As the story dictates: A huge meteorite crashes into the Yucatan peninsula, beginning a nuclear winter that drives the dinosaurs to extinction and paving the way for mammalian life. Fast-forward 65 million years - in the year 20018, an island emerges from the depths of the ocean near the Yucatan peninsula. It was given the conception name of "Dinosaur Island," and is believed to embody the crater that was formed when the meteor crashed. Kimra, a corporation with hands in the biotech industry, abruptly sets up a bio-lab on the island and studies and conducts experiments with dinosaur DNA.

Eliot G. Ballade, an elite member of the ESER forces, is vacationing off the coast of Dinosaur Island when a strange object falls from the sky and encloses the Island inside a mysterious dome of energy. Moments later, an arcane ghost-like lifeform named Nephilim (Note: Angel of good luck), is released. Subsequently, a swarm of flying mutated creatures attacks Eliot. He is then knocked unconscious and has been washed ashore the Island helpless. It's up to Eliot to get to the bottom of things and save himself from the monsters lurking around this enigmatic Island. During his excursion Eliot is accompanied by Janean-King and Dogs-Bower, who at a latter point in the game will becomes a playable character.

The gameplay is purely of Resident Evil fashion - you'll guide Eliot G. Ballad through the immense laboratory on Dinosaur Island as he fends off hordes of twisted organisms with a variance of weapons. However, the game contains a few interesting twists on the formula that make it feel less like a straight rip-off of Capcom's flagship series. First and foremost is the availability of money. Whenever Eliot kills a monster of significant stature, the corpse spews out coins that can be collected and used in the myriad vending machines scattered across the island. Vending machines deal out everything from ammo and healing drinks to a large array of weaponry. Combined with enemies that constantly respawn, this adds a slight twist and guarantees constant action over Resident Evil. The action more of a blast-fest than an exercise in conservation. In addition, Eliot travels with Doggs, a salty sea captain with a bow gun and less fighting spirit than he would care to admit. Doggs cannot engage in fisticuffs like the agile Eliot, but he can block enemy attacks and use heavier-duty weapons than Eliot can (also slower). You can switch between the two characters at any time, but most players will probably try to conserve ammo out of habit and punch and kick their way through the zombie hordes as Eliot. The puzzles are generally easy, but they are laid out well and enjoyable. Finally, the game's dialog is written in Japanese but spoken in English, as with all games of this genre. Moreover, while there are a few exceptions (Bad lip-synching), the game's voice acting is surprisingly decent.

Blue Stinger possesses one major flaw - the camera angle. The game takes place in an entirely polygonal world, with the camera gliding between fixed viewpoints as you traipse through the scenery. While this works well enough in open areas with wide angles, most of the game takes place in narrow corridors and small rooms, making the camera an exercise in frustration many cases. While the game's camera-relative control scheme, reminiscent of Mario 64 and other 3D platformers, is welcome in some situations, the camera makes it annoyingly difficult to navigate in many areas. While the game automatically aims the gun, seeing enemies when the camera changes is often a problem that can result in a number of cheap hits.

The graphics are a mixed bag - the 3D environments are detailed and complete, featuring varied environments and excellent texturing. The characters and monsters are, however, a different story. While the monster designs are attractive enough, the people are bland and simian-like in appearance. Unfortunately, all the game's characters animate poorly - they stiffly move their limbs and waggle their oversized lips like actors in a Godzilla movie. The game's effects are fairly standard overall, but some nice touches - like the gratuitous gore that splatters on the wall and drips down - are nice and also the hacking of limbs off, then the mindless horde wondering around squirting blood constantly. I found the sound to be surprisingly effective, providing a movie-esque symphonic score to enhance the game's sense of danger.

Take it from Destructacon, if you liked action titles such as Resident Evil or Silent Hill, then Blue Stinger will show you the way to the way to the new millennium. Strap yourself into a Dreamcast and let it take you to Action/Adventure heaven. With extraordinairy graphics, gameplay, and sound; Blue Stinger comes away as a triple A title. Look for its North American release on the "Uber-console" on September 9th.

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