Project DINOZ

Howdy! First off don't write reviews much but as the steam dino guy, who follows all the dinosaur steam game releases I felt like I should write my first review since I am really into this genre and have played a ton of the steam dinosaur games. First off the flashlight seems a little too bright and doesn't illuminate as much as it is the sun blinding whatever you look at, and the movement feels more like I am gliding rather than a person walking. There wasn't a lot of explanation, from the start and I quickly found some boxes with a E marker on them but hitting E did nothing, but at the end of the room those were in I found a weapon and they turned out to be ammo, so not too. Despite picking up the shotgun, It took me ages to figure out how to use it. You have to hold right click for it to appear in your hand, which they call aim even though its more like raise, and then you can shoot weirdly. Also felt like I was wandering around a little aimlessly it just says survive the night 0/3 and I stood in the shelter waiting for ages, which felt lame like why just wait for morning instead of giving me an objective. I wish I had a map or something but understand why there might not be one. Honestly my biggest complaints are just the walking/flashlight, if it was easier to see with the flashlight(which again currently makes the object you point it at so bright you cant see it, and moving felt less like gliding (maybe by giving footsteps or something? cause its weirdly silent while walking/theres no walking feedback), I think I could see myself diving in a lot more! Update: I got lost when it randomly said objective reach the comms area, but when the night broke the game felt much more enjoyable to explore (no burning flashlight) but thats when the Ai showed up. Its cool, I can see the AI trying to pack hunt or surround me, literally like how Alan Grant in JP says raptors come in from the front to distract you and two from the sides to finish you, but instead I had a horde of raptors just bunch up around me. They are just as slow as I am (cause sprinting is quite slow) and instead of frantically running away, I very easily walked backwards and 1 shot ever raptor that followed me. I must have killed like 12 before realizing I could just keep walking. Their walking animations arent even right, they take like 2 steps and freeze return to a idle positon take 2 steps freeze, its pretty weird I think it must be some bug. The actual map itself was pretty, and when I finally found the comms area because it popped up as a marker in the hud after wandering for a while Honestly, the game has decent roots. If combat was a bit more polished and if the world had a little more charachter to it, I could definitly see myself sinking some time in as just a survival sim, see how long I can last sorta thing. It was a fun experience, and I hope the devs work on it to really make it something special Also it severely bothered me I cant walk off a small ledge lol, I get no jumping but I was on a crate and was forced to use the stairs to go back down lol. and going uphil was annoying cause without jump I got stuck on rocks and stuff After you reach the comms building you get a mission to turn on power with 3 markers all super far away. I went to the closest one and after hitting E 3 times on a thing, realized I would have to spend a nother like 5-15 minutes just walking to turn these stations on. At this point it felt more like a walking sim than anything and so I turned the game off. There may be vehicles somewhere (as the game description says it has them) but I did not see them. In fact the forest seemed much too thick to drive anything. Maybe if the Movement, Flashlight, and Dinosaurs get some QOL tweaks the game would be much better, that and maybe adding roads / vehicles so its easier to go from place to place because a good 30 of my 36 minutes played was all walking. I've waited for this game to release for a while, and I follow all upcoming steam dinosaur games and am dissapointed, but hopeful in this games future!! I still recommend it, and think there could be some more fun I just haven't hit yet, and will update this if I come back to the current walking sim. Also wish I could just start on the survival mode, that unlocks after you beat the story, that sounds more interesting to a degree than the current story missions in my opinion. Tldr: It feels like a walking sim with janky AI right now but has a future if updated. 6/10 on the Dino Score Update, some update came out shortly after writing this. Not sure what it fixed but I now realize there is no save function so if you don't beat the game in one go I guess you have to replay . . . safe to say I may not be putting too much more time in till a save feature is added . . . Also idk what AI was used but if it was for the screenshots, I promise the game does not look as good as the screenshots. the raptors specifically didn't look as good as the one in the screenshot on the page.

I have played the demo before and was looking forward for the game. I have to say that demo was bloody awesome and it was scary as hell. Now that the early access came out it sure is interesting. As I understood it what we have now is only a survival mode and the full story will come out with the full version of the game and we have a big update coming up on 20th of December as one of the devs announced under a different review. There are a few new things already that I would like to point out. The shotgun for start is a game changer. It gives you some freedom of how to approach the assignments that you have but it doesn't take away from the creepy feel of the game. For the first couple of games I was trying to approach it very similarly as in the demo that I would just slowly and quietly creep around but very quickly I have realised that this is not going to work. I would say that since this is a survival mode and much more open map, the raptors didn't have a static spawn. Which makes it so much harder when trying to sneak around because by the time you hear them you are good as DEAD! But back to the shotgun, I would love to see some sort of bullet animation, I might have missed it but I don't think so and it's a bit difficult to judge how the shells work if you can't see the spread and the distance of the shot. Also when the raptors die they just sort of freeze and fly in direction that they were running in and I think it happened to me that I shot one and as it flew towards me I tried to shoot another one behind it but the shells only hit the flying and the other one killed me which was a funny situation. Or maybe it's just my aim.... Another big change is a day and night cycle. I have to say for the first couple of tries I didn't even want to come out of the shelter until it was light. The atmosphere was really sending shivers down my spine. Thankfully, day cycle did not take away this feeling and I was still feeling like someone was watching me from behind every tree. From visual side I have to say I love the grainy effect of old cameras and HUD fits it perfectly. I have to say I was a bit disappointed that I have not seen T-REX. At least, I have not managed to find it yet but again unlike in the demo this is an open map and you can approach it any way you'd like and maybe I just missed it. Overall For sure the game has its flaws at the moment. But, it has a very solid base and if granted as much love and attention, as the demo had been given throughout many updates that it has received, this game has a potential to be a contender for future indie classics. From a never heard of before studio it can be a great starting step but it needs a lot of love. PS: I would like to disclose that an update came out as I was writing this review and some of the stuff that I have talked about can be already fixed.

LOVE THIS GAME VERY SCARY CANT WIT TO SEE WHATS NEXT

I've got it for low money and it's in Early Access, but this Game is now not very playable. The Controls can't be configured and the Dinosaurs seem to see you, no matter where you're, even through walls. On both chapters, that you can play, you've got to turn on the power but you haven't got time and no clue how to put it on. Well, it's in Early Access and maybe there will be some improvements on the Gameplay and the AI but in this state it looks not impressing, but I'll give it a good reception because there aren't many receptions, maybe later I'm gonna play it again.

Honestly i hate to say this but i was bored the whole time. The dinosaur A.I was super janky. I really cannot recomend .