Turok: Dinosaur Hunter

One of the first N64 games, Turok Dinosaur Hunter(Or just Turok 1) is the best of all 5 Turoks. The game has only nine levels, but each level is so big that the amount of levels increases to eighteen! The game was very difficult.Even the easy mode was a challenge. The sound was good, with tribal musics and the sounds of a jungle. The gameplay was so-so.The camera was confusing and the control's response was not so good.But the shot's response was very good, even for the slow-recharging guns. And talking of guns, that was the game's good point.There was more than 15 guns, each one more bizarre than the other.You start with a simple knife, but in advanced courses you could use a strange gun that shoots a light wave that transform the foe in a statue and after some seconds the statue explodes.You could even use a guns that shoots a small red star, but after one or two seconds, the star explodes and emits a destructive wave that destroys everything around it. Turok Dinosaur Hunter is one of the best FPS games of the N64 console. 9.75/10.

I rented this game a lot when it came out because for one it was pretty fun, but also because the Nintendo 64 just did not have a huge array of games at this point for its system. Cartridges seem to take longer to make compared to CD's. This one has you playing as the title character Turok and you are a guy who hunts dinosaurs...in this one first person style. I can explore this vast land and can kill my fair share of dinosaurs, though I also have to say I never came close to winning this one. The first time I rented it I could not save, because you needed a save card for it. I do not understand why, seeing as how it is a cartridge and by this time you could save on cartridges no problem. Just look at all those Super NES games! The next few times I could walk around in some areas, but others I would be killed very quickly. I gave up on ever winning this one when I got slaughtered not by a dinosaur, but some dude in his pickup truck. I would later try one other Turok game, but it too was a bit to challenging. Not quite as bad as this one as I at least knew what to do in that one, here you are kind of wandering around trying to figure what to do. How was I supposed to know you could find pieces of things you need in very obscure places? Why is a dude in a truck so much tougher than the dinosaurs? Why did they have to make a game that should of been a great time and make it so difficult by hiding things you need so well and making the game so hard to figure out? I am guessing this game had a strategy guide that would be very beneficial to a person playing this. As it is, it is fun to pass a few hours, but unless you are a top notch game player do not expect to get to far without some type of aid.

I deducted a point from the overall score due to the annoying technical limitations that were carried over from the Nintendo 64 to the PC. For instance, save points were few and far between, which gets frustrating in more difficult levels. Consolitis aside, however, Turok proves to be a very entertaining shooter for "dinosaur hunters" and first-person shooter fans alike.

The first thing you'll notice when you start playing Turok is the amazingly realistic movement. When you walk, you'll see your first-person view bob in ways that make you feel nauseous for the first few minutes of gameplay, but you'll get used to it pretty quickly. When you swim underwater, you truly feel like you're swimming, thanks to realistic swimming movement (unlike in Duke Nukem 3D and Quake, where you felt like you were "walking" underwater) and a tinted blue screen when you're underwater. The superb graphics further add to the immersion. The gameworld is filled with outstanding detail, and never-before-seen special effects like fog make you feel like you're really in a living, breathing dinosaur world. The sound is also excellent, with footstep sounds, water splashing, birds chirping in the background, and stuff like that.

There's an excellent variety of enemies, from human mercenaries to nasty bugs to evil aliens and, of course, dinosaurs. The variety of weapons is just as awesome (I counted 13 weapons in total -- probably more weapons than in any other first-person shooter at the time), with all of the standard-issue weapons (knife, pistol, shotgun, assault rifle, grenade and rocket launchers, plasma gun) as well as totally awesome new ones (explosive crossbow, explosive shotgun, nuclear warheads), and a few other ones I couldn't remember. Coupled with over-the-top, realistic violence and gore, you simply can't go wrong shooting up all the enemies in this game. When you shoot an enemy, blood splatters all over the place (though it unfortunately disappears after a few seconds). The death animations also vary depending on where you shoot them (as opposed to previous 3D shooters that only had one death animation). Neck shots will cause blood to spurt from their neck while they slowly die, leg shots will cause enemies to writhe on the ground in pain, etc. While I think that Acclaim could've done a better job porting the game from the Nintendo 64 to the PC (see above), Turok is a very entertaining shooter that's well worth playing, especially for those who enjoy killing dinosaurs.

This game is now being turned into a movie by Adam Beach and Hayden "Darth Vader" Christensen. Too bad. It will most likely completely destroy any dignity left upon it after all those awful sequels.

Turok remains one of the best for the Nintendo 64 gaming system. Yes, I play video games, because where else can you live out your movie heroes? You should get one.

Turok gets 5/5 stars from me...

John Ulmer

Turok is one of my favourite games on the N64, it has shooting, gore and object finding. The weapons are normal and sci-fi looking and the enemies are a mix of people and dinosaurs. The graphics may seem cheap compared to the modern games but I still enjoy playing it. One problem is that the keys to enter the next level can be hard to find and annoying at parts but besides that Turok: Dinosuar Hunter is a good game to play.

I also recommend the sequels to this game, Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion, Turok: Rage Wars, Turok: Evolution.

Check this game out at the local video game shop, you can get it at a bargain than it's original price that I heard was £70.