Turok

I am a dedicated FPS fan, already have COD4, Orange Box, Halo 3, Gears, Bioshock etc.. and to be honest I wasn't expecting much from Turok (altho I was a big fan of it on N64) so I didn't pay full price for it, I traded in a few older games... got home and started the game my first impressions weren't all that great, but as I have played through the game I have been pleasantly surprised. First of all - the graphics, I can't understand anyone who says they are sub standard, the graphics are excellent, possibly the best jungle environments seen in a game yet, yes the character models are very gears like, but that so far is my only negative. Wait till you see the t-rex stomping through the jungle and ripping enemy soldiers apart... fantastic. Yes there are probably only 3 enemy soldier models - but that doesn't detract from the game (look at the combine in Halflife 2 - they all look the same!).... besides the developers obviously made the decision to concentrate on the dinosaur models which they got spot on...Next up - Gameplay... as I am still playing through the game I can only comment on what I have seen so far, and so far it's been great. Enemy AI is good enough, no major glitches yet, weapons feel powerful and there seems to be a good selection, dual wielding works well. Dinosaurs AI is great, getting stalked by raptors through long grass is nail biting stuff. The bow and the knife just polish things off, and is very satisfying pinning an enemy soldier to a wall with an arrow from afar. Replay value to be found here, as in most situations you can just go in all guns blazing and unload your ammo on the enemy or you can go stealth hunting and take them out with the bow and knife, both of which work well, but will give you two different playing experiences. Can't comment on multi-player as I don't have Live. But if your an FPS fan, who's already played through COD4, Gears, Halo etc and are looking for something a little different then I can strongly recommend this.

I really enjoyed playing through this new 'Turok'. It looks good, sounds good and plays well - however it isn't inspired enough to trouble the likes of 'Halo 3' or 'Bioshock' (though overall I preferred 'Turok' to 'Halo 3'). Basically too much of it is familiar, the story and the setting plus the weapons could be from any number of games.
These elements are done well and the dinosaurs add in a lot of fun but not enough to flesh out the basic game. So its good but not amazing - having said this I found it more consistent than 'Halo 3', theres no awful end levels to ruin the experience so while 'Turok' doesn't quite reach the heights that 'Halo 3' did it doesn't get as tedious either (yeah big shock I know but every 'Halo' stinks towards the end).
This is a good relaunch that plays it a little too safe in trying to re-establish the series, hopefully if it sells well a sequel will take this games good qualities and push them further. For now this is a solid title, I thoroughly enjoyed it and its challenging enough on Hard to get your moneys worth.

Firstly can I say I've had this game since Saturday and it came out Friday - so I've had it 2 days and played it a lot since then...unlike anyone who has written a review so far and left atrocious feedback for a fantastic game. Before I tell you why this game is the next game you should own let me say that, yes the demo was bad...the demo isn't in the main game as it appears in the demo. The demo was slow, with few dinosaurs etc etc.

Yes so all the people who have written reviews are right about this. But I own the real FULL game, so:

SO A REVIEW OF THE FULL TUROK EXPERIENCE!
The graphics are brilliant with shimmering lighting and buffering effects that would make Gears of War tremble.

The gameplay is NOT sluggish OR slow like the demo was. It did say on the demo it wasn't the finished package yet some people think it is!

There are LOTS of dinosaurs and lizards and I have killed more dinosaurs than enemy men. Period.

The levels are split up into different sections so although only 10 levels, they are big. Much bigger than say Lost Planet.

There are no stupid boss battles after each stage like Lost Planet had, and at one point you have to kill a T-Rex. You can do this with duel-wielded machine guns, an RPG, a mini gun or a pistol. The better weapon you have the easier it is that's all. No rubbish in some games where a pistol wouldn't do anything to a T-Rex. Quite the opposite.

Next, the weapons, like I have said there are a nice selected variety from the pistol to the flamethrower, which I must say in all honesty is the easiest and best design of a flamethrower I have ever seen in a game. Most weapons can be duel-wielded.

Multi-player - brilliant. Imagine Farcry mixed with the weapons of COD4 and with dinosaurs hunting out everything. Amazing! Trust me, I love halo 3, but Turok online seriously tests some FPS games out there!

The story is great too with an interesting plot - quite revealing at times!

More to the point I am SICK of people writing reviews based on demos. Why oh why? Is it the Full game? No, so why do it? 6 people have reviewed this game and although one person put a 5 star review it has the average of a 3 star (hopefully this will change after my review!), and quite honestly this game deserves a lot better than that.

Sorry if I've had a rant, but I can't express better than this. Overall this is one of the best games in my collection, which isn't massive. Turok has brought me off Call of Duty 4 as it's that good.

Neil.