Turok

Turok is a fun FPS game, but one that lacks depth in many aspects. In the end, odds are players will fail to immerse themselves in a setting as bland and superficial as this.

Turok is a fun and entertaining game that could have been significantly better.

There's no doubt that Turok can be fun, but ultimately, the feeling of satisfaction that comes with slitting a raptor's throat or pulling off a headshot with your bow is lost in the shuffle of swarming enemies, less than stellar visuals and a story that disappears.

The most glaring problems with the game arise in human AI and weird graphical hiccups. Human AI, sorry to say, is dumb.

Turok manages to revive the ailing franchise. The dinosaurs look awesome and fighting them is just as cool.

It succeeds at being an enjoyable, trigger-happy adrenaline fest, but it certainly doesn't push any envelopes or blaze any new trails.

Turok offers a few entertaining hours of play, but isn't spectacular enough to keep you coming back long after you've slain the last dinosaur.

A hardcore, old-school shooter. In many ways, it feels like the "Ninja Gaiden" of shooters, so if that sounds appealing to you, you'll probably love it more than we did. But if you're looking for a more modern experience, something from the current crop of shooter stars like "BioShock" and "Call of Duty 4," the frustrating bosses and save system will seem positively prehistoric. [Feb 2008, p.46]

If you’ve enjoyed the previous Turok adventures, you can still find something interesting in this game. Besides fighting dinosaurs with a bow and knife, it’s standard routine stuff, including the set, the human enemy AI and the story. [Feb 2008]

The gameplay itself represents a disciplined FPS effort that lifts it above recent mediocre titles such as Blacksite: Area 51, though it doesn't hold a candle to the big guns of The Orange Box, BioShock, or Call of Duty 4.

Poorly spaced checkpoints, dank too-similar environments, and magical teleporting allies are a few other annoying and strange traits that cause this game to fall down a few notches.

On the one hand, it is weaker then the mass of counterparts in the genre and doesn’t quite know how to ‘honour’ its heritage. However, on the other hand, it does a couple of things much better and allows you to take on cold mercenaries and dinosaurs with dual wielding shotguns and a knife that makes Rambo look like a boy scout.

The game would have benefited from a release date of last summer. It is a decent enough game, but just does not hold a candle to the other group of truly next-gen FPS on the 360.

Basically, it's just extremely generic and has that 'safe' feel about its design that suggests that its spent more time with the marketers than it has the artists - but the other side of this coin is that in a functional sense, Turok is dependable.

Like the mindless Hollywood blockbusters that it emulates, Turok features plenty of dinosaur-hunting action and not too much else.

Without getting too worked up, Turok delivers a solid enough reboot of the dino hunting franchise, even if it will upset some of the brand's more loyal fans.

In the end, Turok demands more than some gamers will want to give.

The action is solid and fun, but ultimately lacks anything truly exceptional to stand out from the pack.

A solid game with some interesting twists, but overall it's about interacting with dinosaurs and killing them. The story feels quite superfluous, so don’t have any expectations of a gripping sci-fi tale - but do expect lots of shooting and killing.

A few nice ideas, but dig away at the gloss and you're left with a pit of old bones. [Mar 2008, p.70]

Deciding whether to fend off those carnivorous foes or sic 'em on your human enemies adds a teensy bit of strategy to the otherwise typical run, gun, and reload approach. [Mar 2008, p.81]

Another game that really has a lot of potential but ultimately comes out to be disappointing.

No, it's not going to go head-to-head with the onslaught of great FPSes we saw at the end of last year (though its slick, well-designed, robust multiplayer should give it some legs). But the unusual premise, solid writing, and nicely varied play make it worth a look for shooter fans looking for that next fix.

Unrelentingly mediocre and unrelentingly derivative. Turok is not a bad game, but almost every element, from the visuals to the weapons, the AI and the level design are regressive.

The game tries to seriously make you believe that this mohawk-lite-sporting tough guy fits in this sci-fi world, and then expects you to slog through one annoying or frustrating encounter after another.

Sadly, a fun game gets annoying due to omniscient AI and nebulous level design.

Overall Turok is mediocre at best, offering a somewhat engaging experience with impressive sound, average visuals and some solid replayability if achievement hunting is your passion. The dinosaurs save Touchstones effort, from what would have been a very dull FPS without them. Dinosaurs are still cool.

Unfortunately, what aim-assist there is in Turok is woefully inadequate. Getting the reticule to move that last quarter inch often proved impossible and aggravating.

Getting knocked down proves disorientating, the lack of quick weapon switching sucks and the game's weapons aren't nearly as imaginative as the ones from previous Turok games. Multiplayer adds value, but not enough to make this one a keeper.

Turok isn’t just another below average shooter. It’s slightly better than that. While it may seem a little short and over-familiar come the end, its positive points are at times excellent and it does come with an extra layer of polish that's often lacking in other games. Plus, you can stab dinosaurs in the neck. And that’s awesome.

Turok is at its best when you slow down and make use of your surroundings and arsenal. The reason it loses so many points is that it can be at its absolute worst ten seconds later, and that while its lows are paralysingly dreadful, its peaks are never much more than competent, or fleeting novelties spoilt by cliché, repetition or sloppiness.

There are several moments when you are told that stealth is an important part of Turok's hunting ethos, but when it comes time to be stealthy, the AI are able to see you even if you're hidden. It basically amounts to a useless stealth system.

It ain’t a keeper. The online game is more disappointing than comet-induced extinction, and there is no reason to play the single campaign twice.

Even playing on the easiest setting, the difficulty regularly spikes to bowel-clenching impossibility. This wouldn't be so bad if the checkpoints flowed a little more freely, as most of the difficulty spikes tend to arrive after a protracted battle has already left you tattered and bleeding.

At first, Turok places the player in a game with impressive atmosphere and basic but satisfying shoot-out moments. After cutting through another of those dinosaurs though, the feeling of repetition starts to kick in. In the end, the game restricts the player too much.

Turok isn't an awful game, it's just an unbelievably frustrating one.

The sad fact is that this combat mostly fails to ignite interest, and combined with its cruel difficulty spikes, occasional glitches and a severe differential in graphical quality between 360 and PS3 versions (the latter losing out), Turok's strong contextualisation and smattering of brave ideas get buried. [Mar 2008, p.92]

Idea-free shooting. With dinosaurs. [Mar 2008, p.90]

Moments of fun punctuate an otherwise dull, generic blast. [Apr 2008, p.84]