Dino Crisis (reboot)

Dino Crisis, also known by its working acronym, Dino CReboot (abbreviated as DCReboot), is a 2018 Survival-Horror game developed and published by Capcom. It is the fourth game in the Dino Crisis series and a complete reboot of the franchise, taking place in a new continuity from the 3 previous titles. It features a whole new cast, including a redesigned Regina, the star protagonist from the first 2 games.

The game centers around a special forces team, known as S.O.R.T. (Secret Operation Raid Team) who are sent to quarantine a ravaged forest in New York. Upon searching for leads, they soon discover the island to be crawling with dinosaurs sent through a time displacement event as a result of a newfound energy source, known as Third Energy, creating a void throughout the past, present and future time. With the scale of the affected region-and civilian casualties-steadily increasing, this black ops team must race against time-and great prehistoric danger-before the world becomes overrun by geographic changes and time-displaced dinosaurs.

The game was released on March 13, 2018 for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows.

Characters
Players select from one of two main characters before the beginning of each new save, each with their advantages, disadvantages, and unique set of weapons and abilities (including the all-new "Takedown" ability; see below for details), similar to the first Resident Evil. Despite being separated through a chain of events occurring in their respective campaigns, the two characters will communicate back-and-forth throughout the game via web cam during cutscenes.

Plot
The game's Story Mode features two separate campaigns between the two selectable main characters, each with an entirely different set of levels, environments, obstacles and, in some cases, dinosaurs as their respective squads split up in the game's opening chapter. Both campaigns are concurrent, however, each occurring simultaneously with the two characters eventually communicating via Skype and voice chat in various cut scenes. The video/audio feed on the other character's end is also shown/played in their respective campaigns, i.e: Matt appearing on video/Skype feeds in Regina's campaign and vice versa.

In addition, each campaign has an exclusive post-credits scene after completing the game.

Regina's Campaign
After splitting up, Regina searches the quarantined forest for leads. She eventually discovers a camcorder where a middle-aged man, Dr. Izzo, talks of his newfound "Third" energy source, during which time, a fellow colleague, Dent, is attacked and killed by a Velociraptor. After surviving several waves of unpredictable dino attacks upon further venturing through the forest, Regina is relieved when she runs into Matt. However, Matt suddenly vanishes after a magnetic Third Energy force field opens up.

A distraught Regina, in her search for leads, eventually finds Dent's walkie talkie lying around. She tries to call the others, only to hear dying screams. She is soon chased by a pack of Velociraptors, merely escaping after diving off a cliff into a ravine, only to then run into a Mosasaur. After tactfully escaping the aquatic dinosaur underwater, Regina makes her way back on land, narrowly escaping a Spinosaurus after navigating through a dark cave littered with artificially-placed human footprints via Third Energy.

Regina eventually finds a control tower deep within the forest and calls for backup, having to fend off Oviraptor attacks for 7 minutes until her crew arrived to pick her up via jeep. They transport her through the forest, fending off any swarming dinosaurs via gunship, but are suddenly attacked by the Spinosaurus she encountered previously, having burst out of the soil after burrowing itself underground. Regina narrowly escapes and eventually kills the creature with a looted rocket launcher, but incidentally lures a stampede of Megaraptors in doing so. Regina outruns the Megaraptors after escaping through and sealing the gate, only to then encounter spontaneous attacks by a pair of Plesiosaurs after proceeding through the deck.

Regina navigates through the island mainlands after escaping through the deck. In a new series of thrills that sees her taking refuge inside huts, trenches, behind trees and eventually being chased into a control center by swarming Celociraptors, Regina encounters more surprises in the dark corners of the facility, being stalked by Deinochyus lurking inside. While attempting to gain more leads into Third Energy, Regina accidentally sets off a Third Energy-activated motion-sensor security system, luring hordes of dinosaurs lurking within the facility-and all nearby parts of the island-to her. Regina narrowly escapes onto the roof, using a zipline to transport her way through the island, being cut off by a clamping Brachiosaurus along the way. After navigating through the wilderness once back on foot, Regina eventually outruns a swarm of Utah Raptors while entering a nearby paddock using the cover and resources available to her, only to run into a Stagosaurus who randomly nestles itself out of the soil. After fighting and killing the Stegosaurus using her wits and resourcefulness, Regina proceeds into the nearby island research facility.

