive a classic horror game, even if not done officially by Capcom.

Originally released in 1999, Dino Crisis has often been described as “Resident Evil with dinosaurs”, particularly due to its fixed camera perspective and dinosaur horror presentation.

With that said, it’s still a great game in its own right and is a lot different from Resi once you get past those surface-level similarities. Dinosaurs are a lot faster and vicious than Raccoon City’s zombies, for one.

The series has laid dormant since the Xbox-exclusive Dino Crisis 3 in 2003, with no sign of a sequel or remake. However, Capcom has re-released the games on PC and PlayStation in the form of the Dino Crisis Bundle, which has allowed fans to re-experience the original versions of these games on modern systems.

We reckon a full remake from the ground up similar to the Resident Evil series is needed though, especially if it’s done like Rotmill’s version of the game.