Dino Stalker is a light gun game with a difference - on some of the levels you can wander around each area freely, choosing your own path. This means that those of you who own the G-Con 2 lightgun are in for a treat as all the buttons you need are on the gun itself.

You play an American pilot who is engaging the Nazi forces over the Atlantic in 1943. His plane is hit and he's forced to eject, unfortunately falling in front of a German plane that fires its machine guns right at him. But at that exact moment, time freezes and he is transported to another place. Still in the sky, he pulls his parachute cord and makes use of the futuristic looking rifle and wristband that materialise in his hands, to defend himself against an onslaught of pterodactyls.

This game features a plot that is well above average for a shooting game, in fact it links in with the Dino Crisis games (a survival horror series from the creators of Resident Evil). It features two of the characters from Dino Crisis and expands upon the plot. In fact, it was only after playing through Dino Stalker that I finally understood what was going on in Dino Crisis 1 and 2. At least I think I do. Anyway, the story and multitude of high quality cut scenes are an excellent enhancement to the action. The in-game graphics are very good as well, the scenery and backdrops feature plenty of detail and the animation and look of the dinosaurs themselves is thoroughly believable, you soon become immersed in the action.

There is a good range of enemies and scenery on each level too, from the first level in the sky, through forest, grassy plains and desert, down river rapids and even through a ruined city. You will face pteranodons, several types of raptors, plesiosaurs, a crazy triceratops and much larger dinosaurs like the two carnosaurs and Mr. T-Rex himself. The enemy intelligence is good, some of the dinosaurs stalk around you and attempt to attack from behind - especially those sneaky raptors. The explosions and blood from the wounded dinosaurs are good too and the accompanying effects are excellent, the sound of the weapons fire and the roars of the dinosaurs are spot on. The music has a good arcade feel to it without being too repetitive and adds to the experience.

You basic rifle is a fast shooter with a quick reload and handy in most situations, plus it has a sniper scope attachment for picking off enemies in the distance, not that there's that much time to make good use of it because of the frantic pace of the levels. You can collect packs of power bullets that increase the rifle's damage and you can carry one special weapon with limited ammo. Scattered around each level you will find weapons including the shotgun, magnum, grenade launcher, rocket launcher, a missile pod that fires four missiles simultaneously, spark gun, mine launcher, flamethrower, crossbow, machine gun and gatling gun. Certainly enough to keep you happy!

As well as the wide range of weapons available there are recovery kits, resuscitation packs and antidotes to be collected. These can be stored in your inventory, so if you have full health and pick up a recovery kit, it's stored and automatically used when you are injured. The resuscitation packs bring you back to full health when you die and are effectively extra lives and the antidote is used automatically when you get poisoned by spitting plants and dinosaurs. All of these pickups and the special weapons can be found in the open, by shooting rocks and trees or by killing certain dinosaurs.

The final element of the game is the time limit. Each level has a time limit that you can increase by shooting time crystals, which are scattered throughout each level. The pink ones give you an extra 3 seconds and the blue ones a whopping 30 seconds, so the more you shoot the more time you have and the bigger your time bonus at the end of the level. The other bonus to be concerned about is that of combo kills. Each time you kill a dinosaur you have a few seconds to kill another one to get a combo and the greater your combo, the greater the combined score.

The game plays very well, the movement is fluid and the controls are very responsive and easy to use. The joypad and lightgun configurations are well designed and simple to use each with three variations, although it will take a little getting used to using the lightgun's directional pad and extra buttons whilst aiming, shooting and reloading at the same time. Persevere though, because it soon becomes second nature and the gun is so much more fun and more responsive once you adjust. It's only £20 so if you're buying this game you might as well pick up the G-Con 2 as well.

My only criticism of Dino Stalker is that it's quite short. Light gun games are never going to be huge, but there should have been a few more stages. Having said that, If you set it on hard mode and don't use continues or resuscitation packs then it will take you a lot longer to reach the end. Also, there is a lot of replay value as you are ranked at the end of each level. The ranking is based on a range of factors including number of enemies killed out of a maximum total, accuracy, damage taken, resuscitation packs used, time crystals collected, use of special weapons and time bonus. Getting a rank above C is a big challenge and if you want to get the full Special rank for the whole game then you'll be at it for a very long time.

Dino Stalker is a fast-paced shooting game that looks great and features a range of landscapes and dinosaurs. The ability to move freely on some levels, the multitude of hidden pickups and the tough ranking system add plenty of replay value, it's just a shame there weren't a few more levels. Be wary though, it might be called Dino Stalker but rest assured you're the one that's being stalked.

Reviewed by Geoff Holland for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).