Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
Reviewed by Jeremy Sundan
This is my third favorite game on the Nintendo 64, coming behind
Goldeneye 007 and Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire. Turok is a warrior
in a land where dinosaurs are not extinct, aliens are real, demons and
monsters roam the land, bugs are huge, robots and soldiers await behind
every corner, and people are still luckily alive. It mixes elements from
the past such as dinosaurs and giant dragon flies, the present such as
poachers and even the future such as robots and futuristic weapons. It
also has other things like demons, aliens, and monsters. In a world full
of aliens, dinosaurs, demons, and monsters your greatest enemy is a
human called the Campaigner. You must search through eight long,
frustrating levels to find pieces of a powerful weapon called the
Chronosceptor and at the same time find keys to the other levels and
staying alive will be the toughest part. You have to get a hold of the
chronosceptor before the Campaigner does. The Campaigner will send an
army of soldier! s to stop you from getting a hold of the weapon while
you have to get through other enemies at the same time. You are the
chosen Warrior, You are Turok.
Graphics 100 out of 100
The graphics are extraordinary. It has very realistic scenario such as the
cliffs and the waterfalls. The items and weapons look cool also. When
you kill enemies when they are standing by a small tree if you use a
certain weapon like the fusion cannon or the Chronosceptor the tree
will fall over, that adds a pretty cool effect. The only bad thing about
that is that you have to kill an enemy to make it fall over. Some flaws
about the graphics are that sometimes when you fall off a cliff your
legs go through the side of the cliff. They also could have added in the
ability to sneak up behind a guy and kill him like in Golden Eye 007.
The animation of the enemies is great. The way they die when you kill
them is cool. The enemies also have different faces so they are not all
going around looking like the same person you killed over and over
again. Some times when you see them where they can't see you, you
can see them holding their guns, swinging it against their hand. They
should have more movements that they do when they can't see you.
Another thing I consider bad is the color of the sky. I don't think it
should be so foggy. It should look like a normal sky. There should be
more trees and not so much open Terrain. I think a night level would
give an interesting effect also. Another good thing about the graphics
is the temples, buildings, rocks, water, and the blood. One thing I consider
dumb about the game is that when you get a key, he holds it in the air. I
know he must be happy that he found the key but that is dumb. Even the
way he holds the key in the up looks dumb. Another thing I consider dumb
is that the guy on the book that comes with the game isn't the guy you h
ave in the game. It would be good if you could choose the character you
want to play with.
Music and Sound 100 out of 100
The music is great. It has the sound like you would here from a Indian
tribe beating their drums without making all that yelling. The music is
good for a game like itself. The sound FX is great too. The gory sound of
an enemy dieing and the blood gushing out or squirting out the neck of
an enemy is perfect. The sound of the guns when you shoot them or the
grenades blowing up is very realistic. When an enemy yells after getting
shot or even your self getting shot is cool too. When you fall off a cliff
the yelling you do is cool. You can also hear pillars lowering and doors
opening and closing. in certain areas enemies will appear out of no where
and you have to be able to hear them teleporting to the surrounding area
by you for so they won't just sneak up behind you.
Game Challenge 80 out of 100
The challenge is just pretty much not dieing and running out of
ammunition. Getting through certain parts of a level can be a challenge
and so can finding all the pieces of the Chronosceptor and finding the
keys. Defeating the Tyranosaurus Rex is a challenge but the real challenge
is killing the Campaigner.
Game Play-Fun 96 out of 100
The game is very fun it could be more fun if it had a multiplayer mode and
if you could sneak up behind your enemies like they sneak up behind you.
Putting in certain cheat codes often makes the game fun. The most fun part
is killing the human enemies watching them die is cool, especially when the
blood squirts out of the neck.
Frustration
The game gets very frustrating at times but games that don't get
frustrating are often too easy. Good games like this one are usually
frustrating, after all what's a game without frustration. Some frustrating
parts are killing the Tyranosaurus Rex, defeating the Campaigner, jumping
across ledges and pillars, staying alive, and trying to find where the hell
is that missing key.
Replayability 80 out of 100
The game is fun but it can get a little boring at times. I don't play it
over and over again, not since I beat it but there is still three difficulties.
I usually first play a game on the easiest difficulty, then after I beat it I
try the next difficulty because if you start a game on the hardest difficulty
then beat it, it would be too easy on the other difficulties.
Game Value 40 out of 40
The game is definitely worth it's price. When I bought it it cost $70.00.
Now it cost $40.00. It was still worth it's price at $70. but now it is
available at a even better. If you don't have this game I would get it.
Control and movement 50 out of 100
I hated the controls. The way you have to walk with the C buttons and
the way you straffe with the C buttons is sucks too. You should walk
with the control stick and straffe with the L and R buttons. Like in
Doom 64. The way you can choose between running and jumping is cool.
The ability to jump is good too.
Weapon Coolness 63 out of 98
I have rated the weapons in Turok from 0-7 According to coolness
Knife ......................................6
Tek Bow.................................0
Pistol.......................................5
Assault Rifle............................5
Shotgun..................................6
Auto. Shotgun.........................7
Grenade Launcher..................4
Pulse Rifle...............................6
Mini Gun..................................7
Alien Weapon..........................5
Quad Rocket Launcher...........3
Particle Accelerator..................5
Fussion Cannon........................1
Chronosceptor..........................3
Overall 93 out of 100
Graphics.........................100 out of 100
Music and Sound...........100 out of 100
Game Challenge............. 80 out of 100
Game Play-Fun............... 96 out of 100
Replayability.................... 80 out of 100
Game Value.................... 40 out of 40
Control and Movement.... 50 out of 100
Weapon Coolness........... 63 out of 100
Final Grade...................... 93 out of 100