Once inside the facility, Regina eventually uncovers the truth about Dr. Izzo and his patented "Third Energy" resource after encrypting files. After discovering a microchip-and finding a way to link it with Third Energy-she's able to communicate with Matt via Skype, learning that he'd been sucked into a time loop by a Third Energy portal. She soon discovers it to be part of an artificial transcendence, however, as it sets off a new chain of contraptions, once again testing her resourcefulness as she battles her way through more unraveled levels of terror. After reaching the end of the facility, she is confronted by a mysteriously still-alive Peters, who informs her that the Third Energy outbreak had reached beyond the island after digging through files of his own. After navigating through the facility backlot through the island passage way, they escape via chopper.

After flying over a ravaged Manhattan, Isaacs informs them that the Third Energy outbreak had been caused by a reactor inside a facility located deep within New York City, gradually increasing the scale of the affected region via artificial geographic changes and time-displaced dinosaurs. Regina and co. are sent on a mission to find and destroy the reactor in order to prevent global human extinction. However, they're blown off course when their chopper is suddenly attacked by an "unseen" force. Regina and her crewmates escape via parachute just before it crash-lands in the NYC streets.

Regina goes scouting the devastated Big Apple, eventually discovering a Third Energy-emitting hub on top of the One World Trade Center. Regina ventures up the OWTC-having to take the stairs upon stopping at the middle floor after finding the elevator to be sabotaged by Third Energy-and eventually destroys the hub after making her way onto the roof. She then levitates down the elevator, finding herself secretly stalked and followed by a T-Rex, who attacks through the elevator roof, trying to clamp down on her from up above as its agape mouth bursts through the top.

After withstanding the creature's attacks upon reaching the bottom floor, Regina receives a call from Matt at the Subway Station. Upon arriving there, however, she finds Matt to be missing, being attacked throughout the many dark corners of the station by Velociraptors. Upon exiting, she winds up in Times Square when Dr. Izzo appears on the city titantron, prophecizing world domination due to his new transcendent Third Energy. Regina is then chased by a pack of Allosaurs who spontaneously burst out of the city's sewage system. She eventually takes cover behind her fellow S.O.R.T. crew, who raid the streets of Manhattan to attack the Allosaurs. In the distraction, Regina tries to run to safety, but is soon caught in the middle of a Third Energy mortar strike as gigantic balls of Third Energy start destroying the buildings around her from an unseen location. Regina runs and evades the Third Energy mortar only to run straight into the Pteranodon who secretly attacked their chopper earlier. After outlasting the Pteranodon, Regina proceeds into the Third Energy laboratory.

Once inside the base, Regina discovers more mutilated corpses. Shortly thereafter, she discovers via security camera footage that Dr. Izzo used the tourists as bait, luring them into the path of secretly time-displaced dinosaurs while unveiling his new "Third Energy" source. After evading and killing more dinosaurs, Regina once again communicates with Matt who, at this time, is located in the same facility set in the year 3033 as part of the Third Energy time displacement. Having to rely on his expert hacking skills to bypass the transcendent obstacles that await her in the Third Energy lab, she eventually finds Dr. Izzo along with the rest of her crew. Upon trying to apprehend him, however, Regina discovers a security breach up on the surveillance cameras, allowing him to escape. Regina finds the Third Energy reactor, but is met with the reemergence of the tyrannosaur she encountered in the OWTC elevator. After fighting and killing the T-Rex, Regina and her crew detonate the reactor, escaping and taking cover just before it explodes.

Following the reactor's self-destruction, Regina and her crew are confronted by Matt, who emerges from the base's rubble, having undone all time-distortion caused by the reactor and him being in the same facility decades into the future.

