Game

#Overview: Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion (2023)

Overview: Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion (2023)

Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion was a reasonably bizarre sport when it got here out in 2000, and it’s an equally unusual choose for a remaster. But it surely needed to be executed. Nightdive knew this. They knew that the N64 trilogy (should you exclude the multiplayer-focused Turok: Rage Wars) needed to be accomplished.

It couldn’t have been a straightforward activity. Whereas Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and Turok 2: Seeds of Evil had PC variations they may pluck from, Turok 3 remained unique to the N64. Fortunately, Nightdive’s wizardry has solely turn into stronger through the years, and due to their work porting different N64 video games like Doom 64 and Quake 2 (64) to their proprietary KEX Engine, they had been in a position to reverse engineer Turok 3 to put it aside from the suffocating tomb of the console that birthed it.

Nonetheless, it’s a damned bizarre sport.

Turok: Shadow of Oblivion Oblivion Gunship
Screenshot by Destructoid

Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion (PC [Review], Change, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Collection X|S)
Developer:
Nightdive Studios, Iguana Leisure
Writer: Nightdive Studios
Launched: November 30, 2023
MSRP: $29.99

A part of what makes Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion so unusual is that it’s sadly very regular. The primary two Turok video games had been virtually their very own taste of first-person shooters. The style was nonetheless in its toddler stage, so the principles weren’t fairly but written. The degrees had been sprawling and complicated, and whereas it had the same method to the spawns of Wolfenstein 3D, they had been anarchic mish-mashes. The punks of the burgeoning FPS style.

It helped that the individuals behind Iguana Leisure had been quite adept with the N64’s notoriously troublesome {hardware}. Every of their video games has fascinating technical prospers, with Turok 2: Seeds of Evil typically being known as the best-looking sport on the console (on the worth of draw distance and framerate). Although they’d been transitioned to the extra uninteresting company moniker of Acclaim Studios Austin, that technical trickery remains to be current in Turok 3.

Nevertheless, that punk strategy to the FPS method was fully misplaced. In 1998, Half-Life rewrote the FPS playbooks, and builders had been abandoning Wolfenstein 3D’s key-hunt strategy. As a substitute had been far more linear experiences that allowed simpler storytelling. Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion needs to be Half-Life so arduous you’ll be able to see the vein bulging from its brow.

The sport kicks off with a quite elaborate cutscene displaying the earlier Turok, Joshua Fireseed, being killed and passing the mantle on to his siblings, Danielle and Joseph. They’re tasked with defeating Oblivion, which is perhaps some malevolent pressure of evil, but it surely may also be some kind of alien military. The story stops making sense actually rapidly. Possibly it’s essential learn the comedian books.

Whereas earlier Turok video games had been set solely within the Misplaced Lands, a spot the place time has no that means, Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion begins off on Earth. I believe. Additionally, it’s the longer term, perhaps.

You get the selection to play as both Danielle or Joseph, and whereas the majority of the sport stays the identical whatever the selection you make, their paths diverge in some locations to concentrate on completely different gameplay. Danielle has a grappling hook, whereas Joseph is 15 and nonetheless hasn’t hit puberty, so he can match via small paces. Their weapons additionally range in some locations. It’s not a lot, but it surely does make additional playthroughs extra worthwhile.

However whereas the primary two Turok titles had been fast-paced affairs the place you blew away hordes of enemies, Turok 3 slows issues down so it may possibly let you know a hilariously terrible story. The primary whiff of Half-Life you get is working into a man who reveals you the way in which down a totally linear hall, climbs up a ladder, and will get eaten. The following degree is ready in some kind of navy analysis facility the place the nonetheless dwelling scientists opine that each one their analysis is ruined and their colleagues are useless. The second stage is Black Mesa, is what I’m saying. Even the soldier dudes transfer in comparable methods to the Marines in Half-Life.

