Turok

Turok’s dinos are the game’s other visual highlight: Propaganda absolutely nailed them. Their textures and movements are as lifelike as…well, what movies have taught us to expect from these long-extinct creatures, and the effect of their presence is as creepy as it should be. Sometimes you’ll hear tiny footsteps, rustling in the trees, or pebbles tumbling off cliffs…and then a small raptor will be on you so fast you can barely see it. Other times, you’ll hear the far-off, deep-bass thunder of something hungry in the distance. Even though you know what’s coming, it’s no less unnerving.

The only ugly smudge on this canvas is the interiors, both inside buildings and underground. Somehow, all the fancy lighting and texture tricks didn’t get used well in these places, and often they’re just downright ugly. The inconsistency creates a weirdly uneven feeling — and unfortunately, that’s also a good way to describe Turok’s gameplay.

Reptilia

Starting with the high notes, the star of Turok’s action is easily the battles with dinosaurs. You’ll quickly learn that they’re all about your knife — time your tap of the right trigger correctly, and Turok will slam his blade into their skull, slice their neck, or pounce on their back, burying the knife in one of their eye sockets. It’s supremely satisfying at first, especially because your first few dino encounters are kinda scary, so it’s a relief to see dino blood geyser everywhere and realize you’re safe. Speaking of blood…the first Turok on N64 was subtitled Dinosaur Hunter, but this game’s subtitle should be Dinosaur Butcher. You’ll carve up so much dino meat that you’ll start looking around for hooks to hang it all on.

But these are hardly poor, defenseless lizards. Miss your knife strike, and you’ll often end up pinned to the ground with a lot of sharp teeth in your face. In these moments, the game puts some button combos onscreen (they’re different every time) that you must mash frantically in a see-saw battle to either boot the dinosaur off you or become its lunch. In another fun twist, the shotgun can also fire a flare that attracts dinos, and you can wreak a lot of merry havoc by sticking an enemy soldier with a flare and then tagging a dino with a sticky bomb that you set off when the two meet. Boom, chuckle, repeat.

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