Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion
Nintendo 64 version
Hey, somebody spilled some Half-Life in my Turok!
The Good
That guy who always yells his own name (Turok himself) in the first two games is shot stone dead in the first two minutes, which comes as a great relief. Also, with a high-res pack the graphics look real purdy-like and the character animations are pretty good for an N64 release.
The Bad
Of course, really good animations don't mean too much when the rock-stupid AI has the enemy running back and forth while trying to find its way around a stool. Also, this time around the trademark dinosaurs only make a small appearance, presumably hitting the catering table the rest of the game. No sir, this time around they decided to go with the Half-Life style of scripted sequences, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. However, they also decided to go with the Half-Life storyline, which is possibly one of the cruddiest concepts anywhere. The story has been jerked to one side to make it officially Turok, but the monsters-running-amok-on-our-world-and-hilarity-ensues-with-plasma-weapons thread is unmistakable, and still very stupid. Also, I haven't played the first one in years but I don't remember it handling this horribly. Either the engine is severely dated or they decided to enhance the experience by removing the controls.
The Bottom Line
Eh. It has moments, sure, but it takes all the worst of the genre it copies and only hints at the best. If you're one of the space monkeys who liked Turok 2, go ahead and give her a whirl.
by Vance (94) on February 8, 2002