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DEVELOPER
Iguana
PUBLISHER
Acclaim
AVAILABLE
Now
MEDIUM
32 Megabyte Cart
PLAYERS
1-4
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rigger finger gettin' a bit itchy? Are you up at nights, dreaming
of filling reptiles with high-velocity projectiles and sizzling forks of
plasmic energy? Do you find yourself frequently pointing your index finger
at the occasional horned toad, uttering little onamatopoeic sound bites like
"zapow!" and "fwoosh-boom"?
Well, maybe that's just me. Or, at least, that's what my shrink tells
me. But, my personal issues aside, I'm sure that you're eager for a little
virtual gunplay involving our scaly pals, right? RIGHT?
Well, welcome to the jungle. Again. That's right - Turok, the star of
one of the more popular original Nintendo 64 games, is back for another go-
round with those evil dinosoids, in another first-person perspective shooting
extravaganza. But is it worth a day's minimum-wage earnings? Let's take
a gander at it through the eyes yours truly, shall we?
Turok 2: Seeds of Evil chronicles the quest of one Joshua Fireseed,
the "New Turok" as it were, as he fights the evil Primagen and attempts to
restore order to his world. Aided by the mysterious Adon, a grey-skinned
lass from another dimension, he'll wield incredible firepower and tackle
even more incredible foes as he seeks the destruction of the enemy ravaging
the landscape. Hey, we're not talking high-brow lit here - this is a comic book
turned first-person shooter. The premise of the game sets itself up for what
it promises to deliver: big guns and even bigger bad guys. Turok 2 is all
about war, fire, death, and testosterone - this ain't Jane Austen, so
leave your brain at the door.
When it comes to sheer good looks, Turok 2 beats the competition,
on virtually every US platform. The textures were concocted with an incredible
eye for detail, the models are incredibly well-defined, and the backgrounds
look superb. The omnipresent fog from the first Turok has been pushed back,
allowing the brilliance of the game's aesthetic design to shine through
spectacularly, creating immersive environments and enemies that look (and
behave) almost frighteningly real. Slap in the $30 RAM Expansion Pak and
you can set the game into one of two high-resolution modes for even greater
visual clarity - booya! If you can maintain the integrity of your bladder
after firing up this game for the first time, you're more jaded than I am.
Of especial note is the monster animation. While this Turok sports
no obviously human enemies prime for a gory demise, it does feature an amazing
cast of superbly well-developed and animated beasties, ranging from "dinosoids"
to gruesome insects to lumbering, ape-like hulks. My personal favorite is
a critter called an "Endtrail," a human/raptor crossbreed that behaves almost
like a real human opponent. Iguana's much-vaunted soft-skin animation
algorithms make your foes look and behave with frightening realism - you'll
see then twitch, breathe, and spasm in very organic style. The bosses look
even better - my first encounter with the Mantid's momma left me near-catatonic
over the impressive animation. Definitely a looker, for such an ugly sod.
And, as with all things Turok, the weapon effects are just the keenest
things around. While I miss the Hollywood-esque razzle-dazzle of the
Chronoscepter and plasma cannon effects from the first Turok, Turok 2 has
some equally visceral firepower to keep your little optic registers knee-deep
in delight. My favorite, hands-down, is the Flamethrower - this is the
best-looking piece of heavy-duty destruction I've seen in a first-person
shooter. I've always had a soft spot for napalm and pyrotechnics, and this
is the first time a fire weapon (Fire! Fire!) has been done right in 3D. Also
designed to titillate your testosterone glands are the Cerebral Bore and
Razorwind weapons, especially if rendering a lizardman into a pulsing font
of sanguinity is your thang.
Unfortunately, this level of detail comes at stiff price - the frame
rate bottoms out frequently and the game turns into a slide show. The general
ceiling for the frame rate isn't too impressive in these days of 30 and 60
fps titles - Turok 2 hovers around 15 in the non-letterboxed mode and 20 in
the letterboxed mode - and we've developed certain expectations in this area.
However, the problematic frame rate wouldn't be intolerable if it remained constant and consistent; trouble is, you put
three or more enemies on the screen, and the game turns into a chop-o-rama
of Hong Kong proportions. This can make aiming unnecessarily difficult and
hurts the "coolness" factor of some of the niftier gameplay aspects, such
as the weapon effects and the Triceratops jockey segment. D'oh!
It should be noted, by the way, that playing in the high-resolution
letterboxed mode will help frame rate issues to some degree, at the expense
of screen real-estate. If you don't mind large black bars at the top and bottom
of your screen, this is definitely the display mode for you to choose.
The real-time rendered cinemas starting each level look surprisingly
good, and flesh out the rather thin story adequately. Once again, FMV is
demonstrated as unnecessary - I'm glad that cartridges have forced developers
to get over pouring tons of man-hours into disjoint full-motion video
affairs that look nothing like the game currently being experienced. A big
plus to Turok 2 for at least paying some small amount of lip service to its
story - that's yards better than most FPS titles these days.
Sonically speaking, Turok 2 is a very ambient affair, with most of
the music confined to airs and beats that capture the atmosphere of the
game effectively. It's nothing spectacular, but it does keep the tension
high and creates a sound canvas for the game to play itself out against.
Plenty of environmental sounds abound, such as seagulls crying over the Port of Adia to mysterious clacking in the Mantid's Hive. Stereo or surround
sound really helps in keeping you immersed in the game, and contributes well
to the sense of "being there." Peering nervously around a corner and then
hearing that Pur-linn thump down immediately behind you, positionally, is
enough to give even the most hardy man a stroke. Well done, Iguana.
