The newest installment in a old franchise proves one thing, soon it too will be extinct.
Graphics – At first Turok gives the impression of amazing and up to date graphics, but as you play further in you'll come to notice more often that textures begin losing their detail. I don't think this is an engine problem though as much as a lazy texture artist problem. New textures like new rock types or new terrain types are less detailed than earlier beginning ones. Still though the game doesn't ever look horrid, but it is interesting to see that the game does obviously begin to slope downwards in quality as the game progresses and sadly enough the slope only continues down. Not ever shooting back up like with some titles.
Controls and Mechanics – I figured I'd combine these two since they are virtually one in the same because when I say controls I'm not just referring to the controller in your hands but also your control over the world you're in or at least the character you're playing as. From start to finish the game handles like every other shooter but with some very vexing and overall aggravating things. Mainly is that you (Turok) has been trained as a special stealth operative with specialty training in CQC (close quarters combat) and blades. The thing I have a problem with on this? The point is stealth, yet sneaking never really takes place. In the beginning you have a scene where you need to take out as many guards without being noticed as possible, this is nice but the fact is no matter how good you are you'll probably only get 3 or 4 until the entire thing turns into a huge shoot out. Combat it's self with guns is interesting but only for a short time, the low weapon count and even worse weapon diversity quickly stick you with a repetition of weapons. Basically find the weapon that you can find ammo for most often since all weapons operate near the same. To attempt to spice things up you now have close combat attack, arm your knife and when you get close enough to an enemy and at the right angle to them hit a button to instantly kill (most) enemies. At first this is very impressive and great fun to watch but becomes quickly tired, mainly because the blood effects are cheap and limited, cutting the throat of an enemy generally should have a nice juicy blood splash but has little more than a trickle second you notice that knife wounds don't exist, after slashing a raptor throat and watching a line of blood come from it you'll notice there is no open skin or even a red line to indicate damage. While some would say this was just lazy I think it is a combination of lazy and Disney trying to make things interesting for adults while not going over the top, but that's why we love Turok. On top of lame knife combat and boring firearms you'll be treated to some of the most annoying and overall bland boss fights you've ever seen. Two main bosses take hold in this game, the fan favorite T-Rex and the man that taught you everything you know. The T-Rex is fine for the first few boss fights but the final fight with him is a strict pain. Mainly boss fights are annoying because the lack of a boss health bar, intelligent design dictates you should always have a 'tell' sign when you damage an enemy. Whether they make a specific sound, splatter blood, flash or have a health bar that goes down. Bosses in Turok though do not, this leads to a complete lack of knowing how to even fight a boss let alone defeat. This is at it's worst at end game when you must beat the T-Rex (for the third time) and back to back to that defeat the main human baddy, not only is the T-Rex a pain to defeat but the end fight with the human is a series of button mashing quick time events that every time you screw up it speeds up. The general non-boss combat does leave a lot to be desired especially since in Turok you expect to play a hunter, but you are just a general soldier especially since you go through the game with a team. A team that by the way hates you and makes you ask your self why you're even there if everyone has a problem with you.
Sound – Again usually I don't bother with sound unless there is a good reason and Turok has one. While sound quality isn't an issue the soundtrack is a major one. The original Turoks (especially the amazing first one on N64) had a very very tribal Indian soundtrack, using many Native American Indian instruments for the music. This added not only a very interesting and moving soundtrack but also helped immerse the player into the hunter like atmosphere. Of course after Pocahontas Disney is terrified of the Indian nation afraid of being sued yet again, so may have avoided the entire thing for legal purposes but probably are just idiots and didn't think about it. Of course it makes little difference since the game doesn't follow the man vs. nature style of original Turok titles.
Multiplayer - There isn't much to say about the multiplayer, it suffers from all of the same problems that single player does. Un-inspired gameplay with a overall lack of interest in design, it feels almost like a after thought that a part of the original design.
The Overall – Seriously, WTF? Whether you are a FPS fan or a huge Turok fan like myself just avoid this one at all costs. The original Turok had a very good story of a mystical Indian tribe under attack by dino's and aliens. That was awesome! Plus to top it off the game was almost al in the forest and what wasn't was a village setting. As well Turok used to boast a good exploration system as you had a world to explore; also included to this world was puzzle solving and key finding. To finish the deal was the soundtrack and style game play, using mostly arrows, pistols and shotguns all other weapons had rather limited ammo. This caused a last resort scenario in which the player only broke out the big guns for big conflicts. While the bow is useful in Turok and probably will end up being your main weapon, it doesn't feel hunter like, it just feels forced. The entire hunter feeling is also now completely gone, the old style felt like you WERE a hunter. Some how the originals had a primal feeling, an animalistic feeling that truly was amazing. You truly felt like you were striking fear into your enemies and in titles like Seeds of evil you actually could with a good arrow shot into an enemy his nearby friends would run in fear if they couldn't see you. The new Turok title does nothing to bring back the old Turok we love and only hurts its dying name further. The last Turok I played (seeds of evil) you had the ability to make enemies heads explode in a massive splash of blood and grey matter, now there is barely enough blood to make you feel like you're even getting your feet damp. The fact is this, Turok is supposed to make you feel like a hunter; you solve puzzles and hunt your enemy in the jungle like terrain. To make one feel like a hunter you give them hunter weapons and pour in the blood by tanker truck loads. A hunter's kill is messy and not for the squeamish, yet the new Turok feels like its holding back a whole lot. Mainly quality but overall it feels like a lot is missing from concept to actual content. If you love the old N-64 Turok like I do, do yourself a favor and just find a way to get the old Turok because this isn't only a horrible Turok it's even a horrible FPS. Fans of Turok, FPS or games in general should just avoid this title. No buy, no rent, just go play something else.