I’m not going to mince words here, but between all three Turok games? Turok 2: Seeds Of Evil is, arguably, my least favorite of the trilogy, which is funny because, back when the HD remaster first came out, I actually enjoyed this one more then the first one and said that this is what the first game should’ve been. But, time’s a cruel mistress and, over the years, my thoughts on Seeds have drastically changed and, unfortunately, not for the better.
Before I get to why that is, I do want to begin with the positives, starting off with the HD remastering work as, like the first game, Nightdive studios knocked it out of the park here as the game looks amazing. Even though some of the water textures and the explosion effects do show their age here, the rest looks amazing and there really aren't any ugly designs, like the assault rifle from the first game. In fact, the art style is something else I’ll praise as, unlike the first game that was predominately all forests, temples, and canyons. Here, there is a wide assortment of locals to visit, including a space ship level that reminded me a lot of Star Trek: Voyager with hints of Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy (By the way, bit of a fun fact: The armor the soldiers used in Lost Galaxy was the same armor used in the film Starship Troopers). Though that level does have these annoying turrets which, I swear, can take off nearly half, if not all, of your health before you even get a shot out at them, especially near the end of the level.
But, you’re probably wondering why I call this my least favorite entry of the trilogy. The reason is that, honestly, the game really is just a chore to play through and that is apparent right from the first level. They are just too maze-like in their structure and it is way too easy to miss an item you need or an objective you need to complete, resulting in you having to restart the entire level once you reach the end portal. Now, granted, some levels are relatively easy to circumnavigate, like The Death Marshes, and some are just a little tricky, like Slaughter by the River of Souls (which sounds like the name of a metal album), there is one level that is, without a doubt, my least favorite level in the entire game: Lair Of The Blind Ones. This level, I swear, I got turned around so many times just trying to locate that one pillar I needed to blow up (the newly added waypoint markers didn’t really help here), that I ended up “completing” the level a countless number of times until I found that one pillar. Not to mention how easy it is to lose your footing and fall into the many bottomless or lava pits in the level and you got a recipe for one brutal level. But, don’t think the level is done once you finally complete the objectives and find the items you need. Oh no, after you complete a level, you then have a defense mission to do, where you have to protect an energy totem as it powers up from enemies. Thankfully, this is a relatively easy section to do and doesn’t really last long, but it still is annoying and, after the third one, I was sick of them.
But what about the weapons? The first and third game had a good selection, so, surely, the second should have an amazing selection, too? Well, unfortunately, that is just not the case here as the weapon selection, I feel, is pretty weak compared to the first game. While you do get a basic pistol, shotgun, and bow, along with alternative ammo types like Explosive shells for the shotgun, you also get new toys of destruction to play with and, sadly, they are just not as fun to use as the base guns. Sure, the Firestorm Cannon is fun to use as it’s basically the game’s minigun, the Shredder shotgun was useful as well (especially with Explosive shells), and the Mag 60 (the auto pistol) did help in some areas, but a lot of the guns, I found, were mostly relegated to situational purposes only or I never touched at al.: The Flamethrower, for instance? I only used it in the Lair Of The Blind Ones against the spiders and the Scorpion Launcher I mostly used against those annoying turrets in the Primagen’s Spaceship. But, wait, I hear you say, what about the legend itself? The Cerebral Bore? Well, outside of being reminded of the Phantasm movies, I actually don’t like this gun. The basic idea is that you aim it at a select enemy, as it won’t fire against certain types, and, once locked on, you can send a small sphere that attaches to the enemy’s head and drills into it, spraying brain matter everywhere, hence the Phantasm reference, before exploding. On the one hand, the effect is cool and I did get a chuckle seeing enemies try to run away from it in vain. However, my issue is that, outside of its cool gimmick, it’s not a fun weapon to use and, outside of using it once or twice after picking it up, I never touched it again throughout all my playthroughs and just stuck with the base guns. And that’s really how I can sum up the weapon selection: A lot of good guns with neat ideas are presented, but the base weapons are the ones I stuck with for most of the game.
Back when I first played the game, I felt that it was better than its predecessor by a mile in every way and called it one of my favorite FPS. Nowadays, after more replays of it, and after playing Turok 3, I don’t feel that strongly about it any more. In fact, to be perfectly honest, I think Turok 2: Seeds Of Evil is, by the far, the weakest entry of the entire series. That may change if I ever get around to finally playing Rage Wars, Turok: Evolution, or the 2008 reboot, but, until that day comes, this is how I feel right now. Again, I don’t hate the game at all. There are some bright spots in this game and areas I liked. But, this is one of those cases where the negatives far outweigh the positives.