Turok 3 Dialogue
Screenshot by Destructoid

But it surely’s the capturing that suffers essentially the most. Quite than consistently swimming upstream in opposition to hordes of foes and working at about 50mph, they’re far more sparsely scattered about. They die very simply, maybe to make up for the inaccuracy of the N64 controller, so that you wind up spending a whole lot of time exploring empty environments. Additionally, neither Danielle nor Joseph can attain the speeds of Tal’Set’s superb stride.

It no less than stops being a direct try at copying Half-Life after the second degree. There’s even a bit pulled from Turok: Dinosaur Hunter that you simply stroll via as if to say, “Have a look at how far more lifeless our ranges have turn into after simply three years!”

Not less than the weapons are nonetheless as various and unique as they’ve ever been. The celebrated cerebral bore is again, and within the later ranges, you’re at all times tripping over ammo for it. It’s a fire-and-forget kind of weapon that launches a drone that drills into the heads of your foes earlier than detonating. It’s damage and insult in a single bundle, a really online game weapon.

I imply, actually, I received by with the pistol, rifle, shotgun, rocket launcher, and cerebral bore mixture, however that small number of helpful weapons remains to be extra spectacular than most. 

If there’s one place Turok 3 improved it’s with storytelling. The characters are lip-synced and have legible facial expressions, which was spectacular to see on the N64. Nevertheless, their faces additionally typically contort in disturbing methods, which hasn’t been helped by the sprucing strokes that Nightdive made to their fashions.

However the story. Gosh, the story. I don’t even know the place to start with it. The weird revelation and cliffhanger proper on the finish is particularly going to reside with me for some time.

Turok 3 Fighting topside
Screenshot by Destructoid

Say what you’ll about Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion in its unique state, Nightdive did proper by it. They needed to reverse-engineer it by pulling it from its cartridge and extracting every part from the compiled program. Then, they rebuilt it within the KEX Engine. Whereas they had been at it, every part received touched up. This went past merely enhancing the fashions with out altering the visible model like they did with the Quake remasters. Additionally they improved the decision of all of the textures.

I’m impressed. I requested Nightdive how they managed to enhance the decision of the textures, as they had been little question closely compressed for the N64. “No AI,” I used to be informed. “Artists.” The staff discovered the unique supply for the textures wherever they may. Nevertheless, even then, they touched some up by hand and recreated ones that they couldn’t discover.

Turok 3 doesn’t precisely look new. By no means. Not even barely. But it surely appears much less like a ported N64 sport and extra like a remastered PC sport from the early 2000’s. You wouldn’t guess that Nightdive didn’t have entry to the supply recordsdata.

Effectively, apart from the voices. Geez, you’ll be able to nonetheless hear the N64 muffle throughout them. Effectively, apart from the opening porch scene.

Some lower content material has additionally been restored, and Nightdive additionally added environmental props to attempt to make issues appear much less lifeless, however they actually didn’t leap out at me. Most likely a very good factor.

Throwback to Turok 1
Screenshot by Destructoid

As a lot as I’ll at all times give Turok 3 flak for its eagerness to observe in Half-Life’s sneakers, I discover a whole lot of allure in its ineptitude. It was additionally the one sport within the collection that I accomplished in my youth with out utilizing cheats. That’s perhaps as a result of it’s lower than 5 hours lengthy and could possibly be accomplished in a rental interval, however nonetheless, I’ve by no means hated it.

It’s simply amusing to see such a loving remaster of a sport that’s mediocre in essentially the most charitable of phrases. With the eye Nightdive has given it, you’d swear it was a basic. And I like that. I want extra publishers and builders had the heart to dredge up the forgotten dregs of the previous and never simply repackage them however restore them for a brand new viewers. I used to be ready for Nightdive to take a go at remastering Turok 3 as a result of it could be financially unviable. It wasn’t the good factor to do. It was the proper factor to do. So, they cast onward and made it occur with their signature prospers. Respect from high to backside. Actually makes it troublesome to slap a rating on it, although.

Now, what about Turok: Rage Wars?

[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]

Supply

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button