Product Description

Turok is an epic, story-driven first-person shooter set on a dark, mysterious planet in the future. Players take on the role of Joseph Turok, a former black ops commando, now part of an elite special forces squad, known as Whiskey Company, which is on a mission to take down a war criminal - Turok's former mentor, Roland Kane. While Whiskey Company is traveling to the genetically altered planet inhabited by Kane and his soldiers, Whiskey Company's ship is shot down. Turok must use his elite military training to elude Kane's well-trained army, known as Mendel-Gruman, and the ravenous, unpredictable dinosaurs, huge insects and other massive creatures that populate the dangerous environment. Turok's mission? Survive at all costs.
Dino Mauling - Dinosaurs pounce on Turok and he must struggle to pull himself from their jaws to avoid being eaten Realistic A.I. - Enemy soldiers respond dynamically to the player's movements and dinosaurs react in unpredictable predatory behaviors Multiplayer - Engage in online multiplayer modes for up to 16 players with terrifying creatures added to the mix ESRB Rated M for Mature

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3539 in Video Games
• Brand: Touchstone
• Model: 00249
• Published on: 2008-01
• Released on: 2008-02-05
• ESRB Rating: Mature
• Platform: Xbox 360
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .25" h x 5.50" w x 7.50" l, .33 pounds

Features

• Strategic Combat-Choose to take out your enemies with quiet kills or massive firepower
• Intense Dino Combat-Battle vicious dinosaurs or lure them to attack your enemies
• Explosive Weapons-Choose from 13 weapons with most featuring a secondary function
• Intelligent A.I.-Enemy soldiers advance to flank and dinosaurs react in unpredictable predatory and defensive behavior
• Multiplayer Action-Take the fight on-line with intense action for up to 16 players on dinosaur-infested maps

Amazon.com
Prepare to experience an evolution in the first person shooter. Originally one of the most popular titles for the Nintendo 64, the Turok franchise has returned with a roar; this time springing on to the Next Generation gaming platform. Armed with a rich, all-new story line, as well as features and gameplay that will remind players why they fell for the genre in the first place, players will come away knowing why it is a good thing for humans that dinosaurs went extinct.

An FPS evolved

You don't want to cross Turok. View larger.

There's more than one way to skin a raptor. View larger.

Duel wielding against the Wolf Pack. View larger.

Solidier Bugs are as bad as dinos. View larger.

The Story
You are Joseph Turok, once a member of Wolf Pack — the most savage, merciless black ops squad of its time. Now, you have been attached by special order to Whiskey Company, an elite commando team, for what should have been a simple mission: Capture and detain Roland Kane from his fortress on a worthless, backwater planet. Kane is an escaped war criminal, the once-legendary leader of Wolf Pack...and your former mentor. Unbeknownst to you and your team, Kane is in command of a secret paramilitary force funded by the Mendel-Gruman (M-G) Corporation. As Whiskey Company's ship approaches the planet, it is blasted out of the sky by Kane's troops. Suddenly, your simple mission isn't quite so simple. Even worse, it quickly becomes apparent that Mendel-Gruman scientists have been terraforming and genetically engineering the once-barren planet for accelerated evolution.

The Trouble with Dinosaurs
The trouble is that they like meat and that’s just what you are to them. So your number one rule is don’t get eaten. Far from cuddly, the genetically altered prehistoric beasts that Mendel-Gruman has unleashed on the landscape of the world you are dropped into come in all shapes, sizes. Although game developer, Propaganda Games, drew from Earth’s own fossil record, they also let their creative juices flow as they created the deadly fauna of the game. Just a few of the beasties players will have to deal with are:

Velociraptors – Velociraptors are some of the most vicious and deadly predators on the planet. Beware, they can charge their prey, knocking them backwards and then mauling them with their deadly claws and teeth.

Mini-Raptors – Despite their diminutive size, mini-raptors move quickly and often hunt in packs, making them a deadly enemy.