In a campaign-exclusive post-credits scene, Dr. Izzo winds up inside of a secret lab at an undisclosed location along with his secretary, Marissa Walker (a young, blonde-haired woman) as they walk through a slide door labeled "Fourth Energy". He approaches a glass test tube while hinting at a far more sinister project to his colleague when a large mutant dino silhouette emerges.

Matt's Campaign
Matt's crew, sent to quarantine the forest, come across a number of disturbing sightings while searching for leads when they hear a fellow crew mate (Dent)'s dying screams from afar. Matt, in the distraction, is soon met with the disappearance of his fellow crew mates after he's forced to change course. Finding a pair of severed legs supposedly belonging to one of his crewmates, he discovers sudden geographic changes and the placement of new areas, hinting at the work of a superficial mechanism at large. Matt follows a never-before-seen trail of blood leading straight to a camcorder. Upon uncovering disturbing first person footage of a man being attacked and devoured by a barely-visible red Giganotosaurus, he's soon stalked by a flock of Velociraptors. While fleeing, Matt is caught in the midst of more geographic changes when a sudden quake sends him tumbling down a steep hill forming in the ground. Matt narrowly outruns the Velociraptors on the way down, leading him straight into a dark swamp where he evades numerous random dino attacks, including one from an Edmonotosaurus which suddenly "bursts" out of the water.

After killing the Edmonotosaurus, Matt proceeds through the murky swamp leading straight into a radiated forest. Along the way, he runs into a spontaneous ignition by an unseen force, causing a giant forest fire. Evading and disposing of attacks by raptors throughout the many dark reaches of the burning forest (all of those being impossible to predict ahead of time due to the fiery contents of the trail[s] before him), Matt eventually uncovers a barrier labeled 'Third Energy'. After dismantling the Third Energy barrier, Matt winds up back in the pre-ruptured forest, having mysteriously undone all geographic changes unbeknownst to Matt when he runs into Regina. Regina, already investigating the attack on one of her crewmates, is relieved when she encounters him. However, a pair of TE batons results in the formation of a Third Energy portal that sucks Matt away, sending him through a time loop.

Matt winds up on top of a massive, erupting volcano in Argentina, having to endure constant environmental changes, including the gradual formation of new magma-filled passage ways, due to the wave of Third Energy emitting through the peak of the hill. Along the way, Matt encounters several burning Ceratosaurus, each marked with burning lava rashes on its flesh, as they burst through the many forming crevices of the live volcano. After venturing his way to the top, fighting through magma and dino adversity alike, Matt runs into an erupting fissure where a Titanosaur rises out of the bursting volcano. Matt kills the Titanosaur and proceeds to the top of the mountain when another Third Energy-powered quake sends him tumbling into the surging magma pit.

Matt is stunned when he appears in the middle of a rainy island after supposedly taking a freefall to his death due to the flow of Third Energy. In his search for leads, he discovers a secretly time-displaced map highlighting 2 separate research facilities located on this island, revealing him to be on the same island Regina navigated in the present. He soon finds a tent while navigating through the wilderness upon receiving a call from Regina. A Skype chat, in which the date reads 4.19.2032 on his end, however reveals him to be in a separate time frame. Regina, having collected leads in the North-end research facility set in the present time, reveals the stunning truth regarding Third Energy, which Matt corroborates by him having experienced environmental changes first hand. Upon signing off the Skype chat, Matt once again finds himself on the defensive when a series of raptor shadows walk by his tent. Matt slowly exits the tent, and once again encounters sudden dino attacks. After evading and disposing of the Velociraptors, Matt proceeds through a cave (ironically in contrast to the same island Regina is on in the present), vanishing when he walks into a Third Energy portal hidden at the end of the tunnel.

Matt winds up In a South African-displaced snowy island in Antarctica-noted by the discrepancies in the 'welcome to South Africa' sign and the radar highlighting Antarctica on his map-where he soon encounters various Cryolophosaurus. After surviving various obstacles, Matt soon uncovers a geographically-displaced Himalayan mountains, where he encounters more Cryolophosaurs along the way. Matt eventually finds and takes refuge inside of a large cavern on the way up, encountering more surprise dangers lurking ahead before finding an ice sculpture palace. He's once again caught off guard as a giant Triceratops rises out of the ground. After killing the Triceratops, things take an ugly turn for the worse when a giant avalanche hits the mountain side upon exiting, seemingly smothering Matt as he tries to escape.

