Title Turok Date 02.09.2008 Genre FPS Platform Xbox 360 Developer Propaganda Games Publisher Touchstone

In the days before dual core processors and ragdoll physics, there was a game called Turok. Never got around to playing it or the sequel(s) because shooting dinosaurs just didn't seem right (and could be scary if most of those bones came after you.) Enter Next-Gen gameplay, pioneered by the splintering wood and gas mask prone police of Half Life2. Interacting became the objective, a strategy the new Turok gets right.

Three Days She'd Stay
It is a big job to run through a door, drop down a hole, then fire at a cyborg's head. It's fun, but waiting for a loading screen isn't. Luckily, gameplay of Turok gets you from jungle to jungle, cave to jungle, and jungle to fortress -all in the blink of a eye including dinosaurs, cut scenes and exploding dinosaurs. Hey is this on a Cartridge or a Hue card? No, it’s on a DVD or Blu-ray using the Unreal engine 3. Alas, there is a cost to this consistent technical feat, but not as hindering as the monotonous B.U.G. A.I. in Gears of War (even though locusts sounded cooler than the plain non-effect human cyborg voices in Turok). What you have in Turok is grass waving in the wind, parting as you pass through, herbivore dinosaurs grazing then running from a T-rex or falling down in a slump after being shot with a bow and arrow, getting up and running away dynamically- even a Spider Bot straight from Ghost in the Shell. Yes it's all here. High quality movement control (slow not so loud foot effect when walking or sneaking) to a controlled jog with subtle head-bob, atv camera lean and snap back weapon sway all mapped out and utilized by the player. Turok looks good even if it's a bit dark; they might not give you a flashlight but your flamethrower glows near a wall. Also, the water movement refraction effect is used on the tree canopy. Brilliance!

No health Packs
This is a shooter, not an RPG. However duck is mapped to a button, not a stick( L3). That was strangely intended or flat out goofed up. You got to hunt for the stealth kills. This is awkward. Having an option to change the controls would be best. Running around like a Commando will get you points in Turok, the points being ammo. The dinosaur and cyborg non scripted fights pan out just right as the bipedal A.I. get stunned, drop a knee, fall back to cover flank past a tree and pop fire up and down behind boilers (though dead enemies freeze to a static polygon a bit too quick, stopping any fun of shooting more bullets or knifing dead cyborgs). Running and gunning feels right, is fun and tough so sometimes you die and sometimes you get pinned down. Human A.I. is aggressive and diverse; placement is broken up through strategy while redoing tough sections after a long devoid of an autosave (no quicksave here). There is very smooth framerate providing good use of motion blur for the Xbox360 version. You can see your shadow and legs and the NPCs that talk and fight with you in small guerilla raids or battlefield spans and urban style ambush situations utilize procedural incline animation up hills(they don't climb ladders though). This leads to the absence of pistol whip in Turok. Sometimes it pays to hit not only rushing A.I. shooting at you, but different objects, hearing the variety of folly work. Sure there's a knife but that move is insta-kill showing a Tekkon like cinema. What would be better is if a % of presses were insta-kill and the other hits were omni slash. This can be accomplished albeit manually and with a separate slash button. Basically Turok is a run and gun game with some tough, open-field four legged dinosaur battles, forcing a tactical change of approach once in a while during boss battles and one long elevator ride. But it plays fast similar to old cartridge games and the dark halo2 while giving a break at the choke points near buildings, bunkers and fields with insect A.I despite ignoring innovations like bullet-time.

He's Sighting out on you
You don't have to dual-wield pistols, but you can wield two shotguns. It is very flexible. Weapons are great. The RPG reticle moves awesome. Sound Effects near alien cliff sides and inside leaking laboratory bunkers are utilized well and low bass orchestral score permeates the void. Voice acting is spot on even when you enter the first base. Rain Effects are sharp and flowing water looks real. Aiming could use a tweak when zoomed in it doesn't slow down control-wise with the perspective. Crates are not really detailed but the rocks are. Another improvement could be more diverse enemy placement locations to take advantage of the falling ragdoll. The running and gunning part is dead on and with the great dinosaur passive aggressive A.I. a well placed jungle bridge between narrow cliff sides and a precariously perched tree-house over it could house suitable kill zone locations for rogue threat.

High Score
This review should give you an idea of what kind of diverse run and gun FPS Turok is. In summary everything is broken up by numerous boss battles, quick cut scenes (flashbacks are too long) different A.I. types and weapons that sound good. Gun or arrow or knife game experience is what Turok yields, encompassing a lot of advancements compiled over the years. Although it could have used a glass effect on the opening spaceship level, the fast uninterrupted game-play more then makes up for the slight hitches. Multi-player is a unique experience combining dinosaur bots and human online opponents into mass gore-fest. Give Turok a buy it will get your blood pumping and your knuckles white.

Game Score

B

Reviewed By: Contributed