TUROK
Well I went and rented:
Okay let me explain the part on rented first of all...most of the information I have come across regarding mutliplayer in this game is that its run of the mill...CTF..Team Death Match..etc..oh and one more thing my poor ass real life friends won't buy it and COD4 still isn't old yet...back to the review.
WARNING: Spoilers may be ahead
Well I was intrigued to see a copy of Turok for rent when I went by to my local Blockbuster last Saturday. It seems that the stores must have been a mix up in the apparent street release date of this game. Touchstone's Turok webpage still had a ticker counting down the time of release. I never did come across any internet chatter regarding that situation, but its probably do to the fact this game just didn't live up to the hype or did it.....
Presentation
The game looks great in some places and lack luster in other. The dinos look real as what I imagine they would look like and the landscape shots were also intriguing, but some of the close ups on the scenery looked painted on. The blood effects are cool, but lacking as well. I am not a specialist of anatomy, but it would seem likely if you slashed the neck of dinosaur it would spew out not dribble out.
Example below:
Yes my graphics are suck, but windows paint brings out the necessary effects about as good as the game...j/k. The animations on the dino is great especially when you do the knife timed-events. After 50 knife kills, the stab to the head has still not gotten old. The human timed-kill animations are also cool, but what is with the FUCKING sparks. A knife kill is supposed to be visceral and mean, but instead you hear some cool sounds and see sparks after taking a knife to the chest. The spark effect could have been replaced with a little bit of blood then the blood could have been dripping off the blade for a even cooler effect.
The guns in the game are good {they could have been great with the cerebral bore}. The ability to have a second firing option on the weapons is awesome especially since most of the secondary effects are spectacular. The plasma rifle effect with the environment is definitely appealing. After shooting the alt fire with the plasma rifle, it unleashes a grenade type round which explodes devastating both the opponent and the environment. When reloading the higher ends weapons, the animation effects are definitely cool as hell.
Story
The story is okay I guess. I haven't finished the game, but being at the halfway point it has been so so to say the least. I really wasn't expecting an intriguing story to begin with. My formulation on an opinion in this avenue probably won't be finished until I finish the game. The odds are I won't be that impressed unless they build up the confrontation to the ex-leader of the wolf pack.
Gameplay
It is an FPS and its pretty linear. Go here kill dino...go here dino/humans....go here kill humans. The interaction with each is different. Basically the bigger the dino the more rounds its going to take to bring it down. The humans on the other hand takes quite a few rounds unless your good at getting the headshot. Most of the time I try to go for the stealth kill for the obvious reason its freaking tight. Why is killing the human enemies a pain in the ass at times? I don't know if it is a hit issue with the models, but it shouldn't take a whole clip to down one human.
The AI
The over grown iguana are cool little bastards. They remind me of a crocodile that can climb trees, but have the elusiveness of a squirrel. Dodging and knife killing these mofos can be a hassle or you can do as I do shoot'em down while they are still in the tree with your bow.The raptors are hilarious at times....at one point I killed 10 of them in a row. It was like they where waiting in a bank teller line waiting to get stabbed in the head.
The humans in this game look cool, but are fucking retarded....Seriously Propaganda devs you failed in this area. At one point in the game, I am running back down to get on the elevator with Sid {more on this asshole later}. One of the AI is behind cover and he keeps standing and crouching..standing and crouching standing and....you get the idea...The AI seem to do this a lot when behind cover. The only smart thing they do is run backwards when you go to knife them down. Your squad/teammates AI are just about as stupid. When a dino comes around it takes 1000 bullets for your squad mate to kill them. I will be knifing the shit out of raptors and then I will see Sid shooting 1 fucking raptor. Devs if your going to put AI in the game make them at least somewhat useful {IE Gears of War}.
Sid oh Sid how I love to hate your ugly ass. He constantly is reminding you throughout the beginning portions of the game to "Hurry up or I'll leave your ass behind." It pissed me off to the point where I just waited and you know what...HE NEVER LEFT ME BEHIND. The same thing on the elevator level. After blowing up the override button on the top platform, he will constantly yelling some other bullshit that I can't remember right now. Devs maybe thats your way of developing a character, but those two examples show why me as a gamer don't want to hear the same bullshit over and over.
Multiplayer
I haven't gotten into it if I do I might post something about it. From the chatter around the net, the general consensus is that they are not offering very much in this realm.
Achievements
The achievements in this game piss me off. Why can't you have a balance between both online and offline play? Most of the achievements in this game are for the online play requiring many games to obtain. I don't have a problem with online achievements, but I think the devs could have been a little more creative with the achievements in regards to the story mode. After all if you are looking to make sequels, you better do one of two things....have a bad ass story or bad ass online multiplayer. If you lack in either department, your second go around better blow people's minds.
Final Thoughts
I was a huge fan of the originals games on the n64 and I was really looking forward to this new refresh of Turok. The game so-so for me. It was probably my fault for putting it on a lofty pedestal. The n64 versions of Turok had weird plots, but the game play was gritty and gory. The plot in this game is definitely better than those of the past, but I think they could have improved on making this game a little more dark and sinister. The graphics in all weren't bad, but weren't mind blowing either. All in all I am glad that I rented this game.
6.5 Knife kills to the head outta 10
