Turok
Review
Space-age dino hunting galore
by aHong
reviewed on X360
How to beat 2007
The year of 2007 was a huge year for gaming, especially for the First Person Shooter genre. Releases such as Bioshock, Call of Duty 4 and -of course- Halo 3 have given the gaming community a year that it won’t soon forget. Come to think of it, games in 2008 had better come prepared with the appeal that will draw gamers in, it won’t be easy to satisfy us. Turok, from Touchstone and Propaganda Games, is one of the first to make the attempt.
Classic game, new story
One of the most memorable FPSs from the N64 days was Turok: The Dinosaur Hunter. The game put gamers into the role of a Native American, out to hunt dinosaurs and an assortment of other creatures. In the next-generation that is being developed today, Turok is back, but with a twist. You play a different Native American character in a different story. Jospeh Turok used to be part of a group of ruthless mercenaries called the Wolfpack. Turok sees his mentor and leader, Roland Kane, change as the clan rises in power. He doesn’t like these changes and defects when he learns that Kane is developing biological weapons.
He finds a new home with a different clan called Whiskey Company and is being charged with bringing down Kane on a distant planet. Turok and the rest of Whiskey Company set off, only to have their ship shot down. This leaves the survivors to not only hunt Kane down, but to survive against the soldiers and guards, as well as the bloodthirsty creatures running amok on the planet.
Most of Turok’s story is told through flashbacks. With this approach, I found the story to be quite compelling at times, especially when looking at how the tension of Turok’s past affects the present and his relations with Whiskey Company. Yet the storyline became more confusing as the game progressed with no in-depth indication of Kane’s actions. Besides that, I enjoyed the story for what it was and it kept me intent on finding out what happens next.
Living the live of the Dinosaur Hunter
The single-player campaign of Turok is your classic FPS adventure where there is somewhere you have to advance to, kill a bunch of enemies, and then move on. What probably separates Turok from other shooters is the neutral factor of the loose dinosaurs roaming the planet. The dinosaurs aren’t taking any side and will often just attack whatever they set their eyes on. With some tricks, it is possible to divert a dinosaur’s attention to someone else. A fun gameplay mechanic that I can definitely recommend you to try out.
Turok is known to be a full-blown killing machine so it would only seem reasonable to equip him with a multitude of weapons. His arsenal includes SMGs, shotguns, rail guns and grenade launchers. Huge amounts of ammo are readily available and the game encourages you to try different things and blast away. The game offers the option of dual wielding just about every weapon together, for that extra destructive effect. To add to the variety, each gun features a secondary fire option such as the shotgun’s ability to shoot out flares or the rail gun being able to turn into an automated turret. Less destructive but infinitely fun are the bow and the knife. The bow is silent and usually requires only a single shot to kill someone. It also is extremely effective at aiming in long distances. The knife quickly became one of my favorites. It provided a great way to put the hurt on an unsuspecting enemy with its ability to kill instantaneously.
8.0
fun score
No Pros and Cons at this time