Dilophosaurus – This large dinosaur is a mean carnivore with a huge appetite. It has a large crest on its head and can use its powerful tail to knock down enemies.

Lurkers – Like a cross between a dinosaur and a powerful jungle cat, Lurkers prowl the jungle, climbing and positioning themselves on trees and rocks, always ready to pounce on its next prey.

Soldier Bugs – These eight legged creatures look like the common scorpion, but they are much bigger and deadlier. They can be encountered in caves and other dark, enclosed areas on the planet. They are often seen in swarms, and due to their large size can easily overcome prey.

T-Rex – The Mother of all dinosaurs, the T-Rex is the smartest and largest of all creature enemies on this terraformed planet. Turok and Whisky company will have many run-ins with the T-Rex throughout the campaign.

In addition to these, other creatures also roam the jungles and caves of the planet, some carnivorous and others plant eaters, but all are dangerous. Underestimate them at your own risk.

Strategy and Multiplayer Mayhem
Although the real attention grabber in Turok are the dinosaurs, the most challenging combat in the game is essentially human on human. In these clashes the dinos serve as very dangerous obstacles. Even so, it’s best not to go dino crazy, so the best players should not only come to coexist with the ‘terrible lizards’ of this planet, but find a use for them. Through a combination of tactics players will learn how to use the single-minded feeding instinct of the dinosaurs against their human enemies, both real and AI. But be cautious. Your human opponents know the rules of engagement as well as you do and may very well use your own tactics against you.

Regarding game modes, in addition to a single player mode utilizing engaging cinematic flashbacks and in-game interactions with non-playable characters to reveal the path that has brought Turok to the jungles of this alien world, players will also enjoy several raging online multiplayer modes. Including everything from four-player co-op play to 16 player matches in deathmatch and capture the flag modes, these online frag-fests are best enjoyed by spreading the action across the game’s seven in-game maps. Filled with a variety of terrain ranging from high exposed routes, to low lying paths and even lava covered volcano slopes, these maps and possible additional downloadable content, should add extensive hours of gameplay.

Weapons – Quiet and Not So Quiet Kills
True to its RPG roots Turok comes loaded with a large arsenal of weapons, but the real fun of this selection is its variety. Easily accessible from your controller’s D-Pad, available weapons are both low tech and modern, and range from the basic, but quite deadly survival knife and compound bow, all the way up to standard FPS favorites like chain guns, shotguns, duel-wield pistols and a rocket launcher. Learning to use all these at the proper time is also crucial. Beyond the addiction of taking down an enemy with nothing but a cold piece of steel, silence on the battlefield can be priceless, especially when there are raptors about that will come running at the slightest sound. But on the other hand a rocket launcher does come in handy in a pinch.

In the end whether it’s taking on the game’s larger than life fauna or its unabashed old-school shooter roots, Turok is a sure bet to deliver for gamers yearning to get back to the good old days.

Customer Reviews

Turok is back, for better or worse
Remember Turok: Dinosaur Hunter? One of the original launch titles way back when for the Nintendo 64, Turok enjoyed a solid series of FPS' over the next few years, and then just vanished (mainly thanks to then publisher Acclaim going under). Well, Turok is back in action and in familiar settings, as he takes on baddies, mutants, and of course, dinosaurs. The game gets off to a great start as you are fully engulfed in Turok's dangerous environments, but sadly it doesn't take too long to see just what all Turok has to offer. The redundant enemies, areas, and an overall feeling of the linear are fully on display with Turok, which offers little in the way of surprises after you first put some time into the game. Graphically speaking, Turok gets the job done, but you'll play far better looking FPS' on the XBox 360, and the texture glitches don't help the cause here either. Flaws aside, Turok has a fair share of good points as well: the game's musical score is fantastic, there is a very nice assortment of weapons and are implemented quite well, the dinos look and sound good, and co-op and multiplayer options are solid. All in all, you'll certainly play better FPS', but for what it's worth, Turok is a fun, albeit flawed, shooter that is better than the sum of its parts.

