13-Aug-2001 Patrick McCarthy once went berserk with a ball-bearing gun in an old people's home. Naturally, he was at the head of the queue for the chance to blow away a few more ancient life-forms.
The plot: You are the Turok, the first-born son of the Fireseed family, Native American community police of The Lost Land. The Lost Land is an inter-dimensional sewer, where every kind of scum hang out. Think Braintree on a Friday night. People from the future rub shoulders with lumbering dinosaurs and everyone has guns. Arch-villain - The Campaigner - has worked on the said dinosaurs with a hammer, chisel and some bionic parts to make them very unfriendly. His plan is to lead them in war against the universe. It's up to you to try and mix it up with him and his evil minions.
My Gahd! It's huge
So, it's another first-person shoot 'em up. And I must admit I wasn't overly enamoured with it at first. As I played it more though, I got more and more into it. And now I love it. (Which is probably why I've given it a good score).
Alright, the graphics, even with a 3Dfx card, aren't gob-smacking compared to most these days. Some of the detail even looks a little scant in places. But this becomes understandable when you realise the size of the levels you have to fight through. They're bloody enormous. There are mountains with sheer cliffs, primeval forests, steaming jungles and the interiors of ancient ruins. Some of the sheer faces are climbable, there are areas to swim through - it's sort of like a first-person-viewed Tomb Raider. In fact, think of it as the lovechild of that, Quake, Duke, and the old wander-about-and-survive-em-up, Robinson's Requiem.
The weapons are cool, varied, nicely-animated and will bring a flush to the cheeks of devastation lovers everywhere. You start with a poxy knife and bow-and-arrows. The arrows soon become explosives-tipped however and soon you're picking up better and better weapons, from shotguns and grenade launchers to something that's like setting off a nuclear explosion in a halogen distributor's warehouse.
I think I've fouled my breeches
And there are some seriously scary bastards to fight. Each level is chocka with savage dinosaurs and artillery-equipped cyborgs. Once you've had your first few encounters, the dull thud of dinosaur feet will soon start to set the adrenaline flowing (if not the bowels). It's bad enough when they're au naturel, but when you start coming up against the tooled-up mutant dinos, with all sorts of death-dealing mega-weapons mounted on them, things start to get very hectic. The alien infantry types even zig-zag when they run towards you. Overall, the animation is superb. And unlike many games of this type, it's a good one-player game (which is good, considering there's no multi-player option). The huge levels with their exploration elements, varied backgrounds and hugely destructive weapons combine to make this one of the better and more entertaining games around at the moment. It's also one of the very few games to make you scared while you're playing (well, a little bit).
// Overview
Verdict
One of the better Quake-a-likes. And claustrophobics will appreciate the fact that it's mostly outdoors, too.
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath, UK BA1 2BW England and Wales company registration number 2008885
