After a Holiday 2007 that was filled with games like Halo 3, Mass Effect, Uncharted and others, the games of early 2008 have a large shoe to fill. Turok is one of those games that’s reception could change depending on the time of year it’s released. Turok itself isn’t a bad game…but it isn’t a great game either. There are times when the game shows a truly awesome moment. And there are times when it’s simply downright frustrating and annoying.

Turok is the 4th game in the franchise. While the first title in the series was fairly well received, the latter titles left much to be desired. The story puts you in the role of Turok trying to track down is old teacher Kane for some unknown reason. Suddenly the space ship Turok is on comes under attack and crash lands onto a planet filled with dinosaurs and other creatures. The original Turok was subtitled “The Dinosaur Hunter” and the latest game is no exception to the rule. There’s a good variety of dinos to hunt, though not all of them necessarily need to be massacred. In fact, by utilizing flares you can use the dinosaurs as weapon to attack an enemy. The other neat thing about the dinosaurs in the world is they will stalk and hunt you. You won’t necessarily see them, but you can hear them, and before you know it you’ll be knocked on your ass fending off the dino attack. There’s a button press mini game that is played to survive every attack, as well as during a few cutscenes in the game. There’s a good variety of animations and differences in the mini games that keep it interesting.

Like I said before, there are several scenes and moments in the game that will simply put a smile on your face. Sneaking up behind enemy soldiers and knifing them in the back is one. Launching explosive arrows into groups of unsuspecting enemies is another. But there are times in the game where things are simply so unbalanced that it’s just downright frustrating. Part of the problem is the screen shake in the game. When you take hits from gunfire your viewport is skewed a bit. The bigger problem is when an explosion goes off near you and knocks you off your feet. You become disoriented, and can’t shoot or move for a few seconds. The even bigger problem here is most times an enemy will be able to get off another rocket or grenade before you even get back to your feet, thereby knocking you back down before you really get back up. Before you know it your screen is a blurry red mess and suddenly you are dead.
The single player campaign was mildly entertaining, as was the story. There’s a solid voice acting cast with the likes of Ron Perlman as the cynical sidekick Slade. The game features a pretty indepth multiplayer mode complete with dinosaurs that roam the playing field. There’s also a small co-op campaign online which consists of 3 short missions. It would have been nice if the actual campaign was co-op, but what we get is pretty solid.

Turok is a game that many people will overlook, and while it’s not something everyone should play, fans of shooters or the previous titles will enjoy what the game has to offer.

Score: 3 out of 5