A while back, Capcom set up a poll asking fans which of the company’s established franchises they most wanted to see get a new entry. And while thousands of gamers voted for IPs like Devil May Cry and even Mega Man, the most requested franchise ended up being Dino Crisis, a beloved series that hasn’t […]
A while back, Capcom set up a poll asking fans which of the company’s established franchises they most wanted to see get a new entry. And while thousands of gamers voted for IPs like Devil May Cry and even Mega Man, the most requested franchise ended up being Dino Crisis, a beloved series that hasn’t seen a sequel in over two decades.
And while Capcom has since taken a few crucial steps towards reviving this landmark Survival Horror property by making Dino Crisis 1 and 2 available on modern platforms (while also recently renewing their trademark), it still seems like fans are years away from a proper series revival. So while we wait for Capcom to announce a comeback for Regina and her prehistoric pals, we thought that this might be a good time to shine a light on six other dinosaur horror games that Dino Crisis fans might enjoy. After all, you can’t file a copyright on virtual extinction!
As usual, don’t forget to comment below with your own prehistoric favorites if you think we missed a particularly fun one. That being said, keep in mind that 2025 is shaping up to be a great year for dinosaur-based horror, with games likePaleophageand evenJurassic Park: Survival rumored to be released in the near future.
A retro Survival Horror experience best described as The Thing meets Dino Crisis, Jim Gennison’s Code: Dino-H is a must-play for fans of old-school puzzle solving and fixed camera angles. In this lo-fi title, players take on the role of a lone scientist attempting to escape a snowy outpost after the research team unearthed a living theropod dinosaur (don’t think too hard about the details).
While the game is incredibly short, with its twenty-minute campaign serving as more of a glorified demo for a larger project than a complete story mode, there are still plenty of memorable scares to be had here if you can accept that you’re going to be eaten alive frequently and repeatedly. That being said, Code: Dino-H is completely free, so I’d still recommend it to anyone in need of a quick fix of classic Survival Horror.
5. Jurassic Park: Trespasser (1998)
Often cited as one of the most disappointing licensed games of all time, DreamWorks Interactive’s ambitious flop may initially seem like a strange recommendation. However, what a lot of gamers don’t know is that this underrated title has seen a slew of fan-made patches and updates over the years, with it now being possible to play this groundbreaking title the way that its developers originally intended.
From more intuitive aiming to AI modifiers allowing the dinosaurs to act more like living creatures instead of standard videogame monsters, fans have turned Trespasser into one of the most thrilling dinosaur games ever made – which is why I’d recommend a heavily-modded copy of it to any fan of Dino Crisis’ panic-horror shenanigans.
4. Unknown Tapes (2024)
Dinosaurs and Found Footage are a match made in genre heaven, and it’s a huge shame that artists have only recently begun to tap into this horrific well of narrative possibilities. Thankfully, the developers over at Traviteam Games have decided to capitalize on this terrifying trend by crafting an interactive POV Horror experience where an unfortunate cameraman finds himself being hunted by a collection of prehistoric carnivores.
Taking place in a small town overrun by killer dinosaurs, Unknown Tapes features a handful of surprisingly effective gimmicks (like real-time voice detection and destructible environments), but its greatest strength is its use of uncannily realistic visuals depicting Mesozoic predators.
3. Missing Exhibits (2020)
I’ve always thought that A Night at the Museum could have been a great horror flick if the writers had taken the premise in a slightly spookier direction, and I’d argue that Black Goby Games’ underrated Missing Exhibits series proves my point. Originally developed during the pandemic, these episodic nightmares follow a security guard tasked with keeping the museum’s low-poly exhibits clean while also running away from the occasional re-animated fossil.
Part of the growing trend of horror games that also happen to be job simulators, Missing Exhibits may be a simple title, but its formulaic gameplay loop makes for some memorable prehistoric scares if you can get past the repetition. And the best part is that the developer is currently working on a more advanced follow-up which promises to add even spookier wrinkles to an already-thrilling experience.
2. Dino Trauma (2023)
Another retro title, Phobia Interactive’s low-poly shooter also happens to be one of the most entertaining games on the list. Playing like a first-person Dino Crisis spin-off (with more than a little influence from games like Quake and Turok), Dino Trauma has players shooting their way through three high-octane episodes filled with plenty of prehistoric chaos and pixelized giblets.
The only reason that we don’t rank this retro gem higher is the fact that it’s still in early access – meaning that we still don’t know if there will ever be a complete release with more content and less physics glitches.
1. Fossilfuel 2 (2024)
The original Fossilfuel was a janky indie shooter that felt more like a sneaky asset flip than a completed videogame, but it seems like the folks over at DangerousBob Studio LLC learned from their mistakes when the time came to develop a sequel. Fossilfuel 2 isn’t just a fun dinosaur-themed shooter, it’s also a loving homage to Survival Horror that also happens to feature some unexpectedly freaky underwater sections.
The game also boasts some welcome sandbox elements, allowing players to tackle the dinosaur outbreak in whatever order they see fit. That’s why I’d recommend this one to fans of deliberately-paced shooters and immersive sims alike, though players should still be prepared for a moderate dose of indie jank.
