Dino Crisis 3 was projected to sell some 580,000 copies by the end of the 2003 financial year, with 60,000, 220,000 and 300,000 copies projected in Japan, Europe and the United States, respectively.[5] Capcom's annual report released in 2004 reported "sluggish" growth of the game, which may indicate it failed to reach its half-million goal.[6]
Dino Crisis 3 received rather mixed reviews from its reviewers. IGN gave the game a 6.0, describing it as a missed-opportunity to advance the series, having been betrayed by minor, but repetitive faults.[3] GameSpot branded the game with a "Mediocre" 5.4, having found the game more "frustrating than [...] fun" due to its flaws, though finding the game to be enjoyable if ignored.[2]
The most common criticism was the camera system, which was named by IGN as "The Worst Camera Ever". The problem was due to the high speeds that the player can frequently travel at. As with the first two Dino Crisis titles and the early elements of the Resident Evil series, rooms in Dino Crisis 3 are divided into separate, invisible zones where the camera is set to change once the boundary is crossed. Because of the fast-moving jetpack, players would travel between those boundaries rapidly, with multiple camera changes leading to confusion as to where the player is supposed to be going, resulting in them inadvertently turning back. Because of the large size of zones and the long-range auto-aim system, IGN expected that players would spend 80% of their game to be firing at enemies that are out of their view and dodging attacks from off-screen.[3] GameSpot suggested that the game would be a lot more playable had the player been given the opportunity to, at the very least, move the angle of the camera.[2]
IGN was supportive of Capcom's decision to turn the Ozymandias into a giant puzzle, with the ship being able to routinely change formation. This puzzle method was compared to a jigsaw.[3]
There was some disappointment regarding the variety of the enemies: IGN counted only three non-boss enemies present in the game (Rigel; Algol and Kornephoros, excluding the camouflaging variant of Algol), though they did admire their unique designs, particularly for the Kornephoros. There was more support for the boss enemies, though, with IGN citing the key to victory being to avoid attacks rather than to simply shoot.[3]
IGN also admired the uniqueness of the 50+ rooms within the Ozymandias, but questioned the decision to avoid such environments as a cafeteria or a mess hall, which would have made the ship feel more like it actually had a crew to begin with.[3] GameSpot saw little 'uniqueness' in the designs, noting the same shiny metallic look of the ship's interiors being everywhere and, without using the 3D map feature, it would be hard to get lost when moving around (partly because of the camera system).[2]
The voice acting was thought to be of reasonable quality, which IGN felt to be 'surprising' for a Japanese game using English-speaking actors. They did note down the presence of "corny" dialogue, though.[3] GameSpot considered it to be a "passable" B-grade, in comparison.[2] Other aspects of the sound design, such as the score and sound effects, were also found to be good or "passable"; they were criticised for being limited and repetitive in rooms, however.[3]
