Gaming Target - GameCube: Turok: Evolution

Written by Kyle Williams on July 24, 2002

Final Glimpse: "Kemosabe this! You Jurassic Park reject!"

Turok, a veteran of comic book heroism, first blasted his way into videogames with the 1997 release Turok: Dinosaur Hunter. Developed by Iguana Studios (now known as Acclaim Studios Austin) and published by Acclaim, Dinosaur Hunter was one of the first big third-party releases on the Nintendo 64. The game managed to create an air of suspense by turning the limitations of the 64-bit console back in on themselves. Dinosaur Hunter was truly a big step forward for first-person shooter representation on game consoles, and one of the biggest things that it had going for it was that the game revolved around shooting dinosaurs.

Subsequent Turok titles have strayed from traipsing through the rainforests and ventured more into the realm of science fiction and the technological age. Turok: Evolution is actually heading back to it's dinosaur hunting roots and is actually going to precede the events of past Turok games. The game is going to open with Tal'Set, the series' protagonist, battling Captain Tobias Bruckner in Texas during the days of Cowboys and Indians, specifically 1886. In the midst of this battle, Tal'Set will find himself torn from the world he knows and thrown into the Lost Lands.

Luckily for Tal'Set, the natives of the River Village come across his tattered body and nurse him back to health. Stranded in their world, Tal'Set will find himself the reluctant leader of their resistance against the evil Lord Tyrannus and his throngs of reptilian marauders.

To support the story and impressive visual polish that the game is sporting, Acclaim Studios Austin has developed a brand-new game engine that is specifically tuned to run on the 128-bit video game consoles. Turok's adventures will take him across the many different faces of the Lost Lands, including sweeping meadows, dense jungles, and immense mountain peaks. Packed with more than 3,000 recorded sound effects, these environments are going to both whisper and scream with realism. Touches ranging from shrubs that react to creatures passing to destructible rock spires are all being included in an effort to create the most comprehensive gaming world to date.

Speaking of destruction, Turok will again have one of the most imaginative arsenals available to him. New additions to the 30 weapon lineup are the Gravity Disrupter Beam, Swarm Bore, and Baby Nuke. Tal'Set will definitely need to call upon all of these to dispel the more than 30 different types of reptilian, insectoid, mammalian, and oceanic life forms. No one can say that Turok: Evolution is going to be short on features. In fact, Evolution will set another first in the franchise as Tal'Set takes to the back of a flying Quetzalcoatlus for both air-to-ground and multi-player battles.

Hopefully, the new Squad Dynamics System that Acclaim Studios Austin has developed will put a new twist on squad combat in a firtst-person-shooter. This system is supposed to deliver realistic enemy and allied squad intelligence. It is going to enable troops to take cover from enemy fire, establish strategic positions and even surrender when the going gets too tough. This development should help to keep the experience fresh throughout the game by encouraging the occasional bout of brains over brawn as you stealthily slip past a secured position.