The Turok franchise has stumbled over the past few years. A series that showed so much promise on the Nintendo 64 seemed to have squandered it with lackluster showings on the consoles of the previous generation. Electronic Gaming Monthly even names their Worst of the Year Awards in memoriam of Tobias Bruckner, the racist, half-cyborg U.S Cavalry Captain from Turok: Evolution.

Despite Turok’s missteps, developer Propaganda Games is taking a new look at the dinosaur-focused series with its first installment on the newest generation of systems. Simply titled Turok, it implies a return to the franchise’s roots. Acquiring the demo took a five dollar preorder investment at Best Buy, but the preorder came with a beanie, so that’s what justifies the purchase.

Is the game solid? Does the hat fit snugly? You’ll have to hit the jump to find out.

The demo drops you, playing as a mohawk-endowed character named Turok, into the middle of a dark, damp cave with just an SMG, and one ally beside you. Not a lot of information is revealed about how you got there, but the game immediately gives you the objective of getting out of the cave. The teammate going through the caves with you is reminiscent of Gears of War’s Cole Train; black, muscular, a deep voice oozing testosterone.

Soon after getting acquainted with the weapons, the dinos attack. They come from all sides and knock you down with a frustrating frequency. But they’re not so much of an annoyance as they are monotonous. To me, they were just weirdly-shaped enemies that needed to be pumped full of lead in order to kill.

The game really starts to pick up once you make your way out of the caves and into the open. Soon after meeting up with one other squadmate who specializes in sniping, Turok notices a crashed ship in the distance. Someone else besides Turok and his buddies are doing something in this mysterious jungle. A flashback is then activated, showing how Turok gained his knife-wielding skills from some mysterious sensei guy. You have to take out a few of the guards stealthily with your knife in order to avoid attention. Eventually, you and your squadmates fight these mysterious soldiers to take control of the hill and investigate what going on. And with that the demo is over.

Knife-wielding has its pros and cons. Unlike melee-knifing performed in games such as Call of Duty 4, the knife is a weapon you must switch to using the D-Pad. A melee button would have been nice for those twitch dino attacks. Additionally, stabbing someone pulls out to third-person view and shows Turok performing an elaborate, gory stabbing animation. Watching him jump on a raptors back to slit its throat the first few times is neat, but not so much when the animation rolls around for the twentieth time. The stabbing vignettes just need more variety.

The atmosphere in the game is more immersive than I expected it to be. Running on the ever-popular Unreal Engine technology, textures and lighting make for very detailed environments. There are a few small touches which definitely play to the games strengths. Creeping through tall grass, I noticed that it bends and moves out of the player’s way. It’s definitely a realistic aspect that many games overlook.

Despite the earliest experiences I had with the ancient creatures, the dinosaurs are totally awesome. The game makes it clear that though most dinosaurs will attack you, you are not the main focus. Dinosaurs want meat, not just Turok-flavored meat. I was able to walk by many of the smaller dinosaurs who could be taken down in one of two shots. Each type of dino reacts differently to others. Some are predators, some are passive. During the final fight, I saw just as many velociraptors attack the enemy as I saw attack me and my squad. Using the dinosaurs to your advantage is obviously a large part of the fighting strategy and environment that the developers wanted to create. The dinosaurs also infest multiplayer maps, so expect a new twist on multiplayer (though it wasn’t included in the demo).

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As fun as the demo was, I couldn’t help shake the feeling that it was deja vu all over again. From the cookie-cutter squad mates (an in-your-face steroid addict and a sarcastic, skinny guy) to the standard issue weaponry (SMGs, plasma rifles, etc.), it all seemed derivative. I hope the full game includes some more interesting weapons and more info on the backstory that was teased. The enemies are also nearly identical to the Combine soldiers of Half-Life 2 or enemies in Killzone.

I really hope Turok does well. Maybe because I like killing dinsoaurs, but also because I’m hoping that Propaganda Games will also pump out a Land Before Time-based sequel. I can dream, can’t I?

The beanie included with the demo is certainly quality. It is standard size, and stretchy. The monogrammed Turok logo is sure to make anyone who knows what Turok is jealous and it will keep your ears warm during the colder months of the year. Definitely worth the $5 preorder. I’m not saying you should preorder the game yet. Just think of it as buying a Turok hat with the added bonus of having a copy waiting for you should you decide to purchase the game.