Gaming Target - Xbox: Turok: Evolution

Written by Gavin Wright on September 10, 2002

Full Review: УEvolution, ehh? Continuously slinging arrows into the head of a motionless lizard-like creature isn't exactly what I call evolution.Ф

Last November Microsoft brought us what was quite possibly the best console first-person shooter ever created alongside the Xbox's release. Halo has raised the bar for the FPS genre substantially, and it's only inevitable that subsequent entries into the genre would be subject to comparison with such a legendary game. That said, Turok: Evolution, the latest in Acclaim's bloody prehistoric shooter series, simply isn't able to hold up against the new standards set by games such as Halo. But for fans of the previous N64 incarnations that aren't necessarily looking for any major changes to the game's tried-and-true formula, Evolution is definitely worth checking out.

Turok: Evolution is a prequel of sorts, taking place before the original Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and detailing the warrior Tal'Set and his rise to fame. The opening cinematic shows Tal'Set and the rest of the Saquin Nation tribesmen in the middle of a fierce battle with Captain Bruckner and his troops. Tal'Set races towards Bruckner and engages in a melee battle, but the fight is abruptly interrupted as they both fall into some sort of a time rift that sends them into a prehistoric world known as the Lost Lands.

Newcomers to the series may be surprised to find that most of the enemies the game pits you against aren't dinosaurs at all, but an advanced lizard-like species that has developed nearly to the extent of the human race. The species, known as Slegs, are made up of numerous classes, from the tiny human-size snipers to the huge, heavily-armored, rocket-launcher wielding boss creatures. The Sleg forces can be a lot of fun to kill, with a well-placed shot capable of taking off a limb or beheading your unlucky victim. Once they're dead, you can chop up their bodies with a Warhammer until there's nothing left but a torso. It's pretty neat, that is, until the body and pool of blood encircling the corpse disappear only seconds after death.

The game's environments are well-varied, from the sniper-friendly, slow-paced forest worlds to the run-and gun nature of the indoor levels. Regardless of the setting, most every level is terribly linear. Even the outside levels will make you feel as though you're being led along on a string, with flat Сwalls' of foliage to keep you from straying too far off the beaten path. The element of exploration only comes in when you're searching out item pick-ups that are often hidden behind rocks or in precarious spots. At some points, it is possible to use things in the environment to kill enemies. For instance, in the forest certain trees can be cut or shot down and dropped on an enemy. The technique isn't easy to use to any degree of effectiveness, but it's still a nice idea that could have been further developed.

A lot of work has been put into Turok: Evolution to further develop the game's enemy A.I., something that has always been lacking in the N64 versions of the series. While the A.I. is definitely improved in some areas, there are still some glitches that seem to occur more often than not. First, for the good Ц enemies will take cover behind available rocks and structures, peeking out only to shoot. They also act in a group, attacking together and running away when they think they're outmatched. Certain enemies are more likely to lead their troops into battle, while others are programmed to stay back. If one of them takes fire, they may alert the others if given enough time to do so. They will also arrange ambushes by positioning themselves behind objects and showing themselves only after they've encircled you. Unfortunately, things aren't always perfect. In most levels if you snipe an enemy from a long distance they won't even react to the shot, and simply stand there as you proceed to kill them. They are also prone to getting stuck on parts of the environment or even one another, making them pathetically easy kills. Above all, these inconsistencies hurt the game more than any other single determining factor.

The Turok series has become known for housing some of the most outrageous, undeniably cool weapons ever seen in a video game, and Evolution is no different. One of my personal favorites is the Tekbow, an advanced version of the bow-and-arrow complete with a scope. In addition to regular arrows, the Tekbow can shoot Poison-tipped and Exploding arrows as well. One of the more obscure weapons is the Spider mine. After dropping the remote-controlled mine, you are able to take control of it and infiltrate areas undetected. The mine can be used in one of three ways Ц it can transmit a voice message to lure enemies away from their posts, emit poison that is capable of filling a large room, or simply explode to kill any nearby enemies. Nearly every single weapon can be upgraded to give it multiple functions. For instance, the pistol you get in the first level is modified to become your sniper rifle. The only problem with the weapons is that it is often difficult to find the one you're looking for in the middle of a battle, since you have to cycle through your entire arsenal just to switch weapons. It would have made things a lot easier if the game had used the D-Pad for weapon selecting, or even a visual display like the one used in Max Payne. Despite this, the weapons are probably the best part of Turok, adding quite a bit of strategy and even some novelty to the game.

