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Say what you will but I feel it’s my duty at least be true with you all. I was one of the few hardcore gamers that owned a N64 and has never, ever played a Turok game, well until now. Don’t ask me why, and its not a prejudice I just never managed to get my hands on one of the carts. And now after playing this one I can see what all the hoopla was about. I remember hearing all the great reviews and gamers continously raving about the dinosaur hunter, so much so that I may just go back and play the original source material. But my friends with all the fondness you may hold for the Turok of old I have to break it to you that this game is fun, but it’s far from perfect or even great.
You play through the game as the title character, Turok, a badass looking dude with a sketchy back story. Things start out with you joining an elite unit, because these squads are never mediocore… no matter how bad the AI controls them, with the singular task of finding and stopping Cain, a rebel leader, your former commander, and a man hellbent on the obliteration of all that is good. And as your unit begins to head out for their assault on his last known location, and come to the defense of the future of mankind, things go wrong, very wrong.
The brooding story starts off at a quick pace and hardly relents. You have, may be a full, 30 seconds to get acclimated to your environment before you’re thrown into a “life or death” tutorial (not really life or death but they play the situation up as it) which leads to a crash landing on a remote location chock full of a welcoming party primarily composed of bad men with guns who only want to see you dead and dinosaurs who only see you as their next meal. The plot really is more of a chauffeur to the action packed gameplay and more or less serves as a mood setter for the next round of fights.
The true star of the game is Turok, well actually more like his arsenal of of brutally devastating weapons. Granted it starts out with some mere carnage (an SMG, knife and bow) but as the game goes on it evolves into a stockpile of weaponry that Robot Santa would be proud to use on X-mas day. Explosive tipped arrows, an RPG, a mini-gun and yet the most fun and savagery will be had with the most basic of weapon, the knife. Honestly there’s nothing more thrilling and sickly satisfying than triggering an instant kill command and watching Turok go primal. For the action alone this game should be played, it’s like getting to play through a Rambo movie, but instead there are dinosaurs and your weapons are on steroids (I know there’s a joke in the somewhere, but I’ll just leave it alone).
The sad fact is that besides the action, that comprises the near entirety of the game, there isn’t much else. The story is Rambo-esque, as well, and, again, only serves the purpose of seperating and moving the action along. The visuals are fairly generic as nothing really ever stands out to catch your eye and provide one of those “damn, look at that” moments. Characters models are on the safer side (i.e. conservative on the tech side) with short hair, not too baggy clothes and accessories that have that all too familiar, and unnecessary, next-gen shine. The enemy AI is pretty stupid, but conversely is also strong enough to make you pay a steep price for underestimating them or not finding cover fast enough. The game while not impossible, isn’t easy by any means, and unfortunately, by coincidence, sheds light on the games largest issue, load times. Early on you’ll enter a facility and about midway through you’ll hit a save point followed by an in game load point. No biggie right? I wish I could tell you differently, but with the following area being a bit of a challenge you might find yourself back at this point once or twice at a checkpoint with a load… which for some reason locks you into a frozen state and makes you wait while it loads, and loads, and loads. Needless to say I was fairly disgruntled. I mean Halo can load mid-game without a hitch, and thats a last generation Xbox game we’re talking about. The comparison gains further validity when you consider Halo 2 pushed the Xbox near its limit and Turok is merely scratching the surface of a far superior rig.
Overall even though the game can be challenging it’s enjoyable enough to continue making your way through. It’s a slim margin between the pros and cons and it may be a margin too close for some gamers comfort. Turok is a no doubter if you’re into dinosaurs, instant kill animations, being a badass and of course explosions. However if you suck at FPS games or you don’t like the genre then move along because this game sure ain’t for you. Now move out gamers cause there are plenty of raptors, a jungle and a knife waiting for you, it’s an evolutionary battle and only the strongest will survive.
Story:
Nothing special, and really only serves as a breather from all the action. Hey the needed to pace the game out somehow right?
Graphics:
They’re not terrible, but there nothing special either
Sound:
The VA is actually quite well done and the music blends in nicely, adding a very nice audio quality to the game
Gameplay:
At its’ best when action oriented, but the “stealth” portions are lacking and turn this into a cover and shoot game
Game Over:
Insane amounts of fun and action that would make Tim Allen go into a grunting frenzy, but if you like an above average story and more than just FPS action this might not be your cup of tea.
Rating: 7
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