Developer: Iguana Entertainment, Night Dive Studios
Publisher: Night Dive Studios
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter – Review
The iconic dinosaur hunter Turok is back, this time not with a new title but the remake of the original game. The series knew its peak when the original game(s) were released on the Nintendo 64 and after that all sequels and spin-offs certainly had their own charm as well, at least on the Nintendo 64, all those on the future generations proved to be a lot less successful. Nonetheless, the classic adventure is back and truth be told, we were worried if a revamped edition would suffice but with our TEK-bow back in the picture, our worries slowly dissipated. The hunt is on, once more.
Story
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter is all about Turok who is charged with protecting the zone between our normal world and the Lost Land, which is pretty much a prehistoric world filled with hordes of evil monsters and soldiers, ready to take over our precious earth. In fact Turok isn’t actually the name of the character, but the title of those who protect the zone in-between. While keeping the Lost Land in check was already a hard task, things were manageable until the Campaigner appeared, who wishes to restore the Chronoscepter, a weapon of legendary proportions which would allow him to rule the world. It’s up to you to save the world.
Just like many other retro games, the story isn’t really brought in a flashy way or sometimes not at all, while there is in fact an underlying plotline. Keep in mind these games date from an era where the data storage of their respective platform was already quite slim, and Turok was a masterpiece for its time when it came to overall graphical and gameplay qualities. Games such as this often had a small storyline written in their manual that got you in the mood when your parents bought you a game when shopping. You could pump yourself up while sneakily opening the box and reading what adventure you would get yourself into.
Graphics
In the introduction we used the term revamped, rather than remade and that’s just what this is. Graphically we can’t say that Turok has crossed over to 2015, but has remained stuck somewhere around 2000. Nonetheless, the game does look a lot smoother than the original title, as things are a tad less edgy and some of the textures received decent updates. Of course, a full remake could have been nice, but retro lovers will be able to enjoy this updated version as much as they did the original one.
The overall environments are still somewhat flat when it comes to some basic features, such as grass or the vines you climb on. All of these ‘features’ are still like they were on the Nintendo 64, which makes enjoying the environments a bit harder, compared to other revamped retro titles that are currently available. All of that being said, the original Turok feel is still there and that’s what counts.
Sound
Sound wise things might have become a tad more clear, but not that much has changed over the years. The game still has a rather good soundtrack, even today, and the typical SFX still accompany you on your journey throughout the Lost Land. Things never get overly impressing, but it gets you pumped up enough to have a very enjoyable experience.
Gameplay
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter is a very old school first person shooter, where you’ll have to wade through around eight different levels in order to reach the end and save the world, at least for the time being. This revamped version will not offer that much more than the original in 1997, but things feel a lot smoother.
How the game works is very straightforward, while at the same time it isn’t. You’ll be dropped in the game immediately after pressing the new game option, and from here on out, you’ll have to fend for yourself. When finally reaching the ‘hub’ area, you’ll see different portals, which will unlock if you find their respective keys, scattered over the levels you already opened or that are open from the start. Nonetheless, with the rather big maps per level and no indication where to find which keys, it’s quite hard to find them all, with the proper amount of time spent searching for them, and even then things prove to be a lot harder than one would expect.
You’ll have a fairly big arsenal of weapons at your disposal, which is scattered over the different levels or has to be earned when killing bosses. That being said, most of the time you’ll have a decent amount of ammunition for all your weapons, but harder enemies will also make you run out of ammunition fairly quick. It’s best to use your normal/weak weapons on normal foes, making it easier to defeat the bigger villains. Nonetheless, you’ll find sufficient ammunition if you should run out.
One thing where you’ll immediately notice the game is a blast from the past, is the fact that you have ‘lives’, rather than an unlimited supply of continues. While some players might be annoyed by this, or hate the fact they have to collect the different triangular tokens in the levels in order to gain an extra life, it actually amps up the difficulty presenting a bit more challenge. When you run out of lives it’s either back from the start or load a previously saved game.
A few things have changed over the years nonetheless. In this revamped version you’ll be able to rebind your keys to your liking and the overall feeling of the game is a lot smoother. For some reason everything feels as if the game is running on double speed, but this makes the game that much more action packed and enjoyable. Truth be told, the only regrettable fact about the smoothness is that there is no multiplayer mode, as the overall feeling the game presented us with felt like a few other blasts from the past, namely Unreal Tournament and Quake III Arena.
Even though everything has been amped up a bit, there are a few issues with the game as well. The first issue is when you go to the edge of a cliff, you’ll often fall through, even though you haven’t truly reached the edge just yet. This can often become annoying when trying to scout the environment. The other problem is the AI. It’s not like the AI is truly dumb, as your enemies’ actions are reasonably ok, but they often spot you from miles away, when you simply walk out of a cavern or a door, causing instant damage. Luckily the game is rather lenient in that area as you hardly take any damage from the many attacks in the game (except for bigger foes of course).
Conclusion
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter might not tickle a younger audience’s senses, but it will surely please those who used to love the game or want a smoother version of their Nintendo 64 copy. You’ll see a decent amount of minor updates in the graphical department of the game, but you’ll mainly keep coming for the extremely smooth gameplay. Was revamping the original truly necessary? No. Are we happy it was revamped? Yes, very happy. Retro enthusiasts should certainly check this one out.
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter - Review,
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