I'm not exactly sure when I first heard about this game (it may have been in an issue of Nintendo Power) but I know when I first saw a clip of it. It was during Cartoon Network's Toonami block one afternoon when they showed a clip of a first-person shooter with someone firing a plasma-type weapon at something that blasted off into the sky using a jet-pack. It wasn't until I rented the game from my local video store that I discovered that this was what I saw. I'm pretty sure that this was the first M-rated game I ever played (although I honestly don't think it's that gory to be rated M) and the minute I first played it, I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was like Jurassic Park mixed with a James Bond game. The gameplay was fun and challenging, the enemies were well designed, and the levels were some of the most beautiful and atmospheric ever seen up to that time on the N64.
The game got me interested even before it actually started. There was a hilarious animation scene where a large iguana is sitting on the logo for the company that developed the game, Iguana Entertainment. Suddenly, a bunch of arrows fly at him, causing him to yell in terror, and a tomahawk comes really close to hitting him in the head. He gulps really loud and runs off right before a few more arrows come at him. You actually hear him say, "Mother." After that, you see a scene of Turok himself pulling back on a bow and arrow, firing it at the title logo, and when it hits with an explosion, you hear a roar in the background and the main theme of the game's score begins. That's how you get a player interested in playing a game.
The game itself doesn't tell you what the story is, but the instruction booklet and strategy guides for it did. You play as the latest member of the Turok family and your mission is to stop the Campaigner, an evil mastermind, from taking over the universe. He plans to do this by finding all the parts of a powerful weapon called the Chronosceptor, which can create gaps between dimensions. You must travel through eight enormous levels, collect special keys that allow you to enter the level after the one you're currently playing, as well as collect pieces of the Chronosceptor that you find in the levels. In each level there are also two bonus levels whose entrances appear as blue portals that pop up randomly throughout. You don't have to do these bonus levels to complete the game but they are useful whenever you need health or extra lives. There was also a central location at the heart of the game where you could use the keys you'd found to open the doors to new levels.
The game's controls kind of befuddled me at first. Almost all N64 games used the control stick to move the character. Turok, however, used the yellow C-buttons (or camera buttons as they were usually called) to do so. When I first played the game and moved the control stick, all it did was control which way I was looking and I never moved. I started to get frustrated. I'd just started the game and I couldn't even move. I discovered how to move by accident but I was relieved when I finally did move because I thought the cartridge I'd rented was busted. These controls took some time to get used to but by the time I got my own copy of the game for my birthday that year, I'd pretty much mastered them.
As with many first-person shooters, Turok gives you a variety of weapons for you to find and use against your enemies. Your starting weapon was a basic knife which would eventually become useless against enemies in later levels but were good for closeup fighting. Your bow could shoot two types of arrows: normal and Tek. Normal arrows I never found to be that useful except against ordinary human enemies; Tek arrows, on the other hand, were great with their explosive tips and would usually take down enemies in one to three shots. The basic pistol didn't do much damage against non-human enemies but the good thing was you didn't have to reload it so you could fire away at charging dinosaurs. The shotgun was really when it came to taking down raptors but its reload time could get you killed. (That's what tends to get me killed in shooter games: waiting for your weapon to reload.) The automatic shotgun was one I liked much better because the reload was faster and you could usually rely on it to take down enemies quickly. Speaking of the shotguns, they each could use two types of shells: regular and explosive. Needless to say, explosive was always more useful. The assault rifle was a gun that fired several shots at a time for maximum effect but for some reason, I never found myself using it that much. The plasma rifle that I mentioned at the beginning was really useful in the first level you find it but as you went on and the enemies became stronger, it was a gun you would probably only use as a last resort. The mini-gun was a great weapon because it could cut down enemies very quickly, it had no reload, and worked well at long range. The grenade launcher was good at taking down tough enemies at long distance (it was powerful enough to blow some enemies' bodies apart) but using it in confined spaces wasn't a good idea because the grenades could bounce back and blow up in your face. The particle accelerator was a unique weapon because it would freeze enemies and after a few seconds, cause them to explode! Unfortunately, you had to charge it up for the blast to cover a large range and the reload wasn't the best. The alien weapons you could find were quite useful because the shot would first hit the enemy and then cause a small explosion that would take the enemy out more often than not. But the blasts could hurt you as well. Quad rocket launchers were best used against bosses and while they did a lot of damage, their reload was quite slow (but the animation was cool to watch though). The fusion cannon would cause a small nuclear explosion that would spread over a wide area. But it had its fair share of drawbacks: it could only hold two charges at a time; it had the slowest reload of any weapon; and it wouldn't work in the final battle with the Campaigner. And finally, there was the Chronosceptor. It only had three shots period and it was best to use it against the Campaigner. But man, it hit hard and did an amazing amount of damage, especially on a direct hit.