In terms of control, Turok 2, when not impacted by frame rate issues,
is actually quite solid. Most players unfamiliar with the original Turok
control layout (analog stick to aim, C-buttons to move) will want to use
the "Arcade" arrangement, which works exactly as Goldeneye does. As you
progress, you'll find yourself gravitating toward the original layout, since
it allows for the most facility in quickly gunning down enemies in high
positions. If the choppy frame rate wasn't such a hindrance to precise
aiming, I'd be even more enthusiastic, but, since the game rewards head shots
with instant (or near-instant) kills, I'm going to have to mark Turok 2
down a little in the control area.
The gameplay itself is that of your run-of-the-mill post-Quake
first-person shooter, with you, as Joshua Fireseed, gunning down everything
that crosses your path. Most of the so-called "mission objectives"
are nothing more than finding X number of children, killing X number of
enemies, or locating a "key" item and bringing it to specific location.
There's nothing especially intellectualy stimulating, here, and the game
makes no pretensions toward being otherwise: Turok 2 is a pure 3D blast-em-up
featuring the occasional sniping exercise or jumping puzzle. In this respect,
Turok 2 delivers exactly what it promises.
However, in terms of FPS design, Turok 2 misses the mark, at least as
a single-player game. First of all, the levels, while gorgeously modelled and
brilliantly textured, are very awkward in layout and design, sporting little
about them that is intuitive or coherent. Contrast this with the
supremely intelligent level design found in games like Heretic 2 and Half-Life,
and Turok 2 comes up with locales that feel disfocused, rambling, and
needlessly labyrinthine. Despite the shockingly attractive surroundings, I
felt no real sense of location, since the levels lacked any architectural
consistency.
Exacerbating this problem is the lack of save points. As if the
inexplicably maze-like levels weren't irksome enough, the fact that you
will spend quite a bit of time negotiating them looking for save points
will really strain your tolerance, especially if you're like me and don't
have significantly long stretches of time to devote to playing. Also,
seeing as Turok 2 provides some very difficult scenarios, having to
retrace your steps from a save point umpteen miles away just to
re-enter the scenario you just died at and try again could test even
the patience of a saint. This is simply not good game design.
What Turok 2 does offer is a lot of gameplay - at least forty or so
hours worth, just to complete the game the first time. The levels are long
and the challenge is great, so there's no doubt that any gamer looking for
meat, without a care for quality, will be reasonably satisfied. As far as
play endurance goes, Turok 2 definitely delivers, and in spades.
The multiplayer aspect is probably the best part of Turok 2, with
surprisingly solid frame rates even in four-player mode. There are
a number of variations on the Deathmatch theme, including my favorite,
Frag Tag, where one of the players becomes a screeching monkey and is pursued
by the other three players. This version of deathmatch play is destined to
be an instant classic, and is probably the most sterling reason to purchase the
game. On top of the wide variety of DM play modes comes a roster of selectable
character types, which range from the speedy Adon to a giant, lumbering
Pur-linn warrior. Each character has a unique range of attributes, including
speed and armor levels.
There are a few drawbacks in the multiplayer modes, although some are
expected due to the limitations of technology. First of all, not all of the
weapons are available - sadly, this includes the Razorwind and the
Flamethrower - because that would put too many "one-hit kill" weapons in the
MP munitions roster. The levels are also smaller and less-detailed, in order
to keep the frame rate up. Most egregious among the drawbacks, though, is the
fact that when a game finishes, you are dumped out to the Turok 2 main screen
- this smacks of rushed interface design and should've been fixed before
release. Also, the sounds often cease after two weapons are fired
simultaneously - this also could've and should've been rectified before
shipping the game to store shelves. Still, complaints aside, Turok 2 does
offer one of the most entertaining N64 multiplayer experiences out there,
and really should be tried at least once if you're into party games.
In the final evaluation, Turok 2 comes across as a very long, very
challenging game with beautiful graphics but several notable flaws. The worst
flaw, perhaps, is not the frame rate or the lack of save points, but the
general impression that the game is actually quite mediocre, with
many cool gimmicky effects (graphics, gore, animation, pseudo-AI "tricks")
cleverly concealing the middle-grade level and play design beneath. Had
the game been holistically designed with less emphasis on clever visual tricks
and effects, I imagine that the frame rate and save point troubles would not
be an issue. Ultimately, I can't help but feel that what we have in Turok 2
is Quake with gorgeous graphics, poorly-planned (but attractive!) levels,
and gimmicks out the wazoo - in many ways, it's a step back from games like
Goldeneye, which shattered genre preconceptions by offering ingrained mission
objectives (as opposed to Turok 2's variations on the "find the key" or "shoot
X enemies" location-independent objectives) and more intelligent play.
If you're looking for nothing more than an eminently attractive
run-and-gunner with a few nifty tricks up its sleeve, Turok 2 will probably
fit the bill, provided you aren't a frame rate junkie and you don't mind
having to play long stretches at a time. On the other hand, if you are looking
for an FPS that will offer something a little more original at the core,
as Half-Life and Goldeneye do, you'd probably be better served in making
Turok 2 a rental or passing it up altogether, unless you crave a new
multiplayer FPS.
The Bottom Line: Turok 2 is an aesthetically impressive first-person shooter
that relies more on gimmicks than on holistically excellent game design to
immerse and involve the player.
-- Doug Erickson
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