Turok 1: Dinosaur Hunter - Review

Author: Leecoop Date: Feb 01 2005 - 17:42 Score: 65 points

Back when the N64 was still fairly in the infancy of it's short but eventful life, Turok was one of the showpieces. If memory serves correct, showing up months before the Daddy of the 64,'Goldeneye' hit the shelves, Turok showed what could be possible in a first person shooter.

At this time, FPS's were evolving into the Quake/Unreal/Halo's of the last few years. 'Quake' on the PC had taken 'Doom's' gameplay and excelled on it. Duke Nukem had just forayed into 3D and word of mouth was already running about the aforementioned 'Goldeneye'. Turok had to be similar enough to get to grips with but a different enough title to not only sell itself, but the console too.

Really, they couldn't go wrong;
Cool anti-hero type lead - check.
Kick ass weaponry - check.
Cutting edge graphics - check.
Dinosaurs and blood galore - check.

The PC version here retains all these qualities but has the added bonus of looking better than the 64 version. If you have the compatible equipment ( I tried the game with a GeForce 2 with no problems at all), this looks pretty damn good still on your PC although the hallmarks of age are now showing. Firstly, the fogging - a necessity in the past to keep a game such as this moving but highly fustrating when you are trying to figure out which direction to head in. This shouldn't hinder you for too long though as Turok, despite looking huge is a fairly linear game. It gives the impression of grandeur but in actuality, there is very little searching for the right path here, you are almost certainly already on it. Sounds are fairly limited but fit the bill for the game, although hearing dinosaur growls constantly and not always seeing any dino's to spar with is a let down.

Gameplay is exactly as you'd expect. Run, shoot, pick up stuff, run, shoot - it's a shooter, what the hell are you expecting! Enemy AI is fairly simple however and after facing a new kind of enemy once or twice you quickly learn their movement/attack patterns and the best way to deal with them. The enemies do look good though and its's extremely satisfying blasting the dinosaurs in particular. Along the way you must collect keys to open future levels, the keys are spread out across each level but as stated earlier, the game is fairly linear and you will find the keys comming across your path, rather than you having to go and root them out.

This linear pathway technique also works against the game in some of its weakest moments- the platform game type jumping is dreadful, but more often than not necessary. To reach certain places you cant avoid having to run and jump between rock formations and the like. Turoks controls are basic (especially in comparison to todays games but even compared to the original Quake's) to say the least. The mouse aiming feels like it was put on at the last moment and has none of the fluidity you'd expect, it's particularly marred by the lack of a crosshair, making distant aiming a bitch. The keyboard controls for movement are simple but some of the gaps you need to clear are not. There is a moment of high fustration even during the tutorial where what looks like a simple jump becomes seriously annoying. This said, with a little patience and you're own technique (I now look at the floors when jumping to judge it correctly!) you will overcome these fustrating moments and they never overpower the basic shooting elements of the game.

Saving is another gripe within the game, having to do it only in certain points where the game allows you to do so is not a problem on early levels but when you reach the latter ones with only one life remaining, you really want to able to save before you move on. This is an annoyance that remained in the superior (but unbelievably difficult) Turok 2 and it's a case of like it or lump it I'm afraid.

Hailed as a landmark by some and strictly mediocre by others, I fall between the two in my summation of Turok. This is a great shooter with interesting bad guys to blow away and genuinely fun weapons, matched by awesome graphics for it's age. The platform sections and the lack of saving options fustrate but the real let down with Turok is the glaring omission of a multiplayer game.

Still, with only 17 credits needed this is a fantastic oppurtunity to own a game that, depite it's floors, is going to keep you playing until the end.

	Title / Type	Submitter	Date
	Review	Leecoop	Feb 01 2005

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