All good games have an interesting variety of enemies and Turok was no exception. The enemies in this game came in three different types: humans, dinosaurs and other monsters, and mechanical. As for human enemies, there was the basic poacher, which was no challenge at all; soldiers, which weren't much trouble either; Campaigner's sergeants, which were really tough with their heavy armor and powerful plasma rifles; ancient warriors, which took quite a few shots to take down and they usually attacked in groups, which made it even more challenging (especially if some had blowpipes); and the worst, warrior priests, which would attack with powerful magic spells and were hard to kill. For dinosaurs and other beasts, you first had your basic raptors, which would charge at you but you could usually take them down with a couple of shotgun blasts (but when they came in packs, they were much more challenging). In later levels, you would run into raptor mechs: cyborg raptors which could take a lot of punishment and had power laser blasters on one arm. Really difficult to survive against those guys. Dimetrodons were really trouble and your best bet against them was to use the grenade launcher. There were Dimetrodon mechs as well; these suckers had twin machine guns strapped to their backs, although, thankfully, they weren't that much stronger than the normal ones. One of the toughest dinosaurs were Triceratops, which had human riders on their backs as well as rocket launchers. If the rockets didn't get you, the dinosaur would try to gore you with it horn and even the human rider would take potshots at you. Best to use the rocket launcher (when they died, it was so satisfying because they'd fall backwards and crush the human rider, who would scream in pain). There were big beetles that you could easily kill with your knife but they often came in swarms which could overwhelm you if you let your guard down. Dragonflies were enemies I never had a trouble with because you didn't even have to kill them if you didn't want to; you could just run. Leapers were big, ugly reptiles that would jump towards you and slash you. There were three types: small, large, and leaders, which were huge. One wasn't difficult by itself but when they came in swarms, you could easily get slaughtered. They could also swim and you could run into them in water areas. Alien infantry were four-armed aliens that would use the alien weapons against you and were the enemies that would fly up into the sky with their jetpacks. Sometimes they would self-destruct! Tek bows and explosive shells were their weaknesses. Pur-Linns were big, ape-like reptiles that, like the leapers, came in three types: ones that would knock you around, ones that would pound the ground to create harmful shock-waves, and, worst of all, ones with powerful blasters on their arms. Tek arrows were the best when dealing with them. Demons were big, scaly humanoids with red eyes that would attack either spears or energy blasts. Quite challenging when you were dealing with a bunch of them. Demon lords were the same as warrior priests in their use of powerful magic and just as hard to take out. Subterraneans were big, worm-creatures that burrow up from under the ground and attack you with their claws and poisonous saliva. They only appeared in one section of one level and you didn't even have to deal with them if you didn't want to but if you did, you'd have quite a challenge on your hands. Sludge beasts were big crabs that you'd only encounter in the last level but they were tough with their long attack ranges and tendency to come up behind you. Killer plants were enemies you'd only find in one level. They'd act normal until you got too close when they'd bite you and then shoot thorns at you. Grenade launchers were best against them because they could block bullets. The mechanical enemies were the worst of all. Cyborgs were the most basic but they were invulnerable against normal bullets and arrows. Cyborg sergeants, like the human ones, were worse and could take a lot of damage. Finally, there were attack robots, which came in two colors: red and yellow. Yellow ones were tougher and had rocket launchers. They could easily make mincemeat out of you if you didn't take them down quickly.
