Few things are better in a video game than taking control of a badass, cut-to-the-gut
Indian hell-bent on using as many cool weapons as he can to take on a horde of savage dinosaur
creatures with poison grenades and plasma weapons.
Although having a better control scheme comes to mind, there's still so much that Iguana
Entertainment and Acclaim conjured up to keep your hands glued to your N64 controller.
When the sequel to the first person dinosaur shoot-em-up classic known as Turok 2: Seeds
of Evil was released to much pomp and fanfare in 1998, fans of Dinosaur Hunter were equally
as impressed, if not more.
The next Turok has been chosen, a young brave named Joshua Fireseed, and his people are
in grave danger due to a few loose ends that the previous Turok, Tal'Set, had forgotten
to tie up.
Gee, thanks.
Fireseed appears through a portal to what appears to be a Zora from Ocarina of Time,
but is actually a woman with blue skin who happens to have a title as Speaker of Forever
Light.
An evil alien entity known as the Primagen has awoken from the result of the Chronoscepter
being destroyed by Tal'Set.
It's up to Fireseed to clean up the mess and, most importantly, lock and load.
Turok's gameplay carries over seamlessly to the next generation famously.
Your movement is still controlled by the C buttons and your aim with the analog stick.
Whether or not you got used to it in the first one is up to you, and even if you have, you
may still have qualms about aiming on the run.
Often times I find myself shooting at an enemy while he's swiping away at my face, losing
energy in the process.
The best way to deal with enemies if you have joystick deficiency like I do is to sneak
up on them or attack from afar, especially in the beginning where ammo and quality of
weapon is scarce.
Along with your blasters, you'll be able to melee attack your enemies, which will still
result in an unfortunate face to face situation, but is useful in destroying smaller enemies,
like the pesky Compsognathus that feast on dead corpses until they decide to swarm around
you.
There are many new enemies for you to deal with in huge, interactive settings that can
take you hours to move through.
Some of the levels' design takes me back to my Quake III Arena days, full of underground
tunnels with red or blue pluses that restore your health, and the gritty textures of the
buildings you must traverse through, covered in blood stains from past enemies that decided
to cross the line with you.
All the while you will be throwing switches, finding portals that take you to uncharted
parts of the Turok 2 world, and save points from where you can replenish both your health
and ammo.
As time goes by, you'll acquire newer and more amusing ways of dealing with your enemies,
such as blasting them from afar with a plasma rifle or zapping them from close range with
a charge dart rifle.
There's even a gun that will drain the spinal fluid right out of enemy scum and puts them
out of their misery with a head explosion.
Whatever your violent killing needs are, there's a chance that the weapon loadout will satisfy
them.
Turok 2 is as creative in its design as it is bloody and violent, and although the framerates
and aiming have been a topic of dismay for some who have played it, there's still moments
where you will become so hooked in dinosaur hunting that you'll forget all about the game's
shortcomings.