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It's not Halo...
…but
it's still a very strong game! In fact its one of the
best available for the GC. Not being a huge fan of FPS
(first person shooters), especially on consoles, this
wasn’t a game I would have normally been really excited
about, but having played Halo quite a bit in recent
weeks certainly wet my appetite for some fast paced
carnage on the ‘Cube.
STORYLINE
You are the Indian Warrior Tal’Set, leader of the
Saquin Nation. You are going up against arch enemy, and
Indian slayer, Captain Buckner. Buckner is a
brutal fighter from the American West, and has the blue
coat style civil war garb to prove it. As Tal, you’ll
have to hack, slash, shoot, burn and blow your way
through 15 levels of intense FPS goodness. Lock and
load.
LEVEL DESIGN
There is some variety in this game, which is nice when
compared to old school FPS like Doom, where you’re
essentially in a maze of hallways and Dungeons. Here’s
what you have:
JUNGLE. This is where the game starts, and you’ll
find yourself coming back throughout. It features a
definite prehistoric flavor, and there are plenty of
dinosaurs to view, kill, or be killed by. Generally, the
herbivores pay you no mind, however anything that eats
meat will definitely take a quick liking to your
presence. Veloceraptors almost always attack in packs,
and can be tough foe. Of course what dino excursion
would be complete without the mighty T-Rex. He’s here,
and he’s hungry. You’ll also run into other things like
mini-raptors and alligators, I even had a Triceratops
try to mow me down. Of course you’ll also have your
hordes of Sleg troops of differing types, see below for
details on them. Aside from the combatants, the jungle
environments are lush and impressive. This is also where
you’ll do most of your swimming. Underwater environments
are kinda dull and slow, but you’ll need to use them. I
found the Jungle to be the most difficult to navigate,
but this is more of a control issue.
Indoor. Here’s where you get into what is the
more traditional FPS environments. Initially, you’ll
encounter maze-like dungeons and hallways, with a plain
gray block appearance. Fortunately as you progress to
later levels (like the city), the environments get much
more complex, colorful, and multi-leveled. Navigating
the indoor levels is cake, and really lets you enjoy the
speed of FPS play. There are however some areas where
you must be careful not to fall off of small bridges and
ledges, as it will mean certain death. Throughout these
levels you’ll be looking for switches and control
stations, which will allow you to open doors and
progress. Of course with each door you open, you release
new fleets of Sleg troops, so be ready!
Ariel. A few levels in the game are strictly in
the air. You take the helm of a Quetzalcoatlus
(basically, a Pteraldactyl) and do battle. You’re
equipped with machine guns and a rocket launcher, though
there are some power-ups and variations. Throughout the
levels you’ll have to take out other flyers, tanks,
guns, and occasionally an entire enemy camp! These
missions definitely change things up, but they don’t
compare to the true FPS levels, and I basically trudged
through them to move on.
ENEMIES
There aren’t a lot of different types, but they do
upgrade their hardware throughout the game so they
definitely increase in difficulty. Raptors, Sleg
Troops, and Snipers make up the volume of the
targets. In small numbers they can be handled with
relative ease, but a bunch of them (from all angles) and
you gotta be on your game. Dinosoids are
basically bigger and badder versions of the Slegs, watch
out for ‘em! Purrlin are the biggest and baddest
of them all, keep your distance when you unload on these
guys. Of course you’ll have to deal with Buckner, but I
won’t ruin that battle for you.
WEAPONS
Turok: Evolution doesn’t lack for hardware. There are a
lot of weapons, and they offer a wide range of killing
goodness (or maybe badness is more appropriate) I won’t
list everything, but will highlight my favorites.
The first firearm you pick up is a pistol, and it
is handy early on. The only reason I mention it is
because of the Sniper Scope upgrade. This allows
you to eliminate enemies from long range (especially
other snipers). I love it, and head shots are very
enjoyable. What shooting/adventure game would not be
complete without a shotgun. It’s powerful in
close range, and can lay down a solid rate of fire. The
Flechette Gun flat out rules! It’s the only
projectile weapon that can be used underwater, and when
you find the Minigun Barrels you’ll be blazing
away in Gatlin gun style! The Flamethrower, Rocket
Launcher, and Plasma Cannon are all very
powerful and essential in the later stages, be sure to
save them for the right enemies!
The Spider Mine is an important and diverse
little tool, which why it gets it’s own paragraph.
You’ll actually have to perform stealth missions, which
means you can’t be seen or the entire area is locked
down and basically you’re done. You can pitch the Spider
Mine out and then take control of it. It allows you to
survey areas and identify enemies. The cool thing is you
can also use it to take them out. Sneak up on an enemy
and release deadly gas and they’re done. You can also
close in on enemies and the mine will speak, which will
lure enemies away from certain areas, or get them in
better position for attack. Lastly, you can use the
Spider Mine as a portable bomb. Just walk it up and
fire, turns baddies inside out! Definitely a cool option
to give the game a little extra kick.