Matt is once again warped throughout time as the snow storm-hidden Third Energy transports him to Yutacan. Seemingly set in modern times due to its physical geography-including various pyramids-Matt soon discovers the unspeakable truth where, after escaping a gradual dinosaur infestation upon escapading the island-using the scarce resources available to him-Matt narrowly escapes the edge of the blast of the famous meteor strike, having been taken to the dinosaur-extinction event 235 million years ago, marking the end of the Cenozoic era. A fatally-wounded Matt, after jumping off a steep cliff, witnesses an influx of time-displaced Eoraptors gunning for him following the meteor strike, and just barely manages to escape through a Third Energy portal appearing before him as he's about to be devoured.

He winds up inside of a ship where Third Energy event survivors are being held captive and treated by operatives of another black ops team, known as the Tactical Reconnitering and Acquisition Team (T.A.R.T.). However, a security breach puts them on the defensive. The T.A.R.T. are sent to investigate while Matt attends to the survivors. When the security cameras go haywire, Matt is forced to leave the station and investigate on his own. Finding the ship to have been sabotaged by a system hack, Matt checks the many dark corners and eventually finds the T.A.R.T. members eviscerated corpses. Things take an ugly turn when he finds himself being chased by Velociraptors. Relying on his expert hacking skills, he quickly bypasses the security lock as he's being chased, narrowly evading the raptors after gaining entry. Once inside, he finds the survivor's corpses to have been devoured whole when Matt encounters more sudden Eoraptor attacks in the dark corners of the ER. Barely escaping with his life, Matt soon sets off the alarms as he ventures throughout the darkened ship, luring all enclosed dinosaurs to him. After eventually making his way to the ship's cargo bay, he sets the ship's Third Energy-powered reactor to self-destruct, having to successfully navigate through and escape the remainder of the ship and all sudden dangers lurking ahead within 5 minutes.

Upon escaping the ship (by diving into the harbor), the Third-Energy explosion warps Matt to the back of the Manhattan subway station set in the present. In a navigation that eventually sees a Carnosaurus randomly bursting out of a dark corner-after withstanding various Velociraptor ambushes-and chasing Matt into the subway train where he's forced to take refuge-Matt navigates through the subway, evading not only a Carnosaur ambush and attacks through the windows and roof, but Velociraptors awaiting him inside various subway cars. Matt, upon entering the front car, discovers it being manually-powered by a Third Energy reactor.

After shooting and destroying the switch, Matt is warped to a futuristic Manhattan set in the year 3033. Being placed in a dino manhunt throughout the city's very high-tech-looking architecture, Matt eventually finds the Third Energy Center and, using his expert hacking and hacking skills, overrides not only the facility's sytem hack in the future setting, but the same facility's set in the present, allowing Regina entry throughout the main TEC. In gaining her entry, however, Matt experiences a sudden power outage and giant rumbling when he is suddenly attacked by a Giganotosaurus that bursts face-first through the glass door. After killing the Giganotosaurus, Matt receives a call from Regina, warning him to take cover after setting the Third Energy reactor in the present to self destruct. Matt emerges from the rubble, being reunited with Regina and Co. after undoing all time-distortion from the Third Energy core.

In a game-ending exclusive cutscene, a camcorder buried in the facility's shattered remains being playing footage. A brown-haired, blue-eyed woman, identifying herself as Laura Abbott, cries for help in an enclosed quarter after warning of hideous experimentation taking place in her parts. The footage cuts off as a dinosaur-donning an irregular, mutant-like silhouette via shadow on the wall-attacks and devours her, cutting out at the sound of her dying screams. We're then treated to one final shot of her bloody nametag, Laura N. Abbott, lying on the ground before it fades out.

