In this review, we check out the PC version of the FPS game, Turok – Dunosaur Hunter. We find out if this game is worth trying out.
This game was released in 1997 after the N64 version.
Generally speaking, this game is pretty much the same game as the N64 version. One thing I did find annoying was the limited saving capabilities of this game. Many FPS games at the time such as Quake II, Duke Nukem 3D, and Doom. It’s one thing to deal with constraints of a console system, but it’s quite another when you have a little more lee-way with a PC. I felt that the inability to save anywhere was a bit of an unnecessary constraint – especially considering how many locations there were where one misjudged jump could send you to your death.
One pitfall I found with the PC version was that the game can crash from time to time. Often, a tell-tale warning sign of this possibly going to happen is when the sound just suddenly cuts out. At that point, you should try and save and restart the game before the game crashes. Fortunately, this doesn’t happen that often and only happened twice while I was playing this game.
Graphically, this game is seemingly unchanged from the N64 version. Unfortunately, that includes the fog which may have been understandable for draw distance on the N64 version, but not quite as understandable for the PC. So, even though the graphics are unchanged, I would say that, as far as the PC version is concerned, it is technically a step back given the lack of noticeable improvement. One thing to note is that I found the color of explosions to be glitchy. Sometimes, the explosion graphic that is made by a grenade launcher can be carried over to something like the Tek bow. If you fire the alien weapon for the green explosions, you can switch over to the tek bow and your explosions will suddenly be green. An odd glitch.
One of the biggest changes in this version is the audio. I can understand that the N64 has some limitations with regard to audio quality, so a facelift in the audio, on the surface, seems like a welcome thing to have. The music was definitely overhauled in this game. With the exception of the ruins where I didn’t personally notice too much that was different, most of the music not only had improvements in the instruments, but also, the music had some rearrangement done. When I rated the N64 version, I pointed out that the music was a big highlight for me as it was quite enjoyable. I think some of the tracks suffered from a case of fixing something that wasn’t broken as some of the shine in the music ended up being lost in the process. So, instruments improved in quality, but the overall music was actually brought down a notch in overall quality surprisingly enough. The N64 version had an underwater theme whenever you went into the water. The PC version had this stripped out completely so that when you went underwater, the current theme’s volume was simply lowered. I don’t know why this decision was made to be honest. The sound effects library was also slightly altered. The music library was, surprisingly enough, reduced from the N64 version. You’d think that if a game had a PC version and a console version, the console version would have a smaller sound library, not the other way around. A great example of this is the monsters of the Lost Land (level 7) sound exactly like the poachers in the first few levels. Some of the other sound effects such as drawing a weapon or picking up ammo were reduced in some capacity or another. This was very puzzling to hear to be honest. Overall, the sound was good, but not as good as the N64 version.
Overall, I found this to be a bit of a surprising play – and not in a good way. It was as if a few shortcuts were made to this game to push it out the door – most notably the sound. Graphics were not improved in any noticeable fashion. This is a surprise since it is a transition from the N64 to the PC. It is, ultimately, a good game to play and I would definitely recommend it, but if you had a choice between the N64 version and the PC version, stick with the N64 version.
Overall
Furthest point in game: Beat the game in normal mode.
General gameplay: 19/25
Replay value: 9/10
Graphics: 5/10
Audio: 3/5
Overall rating: 72%
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Google+.