OPTIONS
Turok offers some options, which will allow the game to
be customized based on your skill level. Auto Aim
can be turned on or off, as can the targeting
Crosshair. The HUD (heads Up Display) can also be
toggled on/off. You have an option for Violence,
turning it off tones down the graphic nature of the
game, I recommend it on! You can turn the rumble on/off,
but its good to have on in order to know you're being
hit, sometimes in all the crossfire you can't tell. You
can adjust the speed at which the camera moves. You have
settings for both vertical and horizontal. Default is 5,
on a scale of 1-10. There are a few other things,
especially in multiplayer, but as you can see the game
offers a lot!
CONTROL/GAMEPLAY (7)
The controls are quite good. You have some minor
options, but basically you use the Main Stick to move
forward and back, and left and right will allow you to
strafe. The Left shoulder button allows you to fire
rockets in ariel missions, and allows you to duck when
in FPS mode. The Yellow Control Stick is used to look
and aim. Essentially you use both control sticks at the
same time to move and target simultaneously, which is
important if you plan to survive. Stopping = dying!
Since both thumbs will be constantly in use, you’ll be
using the Right should button to fire. Though not as
quick and positive as the Green A button, it gets the
job done. Speaking of big Green, it is only used to
jump. The Red B button and the Y button simply scroll
through your weapons, from either direction. The X
button will let you change to different options on some
weapons. The purple Z button is used to activate your
sniper scope, when equipped. The D-pad is unused for
gameplay, but can be used to scroll through menus. All
in all it gets the job done, and was comfortable after
about a half-hour of play. The only criticism is it
would have been nice to have a button for a map.
The Gameplay is very solid overall, but has a few
issues. First the good, when in open environments it
moves smooth and fast. Most of the time the gameplay is
just a joy, offering seamless control. Now the bad.
You’ll find yourself getting hung up when in complex
terrain (which means the Jungle). Within 5 minutes of
starting the game, Tal got stuck in front of a door and
wouldn’t move, I have to restart the level. Jumping is
another thing that will give headaches. Some jumps take
multiple tries to complete, and you’ll need several
attempts to get down the technique necessary. There are
also times when you need to jump while ducking to get
between a box and the ceiling to activate a switch, this
is a real pain. Flying can get tough, cause you’re
always moving forward at the same speed, and you’ll have
to navigate some very tight areas, if you crash you’re
dead. In open areas, the aerial controls are also very
smooth. Fortunately the good far outweighs the bad, just
be prepared for some occasional glitches.
This game supports up to 4 players for some fragging
action. I’ve only been able to do 2 player so far, but
it’s a blast, literally. They even provide several
additional weapons and options for the multiplayer,
which definitely adds to the excitement. While the
single player adventure is great, this is where the game
will become a must for the FPS fan.
GRAPHICS (8)
Acclaim really harnessed the power of the GC. Good,
colorful models, combined with lush, vast environments
make for visual splendor. Aliasing and Slowdown are
virtually nonexistent, and the game runs smooth as silk.
Details like blood splatter on walls are very cool. Aim
for the knees, and you’ll quickly see your target
hopping on one leg, as blood spurts from his new stump.
Head shots are great fun, and I highly recommend them!
The primary characters are clean and sharp looking,
however there are a few instances where it appears
corners were cut. In the cut scene with the Senate,
their modeling is very bland and blocky (they have
square heads for God’s sake), and their mouths don’t
move when speaking. While this only represents a brief
encounter, it’s still noticeable. In the Jungle, the
plant boundaries are very 2D in appearance, but if you
stay where you’re supposed to its not a major issue.
Overall, very nice. While not blown away, I got what I
expect from the GC.
SOUND (8)
This game runs in Dolby Surround Pro Logic II, and it’s
awesome. All of the effects are crisp, powerful, and
varied. The Pro Logic does a great job of expanding the
sound field, especially when you’re in open battle
environments and there’s a lot of action. Hopefully
Nintendo keeps pushing this in future games. I would
rate a 10 for execution, however the sound effects
(while very good) were not amazing, hence the 8.
REPLAY (9)
The single player adventure is vast and intense, and
would certainly be worthy of replay as time passes.
Multiplayer is where the real replay value exists, and
it will never get old with this game.
OVERALL (8)
It’s not perfect, but it does everything it’s supposed
to. While not having “game-of-the-year” potential like
Halo, it still delivers. Don’t bother renting, just buy
it!
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