Gameplay
The game returns to its Survival-Horror roots from the first game (and earlier Resident Evil titles), focusing on slowly building suspense as a nod to Alien: Isolation and The Evil Within while leaving you with scarce ammo/resources. While venturing through the jungle in the game's opening chapter, you'll encounter giant footprints, trails of blood, eviscerated corpses, hustling in the bushes, solemn reptilian grumbles, and shaking footsteps (or screams from afar depending on who you select) in your search for leads. Later, in the game's various research facilities, you'll venture down dark hallways with flickering lights, randomly-closing slide doors, randomly activated laser trip wires, spontaneous quaking, moving dino shadows on the walls, sudden power outages, and other tension-building elements.

To compensate for the relative lack of ammo, each character is provided with a number of different tools to aid them in combat/missions. One, each character may utilize melee strikes, albeit of limited usefulness against large packs of dinosaurs. For instance, Regina can attack with her hunting knife while Matt may strike with his garrote wire-laced club. This is supplemented by an all-new, special "Takedown" ability each character possesses. Using the "Action" button, Regina can toss a raptor with a Frankensteiner while Matt can fling one backwards with a Tomoe-Nage throw. For balancing purposes, the time it takes each character to make it back to their feet after hitting a "Takedown" maneuver makes it impossible to "spam" them, however. Additionally, each character may take cover behind various objects/walls, make use of collectibles in each level, and utilize a special "Evade" maneuver. For example, Matt can evade dino strikes with a side and forward roll technique. Regina, as a form of compensation for disadvantages in other areas, can dodge attacks with a cartwheel and forward leap. Finally, each character can perform a brutal "Counter" technique. With precise timing, Regina and Matt can catch a dinosaur in the mouth while in the bite animation and perform a brutal weapon technique. This will prove useful during the Mosasaur underwater boss battle during Regina's campaign. Matt can perform a more "sophisticated" version, holding a raptor by the head and deliver several clubbing blows to the mouth and then viciously tossing it aside.

Dino Crisis also makes rampant use of jump scares, many following a slow build. After gaining multiple leads in the opening level, Regina, upon finding a video camera with Dr. Izzo unveiling his insidious plan of harnessing Third Energy, finds her crew ambushed by a flock of oviraptors through the forest. In a highlight of the game, Matt experiences a power outage after overriding the Third Energy Facility security system before a Giganotosaurus breaks through the glass window to attack him. They may also be used interchangeably, with one jump scare leading directly into another. For instance, the jungle level sees Regina fleeing from a pack of megaraptors, only to run into Plesiosaurs randomly bursting neck-first out of the water after reaching the deck and closing the gate. The game also makes use of jump scares inspired from Resident Evil 2. For example, raptors bursting out of side doors, biting velociraptor heads breaching through side wall openings, or velociraptors plowing through doors while in the opening animation, during which time, you're forced to "hold" them back via QTEs. In the city streets towards the end of the game, you'll walk past numerous sites of devastation (i.e: ravaged buildings) and eventually encounter large quaking before a pack of Allosaurs break out of the sewage system and begin chasing you down Times Square. These are just a few of the "surprises" waiting for you.

In addition, the game has "hidden" side-missions/objectives. At one point, during Regina's campaign, Regina calls in an extraction team via the jungle's control tower. During this time, a timer appears at the bottom of the screen, denoting that you must survive swarming attacks of dinosaurs in the 7 minute time frame within that area while you await for evac to arrive.

New to the franchise is a special "Submission" ability equipped with each character. Each respective "Takedown" ability is consistent with their use of weapons and tactics. For example, during boss battles, Regina can latch onto the back of a dino's neck and pierce its skull with her hunting knife while Matt can latch on from behind and "choke" it out with his garrote wire. During this time, however, the dino will try to free itself with a "hold and shake", to which you can likewise attempt to maintain your grip via QTEs. The longer you maintain your "Submission", the more damage it will deal. Your character's grip will become increasingly harder to maintain, however.