The game also had four bosses. The first was Longhunter, a tough human enemy you'd face at the end of Level 3. You'd have to destroy two Hummers before actually facing him. The Hummers weren't too hard to destroy honestly but you'd waste a lot of ammo doing so. Longhunter himself, I found, was best to fight at close range because he'd put away his gun and fight you hand-to-hand. If you attacked him at long-range, he'd use his pulse rifle, which could fire two types of shots. I never found him to be that difficult, though. Now the giant mantis you faced at the end of Level 5 was another story. That sucker was hard. He'd hit you with acid spit, whack you with his pincers and, near the end of the battle, he would shake off little explosives that did a lot of damage. He also tended to jump on you or behind you. Fortunately, there was a section during the fight where he would start focusing on destroying the walls in the room and you could use that time to pump a lot of shots into him. Level 8, being the last level, had two bosses to face at the end. First was the Campaigner's cyborg T-Rex. He was the enemy where it was best to use the powerful but unreliable fusion cannon. After using that weapon, though, you'd have to circle around like crazy and blast away at him as much as you could. The T-Rex's attacks where powerful laser blasts from his eye, fire breath that could easily kill you if you got caught in it, shock-waves he'd cause with his tail, and his big teeth. Hiding in the alcoves along the wall wasn't recommended because the T-Rex would eventually stick his head in and pull you out, which could easily mean the end for you. One cool thing about the T-Rex that I liked was when you first faced him, you'd discover that he was the one doing the roaring you'd hear in the distance throughout many levels. Finally, the Campaigner himself was the most difficult boss. Three direct Chronosceptor shots would make him much easier to deal with but he was still difficult. He'd often teleport all over the place and hit you with fire rings and bomb-like crystals. Every once in a while, he would jump to a huge weapon on the wall and fire repeated shots at you. However, the more damage you dealt with him, the slower he would move. In fact, you find out that he himself is a robot as you deal more damage to him. If you kept moving and shooting, though, he'd eventually go down.
Interesting thing about the bosses was that when one killed you, there would be an animation of him finishing you off (except for Longhunter). When you lost to the Mantis, he would repeatedly smack you around with his arms. The T-Rex would actually swallow you whole and burp out the feathers in your hair. And the Campaigner would kick you to the ground and shout, "The universe is mine!" before delivering the final blow. While you were frustrated when you got killed, it was interesting to see these cinematics.
Another interesting note about the game's enemies is that they would die in different ways depending on where you shot them. If you hit human enemies straight on in the chest, they would fall backwards with a loud yell or gurgled choke. The one that always got me was what occurred when shooting them near the throat. They would grab their throat, choking and gagging, then fall down and finally make one last death rattle before dying. Dinosaurs also had a similar range of deaths. The raptors especially would sometimes scream and make a death rattle as they fell to the ground and expired. You could also get enemies of different species to fight if you positioned them so one would inadvertently claw or shoot the other. You would usually lose some health doing this if you didn't have the invincibility cheat activated but it was worth it to watch them fight. One thing that Nintendo Power's initial reports about the game was that enemies wouldn't magically disappear when you killed them as in most games. Well, that was wrong. The article boasted you could walk up to a dead dinosaur and count its teeth but it turns out the developers must have changed that because they do dissolve away a few seconds after dying. And they regenerate like mad as well. When dealing with a big group of enemies, you'd usually kill one and be busy trying to kill the others when the first one you killed would regenerate. That was a rather frustrating part of the game.