Turok relies heavily on health pick-ups to balance out the gameplay, since it can be very difficult to come away from an encounter without losing a moderate amount of health. As a result, health packs are arbitrarily scattered throughout the levels, seemingly always available after a battle. It can be easy to exploit AI glitches in the game, which can make for some unrewarding kills here and there. In fact, it's almost as if Acclaim anticipated that players would utilize these glitches to their advantage, since the game would be incredibly difficult if it weren't for the occasional break they cut you.

Before beginning each stage you are introduced to the level's goal, which is usually something as simple as getting from point A to point B. There are some primitive puzzle-solving elements set within the levels, but they're usually as simple as hitting a set of switches to open up a door or destroying a set of computers to disable a security lock. However, most of the time you simply have to kill all the enemies in a room to proceed onward.

New to Turok: Evolution is the addition of flying missions, placing Tal'Set on the back of an armed pterodactyl, complete with machine guns and guided missiles. The shooting stages take place every third chapter or so, giving you a nice break away from the claustrophobic shooting stages. However, by the end of the chapter you'll probably more than ready to get back to the shooting levels, as the flying stages don't serve as much more than a diversion.

In addition to the 15-chapter single player game, Turok also has a multiplayer mode that supports up to four players. The multiplayer mode features a full set of original levels, temporary power-ups that aren't present in the single-player mode, and the ability to set certain in-game parameters. It's disappointing that Turok doesn't support system link play, because most of the levels just seem too big for only four people, and the multiplayer modes would be better realized with more players.

Turok now makes use of the dual-joystick configuration that has become a standard on next-generation controllers. The new control scheme is a major improvement over past games in the series that used the N64's C-buttons for movement. There are multiple button layouts available, with a southpaw setup that reverses the joystick's functions and an old-school Turok setup that uses the four action buttons for movement. There are also options to invert the aiming and to adjust the stick's look sensitivity. It makes the game much easier to play, and will undoubtedly give Halo veterans a jump-start into the game.

From a graphical standpoint, Xbox owners have traditionally gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to multiplatform releases, and Turok: Evolution is no different. The environments, while they are passable from a distance, tend to lack a lot of detail up close. Most textures are blurred to an indistinguishable level, and the game's character models are absolutely hideous. Explosions and lighting effects have seen a bit of a facelift in the Xbox version, but they're still nothing spectacular. Load times are a particular pain, taking upwards to 30 seconds to load up before every level, as well as each time you die or restart. It's clear that the developers didn't factor in the flying missions while designing the graphics engine, since you can't go more than a few minutes without another one of these insanely-long load screens popping up.

The one visual high point in Turok is the enemy and weapons animations, which are easily some of the best around. Enemy snipers will crouch down and hide behind rocks, then prop their rifles up to take a shot and quickly go back into hiding. Exploding arrows and rocket launchers will send smaller enemies comedically flying across the screen or plummeting off a cliff. Poison arrows make for an undeniably-cool death, bringing enemies down to their knees to puke their guts out before finally dropping dead. Every weapon in Turok's arsenal transforms to facilitate their alternate uses, like the flachette gun that opens up to become a powerful minigun. It's all very cool, and brings a lot of visual style to the game.

Turok's sound design is another of the game's high points. The in-game music is moody and atmospheric, opening up to suspense directly before key encounters throughout the levels. Voice-overs of both enemies and NPC's are top-notch, despite being somewhat underused. The game also makes great use of directional audio to give depth and distance to the sound effects.