Part 1: The Flashback
Turok 2 - Seeds of Evil was amazing, I loved this game to bits, bought it as soon as we came across it. Which is a testament to how easily I fell into hype, since I thought Turok 1 was horrible. This was a Christmas game, but we purchased it early, so whenever I was left alone I would sneak into my parents room, carefully cut the plastic bag, take out the cart and sneak in a few minutes of gameplay. Sorry! I remember trying the multiplayer a couple of times and always getting scared due to the ambiance sound. And I don't usually get scared!But then Christmas came and I got the game and I liked it a lot. The game looked amazing, a ton of weapons, a ton of enemies and a ton of ways to kill them! There's a reason everybody remembers the Cerebral Bore. I will admit, however, that 90% of the time I played the game with cheats on, it was just too tough! Heck, I cheated so much that, to this day, I still remember the master cheat: 'BEWAREOBLIVIONISATHAND'. That was also the time I learned what 'Oblivion' meant. But I loved the game all the same. The multiplayer mode was fun too, I'd always get offended whenever people would say that Goldeneye was better in any way shape or form than this game. I hated Goldeneye, and magazines thought it was better than Turok 2? The heretics! On another note, I had a grey cart and 'Club Nintendo' once claimed that grey carts were fakes, which boggled my mind since my cart was grey. They were wrong, the black cart was the first release of the game, but they fixed an issue and reissued the game in grey. The more you know.
It hasn't aged very well, as a matter of fact, it's nigh unplayable. Not only was Turok 2 considered one of the best Nintendo 64 games, it was also considered a darn great first person shooter, so much so that I think I compared every other FPS game against it. And there's a good reason for that, the game has a ton, and I do mean a ton of different weapons, some even have alternate ammo. It's also got a pretty good variety of different enemies, some which are exclusively to the levels they appear in, making for great variety. Environments are huge, different and with neat architecture, it's a gorgeous game, it really is. It's also got a nice attention to detail, you can maim enemies in various different ways, particularly with explosive weapons, such as severing their arms, heads or even leaving a hole on their chests. Some enemies you can even part from their torsos, and you'll even see the tip of their spines showing through the carnage. This game is a visual masterpiece and way ahead of what the Nintendo 64 could do.
...but it came at a very steep cost. The game looks too good, so it chugs. A lot. Even if you play in low-res mode the framerate is just unacceptable. Shooting with the basic Magnum 60 will kill the FPS into the SINGLE digits. Most of the game is nigh unplayable because of this, quickly turning into a slideshow. But, sadly, its framerate is the least of its worries, since the game itself is built around backtracking and exploring huge maze-like levels, it really is no fun.
Before each level you have to go through an unskippable cutscene that tells you your objectives, as a matter of fact, even starting the game is a pain in the butt since you have to go through a ridiculously long unskippable opening cutscene, but I digreess. In each level you'll have about two different objectives, such as 'rescue X prisoners and destroy X portals', and then you'll be thrown into the level. By the by, every level ends with you having to protect a totem, which is as boring as it sounds, but at least these moments are over quickly. Anyways, you have to search every nook and cranny of every level to fulfill your objectives. A ton of times you'll have to backtrack since you'll earn an ability, such as swimming through green water, that you needed in a previous section. Some objectives are so well hidden that I almost want to applaud the developers for being so downright evil. And if you missed a single objective the last portal will teleport you back to the beginning of the level. So much fun.
And, by the by, enemies friggin' respawn whenever you go through a portal, but ammo does not. Not only is the ammo capacity laughably low, but you'll be burnin' through it as you replay sections searching for your objectives. But it's not just your objectives, you also have to search for keys in order to open up the next levels. Fun. You also need to search for talismans so that you search for special teleporters that'll teach Turok a new ability he needs to proceed. And do remember that levels are obnoxiously huge and labyrinthine, so it's never much fun. It'll also be a while before you can save your game, since save spots are sparse, although they'll give you a free health restore and free ammo restore once per level. Thanks, I guess?
Man, what a disappointment! Turok 2 - Seeds of Evil just couldn't pass the test of time. I'm sure that when it came out the game was great. Besides its huge levels, one can't help but feel impressed about the great amount of weapons and enemies that put even modern games to shame, heck, the creativity that went into making these weapons put the original Doom and Duke Nukem 3-D to shame. Plus, back then we didn't know just how great a stable framerate felt, so this slow-as-molasses framerate wasn't too bad.... or maybe I was just a kid and didn't know any better, but then again, magazines and websites gave the game glowing reviews, so...
Regardless, if one thing surprised me is that I never thought I'd be saying this but... Turok 1 is better than Turok 2. It has simply aged better, probably because it wasn't so ambitious. As far as first person shooters on the console go, Turok 2 is better skipped. Now here's to hoping that Turok 3 has aged better, because I also loved Turok 3 a ton.
3.0 out of 10
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