For me, personally, the enemies weren't the hardest part of the game. It was the levels themselves. To this day, I still can't find anything without a walkthrough or a strategy guide's map. The first level is not too hard and even the second one is quite simple but starting with level three, I get lost very easy. The biggest reason for that is the fog that the levels have that cover up the everything in the distance. When you get out into an open area and try to search one end to another, the fog effect makes it hard to figure out where you've been. (Although, it is cool to see enemies materialize out of the fog as they come running at you.) Level Five, the Catacombs, was the worst because the entire level is a dark underground maze. I get lost so easily in that level that it's unbelievable. Level Six, the Treetop Village, has so many paths to take I get turned around very easily. And one person wrote that Level Eight, the Final Confrontation, is fairly easy to navigate but I highly disagree. That level is as confusing as Level Five in my opinion.
Not only are the level designs and distance fog boundaries impressive but is the sound. If you turn the music off, it's amazing how much detail they put in the sound. You can hear everything from birds chirping and water sloshing to lions and the T-Rex roaring in the distance. In underground levels near the entrances, you can hear the wind rushing, breathing-like gusts in the tunnels, and even freaky sounds that sound like evil laughing and screaming! Finally, in the last level which takes place in the Campaigner's fortress, you can hear eerie energy surges throughout. It's really dang creepy. In the outdoor levels, there are animals besides the enemies that don't harm you at all. In fact, if you shoot deer or wild boars that sometimes pop up, they'll give you health. There are also monkeys that hoot and climb up the nearest trees when you approach. The only way to kill them is with the Particle Accelerator but you don't get anything for doing it so it's pointless.
This is where I have to make a confession: I never beat this game without cheat codes. Yes, I had to use cheats to complete the game (the same can be said for the sequel but that's a story for another day). I just couldn't find everything and unlock all the levels. The strategy guide tantalized with a couple of codes at the end of the book that were mostly meant for fun but they had an offer for a list of codes to send you if you mailed to their address. So I did so. I was particularly keen to get the code for All Keys. But months and months passed after I mailed to that address and I heard nothing back from them. By that time, I'd thought I'd found salvation when I bought a cheat book at Wal-Mart but when I tried the code it had for All Keys, it didn't work. In fact, none of its codes worked. The book was a complete and total lie! Eventually, Nintendo Power came through and gave me the code for the Big Cheat, which unlocks many different codes, including warps to all the levels and bosses, invincibility, infinite lives, all weapons, infinite ammo, and others. It was a life saver. It may not have exactly been the proper way to do it but I beat the game with these cheats so I didn't care. The only thing was the All Keys cheat wasn't part of the Big Cheat and to this day, I'm not sure it even existed to begin with because I've never found the actual code for it.
Some of the cheats were creative and downright funny. There was one that made all the enemies tiny with little sounds to boot. (This was good for a laugh but unless you had invincibility on as well, it actually made the enemies harder to hit because of their small size.) Another gave them enormous heads and deep voices to boot. If you combined those two codes together, it was equally funny. One made all the enemies disco dance(!); one turned the game entirely ink and paint and while it made it hard to navigate, it was cool to look at; one made the graphics less impressive; and my personal favorite was a code that made Spirit Mode, a bizarre feature that would happen whenever you touched a particular item, last throughout the level until you turned it off. With everything in slow motion, you could see all the detail in the animation of the enemies, their designs, and their regeneration. It did, however, start to mess up your eyes after a while.
While Turok: Dinosaur Hunter may seem rather dated by today's standards, I think it's still a challenging and enjoyable game to pop in every once in a while. Not only was it one of the first (if not THE first) shooter games for the N64, it started a franchise that lasted into the millennium, starting with the darker and gorier sequel, Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, which I happened to get for Christmas the next year. While that game is better on a technical and gameplay standpoint, there's something about the simpleness of the first game that was never duplicated in any of the ones that followed. It's just in a separate league from all the others and that makes it a very memorable game.
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