Dino D-Day
World War II with resurrected dinosaurs.
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In this 2011 Windows game, players choose the Allied or Nazi side in a World War II where Hitler revived dinosaurs for combat. Developed by 800 North and Digital Ranch, this team-based first-person shooter was seen as a fresh take on the tired World War II FPS genre, which had become a joke among critics and players.
Development and release
The game Dino D-Day began as a prototype mod for Half-Life 2, built on the Source engine and first released online in 2009. Developer 800 North Productions announced a commercial version in December 2010, with Digital Ranch also contributing. A beta arrived on Steam on March 1, 2011, after the team delayed the full launch for extra polish. The complete game finally hit Steam on April 8, 2011.
A major update later in 2011 introduced fresh maps, new game modes, and additional dinosaurs to play as, alongside regular bug fixes. On September 29, 2014, the paid Last Stand DLC launched, offering new dinosaurs, two maps, an upgrade system, and a co-op survival mode. A later patch on July 16, 2017, added one more map and several fixes.
Reception
Critics were split on Dino D-Day. IndieGames.com appreciated its self-aware silliness, noting a mix of light comedy and grim humor. IGN’s Charles Onyett liked the jokes but felt the fun wouldn’t last, faulting the so-so maps, a tiny player count, frequent bugs, and dinosaurs overpowering humans with feeble guns. Multiplayer.it’s Volodia Pellegrini admired the idea as a mash-up of Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones, yet pointed out the small community and how quickly the action grew stale.
PC PowerPlay called it a brilliant concept let down by clumsy workmanship. Smithsonian’s Riley Black found the dinosaur designs decent but missed having a single-player campaign. PC Gamer likened the whole game to a dinosaur skeleton: stripped down, incomplete, and outdated.
Did You Know?
- In 2013, Icehouse Animation announced it would produce a Dino D-Day animated series, naming Tommy Blacha as a writer; the series has not been released.
- On January 9, 2015, the first issue of the Dino D-Day comic was released, telling the origin story of Jack Hardgrave and Nigel Blythe-Crossley as they uncover Hitler's dinosaur project in a Nazi submarine base.
More in Video Games About World War II Alternate Histories
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Dino D-Day (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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