Very Detailed Review of Turok
I have been playing Turok since its initial launch on the N64 to its evolution to the PS2 and X-Box. I was rather upset when the game just disappeared when Acclaim went under. Let me tell you, when I first heard of this new Turok coming out I was even more excited than I was when Halo 3 was released. I waited and watched for this game as its launch date approached nearer and nearer and the moment it was released to the public I purchased it, and I was happy with what I saw.

Graphics: Although they were not the best graphics I've ever seen they were still very beautiful to look at. It seemed that the game designers concentrated more on the characters than on the background, a fatal flaw for most games, but I found that I did not mind as the gameplay was extremely intense. The backgrounds of the game, while extremely visually appealing, are very similar in nature. As you progress through the game you will only come across green, brown, yellow, yellowish-brownish-green, gray, blue, and grayish blue. Each background area is beautiful, but they are all essentialy the same. Now we reach the dinosaurs, the true stars of this game. Each dinosaur was created with such painstaking detail that it almost hurts me when I realize that I must kill them. Something that I really liked was the appearcne of blood on the dinos. The more you shoot them, the more blood paints their skin.
Graphics Overview: The dinos are amazingly done, the humans were well done but could have been better, and the backgrounds are very beautiful but repetitive. 4/5

Sound: In the jungle you can't always see what's stalking you, so you have to open your ears and listen lest you find yourself pinned to the ground with fanged jaws closing around your neck. The sound is very well done in this game. From the slight rustle you hear in the leaves to the low Boom of an incoming T-Rex approaching your position. Though you know what is coming, you still feel a sense of encroaching fear. The music is average at best. Quiet music plays during areas you need to be stealthy for and an intense piece of music plays while you either run for your life from Mama Scarface (the T-Rex) or are caught in a large scale Firefight when you are outnumbered by 20-1. The music isn't the best but it's placed in the appropriate areas, and although it doesn't hurt the game, it doesn't help it either.
Sound Overview: The sounds made by dinos as they move toward you are scary and very well done but the music is par at best. 4/5

Gameplay (Single Player): The single player campaign is fun, but it's far to short and way to frustrating (for some people). The beginning of the game is very easy and straight forward, if you see something you kill it. 'Nuff said. If a dino attacks you, pull out your knife and stab it in the head, say "Holy crap, that was awesome," then continue on and do it again when you see another dino. The knife becomes little more than an instant kill button and you soon find out that in most areas gune are for pansies. The game isn't very forgiving of your mistakes. You make a single mistake on Normal mode and you may live to tell about it, but on the other difficulties you will find yourself at your last checkpoint faster than you can say "Crap." This brings me to the checkpoints. They are very few and far between. For every one checkpoint that you find you may have found 3 or 4 if you were playing Halo or Gears of War. This makes the game very frustrating sometimes as you just carved a bloody swathe through your enemies and are inches away from a checkpoint that took you 20 minutes to reach only to be shot in the back by the one guy lucky enough to avoid your weapons, and now you have to start the 20 minute cycle, hoping that you kill them all this time. Lastly, we arrive at the boss fights. This is a shooter that has intense battles at regular intervals and boss fights that actually feel like boss fights. Like old school shooters, the bosses have weaknesses that you must find and exploit or else you die. The boss fights are very reminescent of the old school shooters of the golden age of video games, and although not as good as they could have been, are the shining points of this game. A very frustrating part of the game is the sensitivity of your turning. It's to sluggish at its standard setting, making it hard for you to react to incoming attacks. Tweaking the sensitivity takes time and uses a lot of trial and error, either overshooting your enemy because you turn to fast, or falling short. Once you find the right setting for yourself you will be surprised how much easier it is to catch enemies before they attack you.
Gameplay (Single Player) Overview: While the game is fun it gets repetitive. The bosses actually feel like bosses. The checkpoints are very frustrating. 3/5

