When I did my review for ‘Turok 3: Shadows Of Oblivion’, I had mentioned that I used to work for a radio station and two of the earliest reviews I did were on the HD remasters of both Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and Turok 2: Seeds Of Evil. Well, seeing as that station is no more and the reviews are now lost, I figured it’s time I revisit these two games and see if my thoughts on them from back then still hold up or if they had changed over the years. Beginning with the first Turok and my thoughts on this one greatly changed from my early review of it.
Back when I first first played the game, I felt that Turok: Dinosaur Hunter did not age well, even with it being remastered and that its biggest issue was the gameplay feeling archaic and very clunky in its design. I also felt that the sequel was superior to this game because it not only improved and fixed the issues this game has, but it feels like what the first game should've been. However, after doing some replays of both games, I actually feel the opposite now. Yes, the game still didn’t age well in a few areas and I still feel the frequent platforming areas and the huge difficulty spikes throughout the game do hurt it, but I actually prefer this one over Seeds Of Evil, though I still say Shadows Of Oblivion is the better game.
With the platforming, I should stress that I'm OK with First Person platforming in some games. For me, First Person makes the platforming easier at times, depending on the game. Something like Mirror’s Edge and Dying Light does first person platforming beautifully as it’s easy to tell where you’re going to land and how far away the target area you’re aiming for is. With Turok: Dinosaur Hunter though, the platforming is a pain in the tail and I think the main culprit is the FOV. Even after adjusting it in the options menu, the FOV is zoomed in so close that it makes some areas tricky to go through (especially any of the special zones that have tons of platforming areas). To be honest, I did get used to it after a while but everytime a section requiring platforming came up, I did get a little annoyed.
Moving onto the weapons and this is another place well I'm feeling different about a complaint then what I originally felt. Originally, I felt the weapons were lackluster and underwhelming to use and that even the alternative ammo for them, like explosive shells for shotguns, didn’t really help and made combat a chore. However, looking back at it and doing some replays through it, the weapons are actually fun to use and aren’t these ‘peashooters’ as I thought they were. Like, getting up close with the shotgun, nailing a headshot, and watching the enemies flail all over the place while spurting blood is cathartic as all heck and the minigun, like in Turok 3, shreds through the opposition like a sharp knife through paper. Granted, a few of the weapons I didn’t use much, like the Particle Accelerator (which is basically a freeze gun), but what’s on offer here is a fun selection of weapons, save for one. There is one gun that, while touted as the BFG of the game, is still one of the most useless weapons I've ever seen in a game: The Chronoscepter. Why? Well first, in order to even use the gun, you have to explore the various levels for warp points that will take you to an area where you can find pieces of the gun, which is find but, unlike other BFG’s in other games, the Chronoscepter is ONLY used for the final boss of the game and you only get three shots with no way to refill your ammo due ammo being non-existent for it. Sure, you can cheat and use a code to have infinite ammo OR so you can have the scepter early, but without the cheats? Once you fired off all three shots from it, the weapon is useless and you have to restart the last boss. Trust me when I say you'll be doing that a lot cause that last boss is a pain in the ass and most of the time, your shots may end up missing their target.
Something else I want to praise is the AI. For being an N64 title, this is some of the best AI I've seen in a game from that era. They'll dodge, flank, react to every type of shot, and sometimes try to take you out in a suicide, which I'll admit most of my hits came from those guys and the bosses. Granted, most of the enemies do still run up and try to attack you, but, hey, more food for the shotgun, huh? Lastly, there’s the levels and, unlike the sequel, these are straight-forward and easy to navigate with only a few having branching paths to locate keys to unlock the next levels and the pieces of the Chronoscepter. None of the levels overstay their welcome and are fun to play through, even though I will admit they aren’t prettiest to look at, but I can forgive that seeing as it was, originally, a N64 title.
You know, looking back, I think I honestly was a bit too harsh on the game as, to be honest, Turok is actually not as bad as I thought it was. Yes, there still are some issues I still have with the title and I still feel that the bosses are not fun to fight, but overall, I really had more fun playing this one and Turok 3 over Turok 2 and it’s one I find myself replaying more and more as time goes on.
