Silicon Fusion >> Reviews >> Turok: Evolution

	All Platforms
	Xbox
	GameCube
	PlayStation 2
	PC
	Game Boy Advance

Site Sections:

	Updates
	News
	Games
	Publishers
	Developers
	Reviews
	Previews
	Release Dates
	Editorials
	Glossary
	Contact Us

Review:

16th September 2002:
Turok: Evolution
Turok evolves onto the Xbox. Walk with dinosaurs and then kill them!
Posted by John Grothier - Xbox - UK and Europe

When the N64 was launched five years ago, a new style of first person shooter appeared on the shelves on day one. Turok: Dinosaur Hunter was one of the most spectacular titles to ever grace a home console; it created a lavish, believable world in which to explore. Alongside an evil lizard-like race and many kinds of dinosaurs, there were other animals like deer, fish, monkeys and even birds flying in the sky. All this attention to detail caused it to be a massive hit, and over the next few years another three Turok titles appeared on Nintendo's aging console. Now Acclaim have just released a next generation Turok, a Turok for the next generation of systems, Turok: Evolution.

Turok: Evolution is a prequel in which we see our hero, Tal'Set, doing battle with his arch-enemy, Captain Tobias Bruckner, in Texas in the year 1886. During the fierce fight a rift between this world and the Lost Lands opens, and our hero is sucked into the void. Tal'Set wakes to find he has been nursed back to health from a near fatal fall from the rift in time. He finds himself in the small colony of River Village, a colony under threat from the evil Lord Tyrannus and his reptilian army. And so starts the quest in which Tal'Set must defeat Tyrannus and his many generals, and bring peace back to the Lost Lands.

The first thing that you notice about Turok: Evolution is the presentation, after a spectacular opening scene, the credits start to roll, accompanied by a rousing cinematic score. The first level sees Tal'Set making his way up a lush jungle path, the plants and bushes are disturbed as he pushes forward, and it's not long before he encounters a pack of small carnivorous dinosaurs. Once vanquished, the path leads to a truly stunning scene - a clearing filled with huge dinosaurs grazing by a small lake, with a waterfall cascading into the prehistoric lagoon. Pteranodon and exotic birds fly in the sky, and on top of a small rock clearing a family of baboons are preening themselves. The levels are filled with over thirty different kinds of animals, as well as dinosaurs and Tyrannus's troops - and you can kill them all!

Weapons in a first person shooter are one of the most important aspects, and Turok: Evolution doesn't disappoint. You start off with just the simple war club and bow, but it's not long before you find a pistol, and the sniper scope that fixes on to it, allowing you to pick off enemies over greater distances. Most of the weapons in Evolution have multiple uses by discovering attachments as you progress through the game. All the weapons you would expect from a Turok game are here, the shotgun, grenades, a minigun, plasma cannon, rocket launcher and flame thrower. There are even some fantastic new weapons like the dark matter cube and antigrave beam - these throw off some very impressive lighting effects. Remember the cerebral bore? Well this time it has evolved into the swarm bore. Instead of just drilling into the brain, the swarm bore rips off each arm and each leg as your victim screams in agony!

Another new feature in Turok: Evolution is the squad dynamics system. Your allies fight alongside Tal'Set and will only advance when you push forward. The AI for your soldiers is fairly basic but it does make for a welcome break in the later levels when you have to attack an enemy fortress. Flight in Turok is also a new addition, and Tal'Set takes to the back of a Pteranodon thankfully fitted with a machine gun and rocket launchers. These flying levels are great fun but they are slightly hampered by a far from perfect control system. Often you will find your prehistoric bird fly into the sides of the levels for no apparent reason. In fact, Turok: Evolution looks like a game that has just come out a few months too early, all the elements are here to make a true classic, but the game just looks unfinished in places, and apart from the opening scene there is virtually no story to propel the game along its fifteen chapters.

Most of the levels in Turok: Evolution look stunning and are well designed, the fog that hampered Turok on the N64 is nowhere to be seen on the Xbox. The draw distance is truly staggering, and as you progress through the levels you can often look far into the distance and see where you started. The levels are fairly linear, and often it is just a matter of just destroying everything in your path to reach your goal, but occasionally you come across simple puzzles that need to be solved. The only downside with the graphics is with the lack of high resolution textures, so if you get too close to some of the plants and other fauna in the game they can look quite blurred, and some of the textures are quite flat and bland to look at. However the dinosaurs and other animals in the game are animated fantastically, and all look and move realistically.

Sound in Turok: Evolution has to be its strongest asset. The musical score is not unlike that of a big budget Hollywood film. The Dolby 5.1 really blows you away and your subwoofer is on overload when you are in the heat of battle. You can hear all the wildlife in the game, birds in the trees, dinosaurs roar, and the calls of raptors send a shiver up your spine. The only sound problem I came across was that in the all-to-few cut scenes the voices could be a little weak and difficult to hear because of the music and other sound effects drowning the speech out.

Overall Turok: Evolution is an above average first person shooter. The really sad thing about it is the fact it could have been so much more, it really could have been a classic. If the game had been worked on for just a little bit longer, and if a lot more story had gone into the game, then Turok: Evolution would have given that other great Xbox first person shooter a real run for it's money!

John Grothier

Latest Images:

Review Scores:

Graphics:
Sound:
Gameplay:
Length:
Overall:
Click here for our Review Score Guidelines .

Review Summary:

Above average first person shooter that alows you to hunt over thirty dinosaurs and other animals as well a Tyrannus's lizard-like army. Fantastic weapons and stunning visual effects make the Xbox version of Turok: Evolution head and shoulders over the PlayStaion 2 and GameCube versions. But much of the game looks unfinished and there is hardly any story - but it's fun to play!

Related Games:

Turok Evolution
for Xbox

Screenshots

Review

Editorials

Click here for
All Game Information .

Go Back To Main Page

Go To Top Of Page