The people who work at Capcom must all have bionic robot arms. That's the only way to explain the Gun Survivor series, which has given would-be GunCon jockeys strained arm muscles for the past two years on the PlayStation and PS2. Letting players move around while using a light-gun to shoot away at enemies is not at all a bad design idea, mind you—it's just difficult for the game to be fun enough to surmount the great, big, monstrous control problem the concept inherently carries. Dino Stalker, the third game in the series, borrows its gameplay style (and amusing character dialogue) from Capcom's Dino Crisis series. (This isn't Dino Crisis 3; that game's coming to the Xbox next year.) You play the role of Lt. Mike Wired, a WWII fighter pilot forced to eject into the Pacific Ocean during battle. Instead of hitting water, though, he's enveloped in blinding white light and sent back in time to the Mesozoic Era, with nothing but a machine gun and a handy game timer on his side. You'll run into a love interest later (this being a Capcom title and all), but during the game itself you're all alone, defending yourself against reams of raptors, piles of plesiosaurs, and the all-too-common specter of Time Over. If you're unfamiliar with the Gun Survivor series, you should know that the major difference between this game and, say, Time Crisis is in the controls. Your character doesn't move automatically here—you have to move him and shoot at the same time, using the pad on the GunCon 2 or keeping one hand on the Dual Shock 2 and another around the gun. Dino Stalker, like its predecessors, enables you to turn, strafe, and run forward, although some areas do run on rails (for example, when you take a boat ride through some dino-infested waters). While this control scheme is one of Dino Stalker's main selling points, it can also be the source of some major aggravation until you get used to it. The game has three basic control configurations: Dual Shock, GunCon, or GunCon 2. Oddly enough, despite all the extra buttons on the GunCon 2, using the original GunCon (to shoot) with the joy pad (to choose weapons and move Lt. Wired around) is actually the most comfortable way to play Dino Stalker. The GunCon 2 is simply too cramped—its buttons and directional pad are too cheaply made to cope with the game's demands. And using the Dual Shock alone is…well, like trying to play any gun game with a non-gun controller. That is, not so fun. Lucky for Dino Stalker, then, that it has some lovely audiovisuals to enjoy while your hands are crying out for help. The environments you truck through—the jungles, caves, and deserted cities—are all lovingly detailed and full of stuff to blow away. (There is some slowdown in the busier locales.) Even nicer are the dinosaurs themselves: They all look (and sound) very impressive, and the twisted contortions they make upon being shot full of lead are enough to bring out the bloodthirsty English safari hunter in anyone. Meanwhile, the soundtrack does its very best John Williams movie score impersonation all through the game, usually with impressive results—it's catchy and driving without ever diving too far into the bombastic side. Despite the fine graphics and audio score, though, Dino Stalker has a tendency to trip up on some basic design issues. It would've been nice if you didn't have to fight the same boss three times, and the time limit can get very annoying in higher skill levels (to the point where you're killed by Time Over more often than by giant lizards). Once you master the controls (if you can manage it), you'll also find that the game's short. Darn short. Finishing each skill level unlocks some new tidbits (including a movie viewer and a special two-player mode), but that doesn't hide the fact that you'll be done with it all in a few days. Dino Stalker is not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination. However, you can't ignore the fact that there are many other GunCon titles out there (Point Blank 3 springs to mind) that have more bang for the buck, so to speak. Give them a try if you haven't already. Your arms will thank you.
