Feb 3
Review: Turok
I was a huge fan of the Turok series for the N64 when I was younger. Dinosaurs and guns always made a great mix in video games. When I first heard that Propaganda Games was doing a Turok game for the Xbox 360 (PS3 and PC, also), I became very excited…until I remembered the failure that was Turok: Evolution. I started tracking the game and getting hyped up for it thanks to multiple screenshots and videos. As the release for the game came closer and closer, I became very mixed with my views on the game. Would it suck, or would it be just as awesome as the N64 games were?
Read on to find out…
Turok is a re-imagined take on the old N64 series and original comic books. Our hero Turok still has his bow and arrow, but things are a bit more futuristic than before. You play the role of Joseph Turok, a special forces unit soldier, on a mission to eliminate Turok’s war criminal mentor, Roland Kane, leader of the evil clan called Wolf Pack. Turok’s special unit crew, Whiskey Company, is assigned with killing Roland Kane, but their ship gets shot down from space and lands on a mysterious planet full of heavy greenery and dino-danger.
The storyline isn’t exactly that gripping. You begin knowing about half as much as I already stated, and you gradually learn more from random Turok flashbacks of him being a Wolf Pack member. The game is completely linear, meaning you can’t really affect the outcome of anything in the plot. Hell, the entire game is extremely straightforward as you’re always told what to do. While playing, you’re constantly guided by others to go from place to place, killing Kane’s henchmen and dinosaurs in between. There are about 15 levels in Turok, but each takes about 30 minutes to complete, making this adventure a pretty lengthy one.
While the story is very bland and boring, the gameplay itself is where the fun’s to be found. If you’re not a fan of attacking waves of enemies scattered throughout a map though, this probably isn’t the title for you. Turok does it in a way where it doesn’t get annoying, but I can see where people can find it repetitive. This game isn’t really a strategic one either. Kill everything on the screen in anyway possible. Gun, run, and hide.
This game is probably one of the only games I’ve played where I’ve preferred the knife over the gun. Turok lets players slit dinosaur throats and stab faces with the simple tap of RT when they’re close enough. The power of the gun sometimes isn’t as powerful as a one stab kill. The knife added very stylish kills during combat, and is much more effective.
Weapons in this game are scattered through each map. You start out with a machine gun type weapon and a knife, eventually getting a bow to take out enemies with a quiet kill. Weapons are found in enemy bases and near dead bodies. You can’t carry a ton of weapons at once, but you can wield two weapons at the same time. You’re limited to carrying, but not dual wielding, two large sized weapons, such as the sniper rifle or the plasma rifle, or three smaller guns, which you can dual wield, such as one shotgun and two pistols or sub-machine guns.
I had a big issue with the “stealth” in this game. You can kill guards using your bow and knife, quietly with no problems, but about 95% of the time, if you’re approaching a large crowd of enemies, they already know where you are. They automatically start blasting their guns at you, even if you’re standing on a 20 foot cliff glaring at their little ant sized bodies. The A.I. is pretty stupid in this game. I’ve had experiences where I shot a guard that stood next to another, and they stood still, glaring off into nothing.
Another problem I faced was that Turok has no melee attacks at all. It’s frustrating having to reload a weapon while a herd of dinosaurs are leaping towards you in two second intervals. You can’t switch out to your knife and stab every enemy in the face and maintain your health at the same time, so melee would have been a great addition. This is especially frustrating when you’re getting knocked to the ground constantly by enemies running into you nonstop. It takes about two seconds to get back on your feet, and as soon as you’re standing again, you get knocked back down to the ground.
Yet another shortcoming of the entire game was the difficulty. There is nothing more annoying than attempting the same objective over and over again, trying out different strategies and failing at each one of them. It seems like the further you play through the game, the harder it gets.
Despite a ton of annoying issues Turok, I applaud the game on its audio work. I enjoyed the dinosaur roars and sounds that came from all over the map, just as in the Silent Hill games. Voice acting was also a huge plus, as it features actors like Ron Perlman and Timothy Olyphant. The musical score is also really well done and gives you the deep feel of tribal times.