Gameplay (Multiplayer): Multiplayer is perhaps the most fun this game has to offer. There are several maps, all of which are infested with dinosaurs and other hazards that seperate you and your team from the opposing side. This offers some interesting variety to the see an enemy and kill him that all multiplayer shooting games seem to have adopted these days. They now add the see an enemy, stalk him, avoid dinosaurs, kill him without being noticed by any enemies. Or, you could stick your victim with a flair and watch as the dinosaurs, who are attracted to shiny things, attack the now shiny person. You could even stick a dino with a sticky bomb and watch it run at a group of your enemies, detonate the bomb, and watch with satisfaction as the dino and all of your unfortunate enemies explode in a hail of body parts. The only downfall I find with Turok's multiplayer is the fact that it does not include the ability to play with two or more people on one system, you can only play with multiple people via X-Box Live, or the PS3 online network.
Gameplay (Multiplayer) Overview: Very fun. Adds variety to a repetitive style of multiplayer gameplay. Can't play multiplayer on your own X-Box. A nice break from games like Halo and Gears of War. 4/5 (Only because you can't play multiplayer on one X-Box.)

Gameplay (Multi-Player Co-Op): Co-Op for this game has an independant story that is very loosely tied into the main game. The co-op portion of the game is hard, and so you don't underestimate the difficulty of this game I will repeat the above statement. The co-op portion of the game is HARD. It is so hard that it is nigh impossible to complete with any less than 4 players. You are so outnumbered and outgunned that if one player makes a mistake the rest of the team is almost assured defeat. But fear not, you are given multiple lives, 2 each if I remember correctly, and are rewarded with a full stock of lives, if you lost any, each time you reach a checkpoint. The co-op portions are short, only about as long as one single mission from the main story, and there are only three co-op missions in total, and they offer very little in replay value. All in all, they only give you about an evening worth of pleasure.
Gameplay (Multiplayer Co-Op) Overview: The difficulty of these missions makes it very fun for you and a few friends to team up and tackle it just for the sake of overcoming a challenge. Far to short. 3/5

Overall, Turok is a solid game. It could have been better, but then again so could every game ever made. This game feels like an old school shooter, which I love, and has great boss battles. Although the game is off to a rocky start because of some serious flaws in its design, it has the potential to grow into a franchise that rivals the original N64 Turok. The game designers are taking a step in the right direction. With a little more polishing and a longer game they could have a shooter that rivals even Halo and Gears of War.

Overall:
Graphics: 4
Sound: 4
Gameplay (Single Player): 3
Gameplay (Multiplayer): 4
Gameplay (Multiplayer Co-Op): 3
Average: 3.6 (Closer to 4)

(This game is not for everyone. I know people who despise this game with a passion, and I know people who loved it so much that they have actually sold their copies of Halo. Download the demo via Xbox Live Marketplace, it's free, and try the game before you buy it.)

I actually dig the game...
Compared to top-notch FPSs like Halo and Bioshock, Turok doesn't measure up. However, if you take Turok for what it is, it's, in my opinion, a good game.

Gameplay could be better but it's at least satisfactory. Expect to die fairly frequently but Turok is not a run-and-gun game; you have to plan your attack (which is why you have stealth weapons like the bow and knife). The dual-wielding of almost every weapon helps in the harder parts. Personally, I like my enemies to be a little hard to kill, no one or two-shot kills. Turok delivers this (sometimes a bit over-the-top, like when you're fighting several enemies at once). Once again, Turok doesn't compare to top-tier games like Halo, but it's pretty high second-tier. Once you get the gameplay down it's exciting and action-packed.

The graphics and storyline impressed me (and I'm used to graphics-heavy games like Gears of War). The voice acting is great without exception and the visuals for the most part are really good.

After reading mixed reviews about Turok, I rented it and had a blast. I'll be buying it as soon as I can to continue the carnage, hah.