VGM Fusion

Review: Turok (PS3)

Turok for the uninitiated is a character which was first born back in the 50’s in comic books, and saw an evolution to the realm of video games back on the N64 in the late 90’s. There were several sequels, but they all stuck by the time-traveling Native American who fights dinosaurs plot point. This new “re-imagining” of Turok takes place in the future, and he is just some guy of Native American decent who crashes onto a planet that has dinos on it. No time traveling here, just guns and lizards.

To some, that may be a bad thing, to others, they won’t care. Turok is a FPS, plain and simple… with a unique twist — you aren’t just fighting some human enemies, you’re fighting them while dinosaurs are trying to rip both you, and them to shreds. This is what gives it a hook. The AI for the beasts on the planet seemingly are blood thirsty for anything… you, the bad guys, other dinos, you name it. This adds up to some interesting tactics that you can employ in some parts of the game. Tactics which I like to call, “sit back and wait until the dinosaurs eat them all.” It works pretty good too.

Another fun little thing in Turok is the fact that no matter what weapon you’re carrying, you can rest assured that your knife is better. Okay, it may not as-plode things, but when you can waste several clips into a raptor chasing you, jumping onto its back and plunging your knife into its skull is usually quicker and more efficient. These “kill moves” are almost like those found in other games like Assassin’s Creed, Manhunt, or God of War. You are prompted to hit a button at just the right time, and then the camera will pull back so you can see just how much bloody damage you’re doing. Luscious.

The game runs on the new Unreal 3 engine, and although not as pretty as some of the other Unreal games out there, the PS3 version I played looked pretty impressive. The ability to render long grasses in certain areas that swayed with the wind and concealed many a hungry lizard in them certainly added to the atmosphere more than the “fogs” of older Turok games.

One of my main gripes with the game was its terrible aiming system. I don’t know if I’m losing my touch, but I had the hardest time aiming up baddies in my crosshairs… it was just too touchy! That could have been the fault of the PS3 controllers though, as I’ve never liked the dual analogues sitting at the bottom of the controller. The 360 (or, gasp! the Gamecube) controller works much better with it’s layout.

Bottom line when it comes to this game, yes there are a few cool portions with the dinos, but overall it’s a generic shooter. The voice acting in the game is commendable, but the story is short and weak in content. The graphics are good, but the controls leave something to be desired. Top it off with some 2nd rate multiplayer combat after you’re done the single player missions, and you’re likely to just throw a Rainbow Six, Call of Duty, or Halo game in and be much more satisfied.

Game Details:
Available: February 4, 2008
Publisher: Touchstone
Developer: Propaganda Games
Genre: FPS
ESRB: Mature 17+
VGM Rating: 3/5