Resident Evilis among Capcom’s star series, and one of the most influential horror franchises in the industry. It set the stage for what survival horror would become for at least a decade, and even whenResident Eviltook different approaches, a lot of its experiments with third-person action and first-person horror were successful. Its enormous list of spin-offs and side stories were less successful, but a franchise that big can take a few stumbles. While they take different approaches to horror,Resident Evilstands alongside Konami’sSilent Hillas a genre-defining franchise.
The classicResident Evilgames inspired many imitators on PS1 and PS2, with even Capcom’s own franchises shaped by the initial games' success.Onimushawas a melee-focused take onResident Evil’s set camera angles and tank controls.Devil May Crywas famously a prototype forResident Evil 4, and some shades of that show in its mansion setting and powerful guns. However, Capcom made one other franchise almost identical toResident Evil, just with a different kind of enemy:Dino Crisisstarted asResident Evilwith dinosaurs instead of zombies, butREdiverged fromDino Crisismore quickly than most fans realize.
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Dino Crisis Didn’t Take Long to Become Its Own Franchise
The firstDino Crisisreleased on PlayStation 1 in 1999, and was cut from the same cloth asResident Evil. That’s appropriate considering it was made by a lot ofResident Evil’s original staff, developed concurrently withResident Evil 3: Nemesis. Both games took more action-heavy approaches toResident Evil’s formula, withRE3introducing a dodge buttonand a persistent, evolving pursuer; andDino Crisisdeveloping “panic horror” through faster and more intelligent enemies. It was an interesting time for horror, but Capcom’s sibling franchises would go ahead in different ways.
Resident Evilput the breaks on its numbered sequels until 2005, content to release a variety of spin-offs, side games, and even the firstREremake while prototypes for4were developed in the background.Dino Crisishad no such baggage, and went straight toDino Crisis 2in 2000. This was not the sameDino Crisis, however; the horror genre had been mostly dropped in favor of action. Combos, counterattacks, and avoiding damage all contributed to point tallies that could be exchanged for items, weapons, and upgrades at save points. There is also a new protagonist, Dylan, who provides different gameplay from the series' iconic leading lady Regina. This sudden shift into arcade action was a surprising move, but not an unwelcome one.Resident Evilwould strive to keep some of its ideas through recurring side modes.
Resident Evil Remained a Star, Dino Crisis Didn’t Get Far
Unfortunately,Dino Crisisdidn’t live long enough to see the release ofResident Evil 4. After2, alight-gun shooter in theGun SurvivorseriescalledDino Stalkerreleased in 2002, andDino Crisis: Dungeon in Chaoscame to phones in 2003. Later that year,Dino Crisis 3released as an Xbox exclusive, and was received poorly enough that the franchise went into stasis. The game tried furtheringDC2’s campy arcade action, but its space station setting, new main characters, and poor camera alienated fans. AsResident Evilcontinued to pump out new titles and receive star treatment in crossovers,Dino Crisiswas left in obscurity.
It’s telling thatthe recently revealedExoprimal, despite containing a Regina lookalike and a futuristic dinosaur crisis, is a brand-new IP. It may be that a revival project deviated too much from what Capcom felt comfortable callingDino Crisis, but this still indicates that the name doesn’t hold much power today. Meanwhile,Resident Evilhas theRE VillageDLC, a retooledRE:Verse, current-gen upgrades for several titles, and several more rumored projects likeRE4 Remake.Dino CrisisandResident Evilhave gone down two very different paths, and it will likely stay that way untilDino Crisiscan truly make a return.
