As a fan of the first two games, this was a big disappointment for me when I played it back in the day. It only took thirty minutes for me to give up in frustration, thanks to one crucial reason that I'll get to.
The game's plot and setting are very different and barely even feel like Dino Crisis. Regina and Dylan don't return as the protagonists and there's no third energy or time travel involved either. Instead, it's more of a sci-fi scenario. In the distant future, a team named S. O. A. R. is sent to investigate the Ozymandias, a colony ship believed to have disappeared without a trace three centuries prior. Once aboard, the team discovers the ship is filled with dinosaur like monsters and must uncover the mysteries surrounding the vessel.
Like Dino Crisis 2, this is an action/adventure game rather than survival horror. You'll spend most of the game playing as S. O. A. R. trooper Patrick Tyler, who is outfitted with an energy rifle and boost pack to travel around fast and leap from platform to platform. The core gameplay of killing dinosaurs is solid, and the controls were smooth and responsive.
But the action aspect feels a little bland and repetitive, because there's very limited number of non-boss enemies to fight, unlike in Dino Crisis 2. They aren't even actual dinosaurs, just hybrids created via genetic engineering.
The graphics and level design are good and the FMVs are well animated. I liked the enemy designs especially; they look like dinosaur hybrids designed by HR Geiger. The Ozymandias futuristic scenery looked pretty nice with its has a smooth and metallic setting that reminded me of Installation 04's architecture in Halo: Combat Evolved.
But what ruined the game for me was the horrible camera, which involves both fixed and dynamic angles. Most of the time, you will be unable to see your enemies and you'll have to fire at them off screen and hope you score a hit. The platforming sections of the game are just as aggravating since you sometimes can't see where you're going. Part of this can be blamed on the camera being unable to keep up with Patrick as he zips around on his boost pack.
Overall, Dino Crisis 3 wasn't a bad game, but it's definitely inferior to the previous two installments and, as far as I can tell, ended the Dino Crisis franchise.