Multiplayer features ten maps and six modes to play with, including co-op. Seven levels are used for the traditional multiplayer modes, while only a mere three are available for the co-op mode. 16 players at once can enjoy multiplayer, while up to four people can play the three co-op levels. The multiplayer modes suffered from all of the same problems as the single player mode, so you will experience stupid A.I. during co-op, but it’s definitely more fun to watch with three other people.
Turok isn’t a complete disappointment, but it isn’t exactly what I pictured. If you’re expecting another epic shooter along the lines of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare or Halo 3, ignore this game. This title is a little above mediocre, but it has many flaws that keep it from being a totally above average game. Bearing almost no story at all and very dumb A.I., fans of the Turok series may find this game a little bit of an upper from the failure that was Evolution, but overall Turok is a forgettable title that gamers can enjoy for about three hours before getting fully annoyed.
Categories: Microsoft, Reviews, Shooter, Upcoming Games, Xbox 36016 Comments so far
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“It seems like the further you play through the game, the harder it gets.”
Not to be a nitpicker Cortez, but isn’t that how it should be?
This game really didn’t look all that great to me, but I’d imagine it can’t be as bad as Evolution was.
I personallly really enjoy the multiplayer, not so much the co-op
I personally really enjoy the multiplayer, not so much the co-op.
Insanely more difficult, Poopface. The first couple of levels were fine on normal, but then I got further into the game and it felt like I was playing on insane difficulty.
Great review… I could tell that even though you love this series, you were not afraid to tell us it’s short-comings in this one… still sounds like a damn decent game, so I will check it out from my job.. thanks again..
I am sorry but I found this review in bad taste and a failure.
While reading this, I felt this was more of an informative exposition on the game, rather than a review itself. And it seems like half the time the game was being compared instead of reviewed. The difficulty level goes along the same lines as X-Plays review. They gave it a lower rating because they couldn’t aim and there was no aim assist. It is called challenging, do people not want it anymore? I admit it was hard, but it makes it much more rewarding when you overcome.
And co-op is VERY challenging, but the AI isn’t too stupid. Actually, I heard some people while playing online that the multiplayer is the “saving grace” of the game.
Oh and the game is NOT long. It is about eight (8) hours. Got it Thursday and beat it Friday night…EPIC fun in multiplayer and requires skill.
I’m just not a fan of it. I loved the older titles, but honestly, this wasn’t that great. Without comparing it to older titles, I can still say the same. It’s a re-imagining of the series, so I can pretty much blow my thoughts about the classic series to shit. It was an average title with a few hits that made it a little above average.
I didn’t have that much trouble without the auto-aim, but I got used to it I guess. I did notice for the first hour that it wasn’t there, but it wasn’t entirely bothersome. Really though, I expect a challenge when I choose the “hard” or “insane” difficulty. I don’t expect things to be difficult when I choose the “normal” setting, which should be a little easier than “easy”, which the game didn’t feature.
The game wasn’t a total failure, but to me, it is forgettable. Yes, co-op did save the game a bit, but multi-player should not be the only save for the overall game.
What’s your gametag btw?
Dual-wielding shotguns? Fuck yeah.
@BlindsideDork
“And it seems like half the time the game was being compared instead of reviewed”
Shouldn’t that be part of a review? Then people have a reference point for how good it is and how things are done compared to what they already know.
“It is about eight (8) hours”
OMG, you mean like he said in the review: “There are about 15 levels in Turok, but each takes about 30 minutes to complete.” That makes…seven and a half (7 1/2) hours, which is “about eight.” At least there’s something you agree on in the review.
Turok = Junk… oh god how I loathed every moment I played the game…. and at least to me, the achievements are broken… I don’t know how many things I stealthed killed with the knife… because that was the only thing fun about the game… I can’t wait for DMC4…
I think people have the retro goggles for the original Turok game anyway. Play it now, I dare you. It’s awful. I don’t expect anything better from any subsequent Turok game.
8 hours does NOT equal pretty lengthy…
I dunno BSD, for a guy like me who can devote like an hour a night to a game, 8 hrs can be lengthy. Though I’m not defending the statement I’ll agree that 8 hours is NOT enough for any game that costs $60 bucks. Here is the major question that I’d like answered in any reviews I see on this site…was it any fun?!?
I got my achievements for Turok, but most of them are multiplayer. Meh. I could deal without them all.
I just got the game today and I actually thought it wasn’t too bad. It is quite challenging but the co op is fun