In addition, the game features two entirely different campaigns, both occurring at the same time as each other, between Matt and Regina, time travel via Third Energy portals being used to separate the two characters in their individual quests, taking them through various locations in the past, distorted present and future. Both campaigns are linked and the objectives within each are necessary to each other's completion. For example, Matt, in a futuristic Manhattan research facility, must use his hacking skills to guide Regina through the same facility set in the present time in order for her to locate the Third Energy machine, only to then find themselves being ambushed by the end boss, a Giganotosaurus and Tyrannosaurus, respectively. The machine's destruction following Regina's defeat of the T-Rex undoes any time distortion caused by the harnessed Third Energy, and they meet up back in the present.

Adding to the game's replayability is the addition of a special "VR Mode" unlocked after completing the Story Mode with either character. Through the Xbox One's Oculus and PS4's VR Headset, you get to experience the game through the eyes of Matt or Regina, making for an unnervingly terrifying experience.

Offline Game Modes
After completing the game's Story Mode, you unlock several distinct mini-games in the offline single player:
 * Extinction: Much like Resident Evil's Raid mode, you select a character and stage, then navigate through the level. A future-enhanced nuke is linked to a Third Energy portal, leaving the planet at risk of global destruction. You must mix guts with resourcefulness, raiding through an unpredictable wave of dinosaurs in a tension-filled setting like those featured in the riveting single player in search of the Third Energy portal-linked bomb and diffuse it before the world is reduced to smithereens. You are graded by completion time, health, enemies killed, and accuracy after completing, from which you can earn in-game currency for unlocking other characters and costumes.
 * Dino Colosseum: The 'Dino Colosseum' mini-game mode from Dino Crisis 2 returns. It's a survival mode where you're in a VR-themed dome, fending off packs of dinosaurs that grow larger and deadlier as time elapses.
 * Dino Battle: Much like in Dino Crisis 2, you take control of a dinosaur and fight another in the form of a fighting game.
 * Virtual Reality: with a PSVR or Oculus headset, you play the single-player in a first person VR game mode, adding for new dimensions and a whole new level of terror!

Online Game Modes

 * Extraction: Survivors have been called in for an emergency extraction, and the S.O.R.T. team (which can consist of up to 4 human players, each controlling a member of S.O.R.T.) have been called in to evacuate them. They must venture through the tension-filled SH-themed levels of the first game in search of 5 civilians and extract them to safety. Game ends when all survivors are rescued or killed or all human-controlled players are dead.
 * Alpha Predator: 1-4 players team together and roam through a selected level in search of the AI-controlled Alpha Predator-which can be a T-Rex, Stagosaurus, Pteranodon or Giganotosaurus-fending off smaller raptors along the way. The longer it remains active, the stronger it becomes. Game ends when either the Alpha Predator or all human players are dead.
 * Dinos vs Hunters: A party-based game mode where 8-16 players are divided into two teams: Hunters, consisting of the game's human cast, and Dinosaurs, consisting of the game's dino rogue gallery. Humans must also fight through hordes of raptors in search of the player-controlled dinosaurs on the opposing team. Game ends when all players on a respective team are killed.

Development
On April 6, 2016, executive producer Jun Takeuchi, who also worked on the Resident Evil franchise (which many credit with having spurred the series, lending it the "Resident Evil with dinosaurs" moniker), announced in an official statement to fans that Capcom had begun working on a reboot of Dino Crisis shortly after wrapping up production of the highly-anticipated Resident Evil 2remake.

In an interview, Takeuchi stated that he wanted to capitalize not only on the success of REmake 2 and other recent SH titles, but on the dinosaur hype train surrounding the upcoming Jurassic World 2 (slated to hit theaters on June 22, 2018). He had specifically aimed for a 2018 release date for just this reason.

When asked about his direction involving characters, Takeuchi clarified that he created the game with the intention of crafting the modern-day, dinosaur-hunting equivalent of Chris and Jill from its "sister" series, Resident Evil, while also reinventing the star character (Regina) for a franchise reboot, her new, black spandex gear serving as a subtle nod to Jill's purple battlesuit outfit in RE5.

Trivia

 * The ending to Matt's campaign is very much inspired by the ending to Cloverfield.
 * The inclusion of the Cryolophosaurus during Matt's campaign was said to be inspired by the discovery of Cryolophosaurus fossils in Antarctica.