Turok: Dinosaur Hunter (N64, 1997)
Graphics-7 Sound-7.5 Control-7 Challenge-7.5 Story-5
Level Design-6.5/7* Frustration-7.5*/8.5 Fun-6.5/7* Originality-6
Overall Score-6.5/7*
*w/ all keys cheat
+
Fast and smooth gameplay overall (30 fps, framedrops are pretty rare)
Toggleable mini-map/map overlay (auto-mapper, transparent surfaces but lines depicting the room you're in are not (they're also neon green or white, lines for further away rooms are semi-transparent), 2D top down view only - lower floors have a different color)
Difficulty options (easy-hard)
Climbing and swimming
Many hidden paths and items (decent-pretty good (levels 5-7) spatial awareness puzzles)
Good animation (enemies pivot when changing directions) and some nice visual effects (portals, fire traps)
Separate sfx and music volume sliders
Weapon inventory can be cycled both ways
Alternate ammo types for some weapons
Some neutral creatures/animals - shoot for HP
Pretty good tutorial (optional, interactive, frequent checkpoints, instructions are text only and pause the gameplay though)
Permanent life bar upgrades (each one adds 5 to max HP and restores all health - have to kill enemies with the knife or regular arrows for these to have a chance to appear and they tend to be rare (in one level I found several in one spot though))
Temporarily life bar upgrade (ultra health=+100 HP; see Doom or Quake)
Temporary "slow down the enemies"/"spiritual invincibility" power up
Decent comic book giving some backstory in the manual (should've been in the game as well)
Can replay beaten levels (most things seem to stay as you've left them besides the maps)
The grenade launcher lets you reach some previously unreachable rooms in previous levels (optional items)
Some fun weapons (exploding arrows, grenade launcher, quad rocket launcher, fusion cannon (similar to BFG or a smart bomb) - only holds 2 shots though, chronoscepter - laser cannon (need to find 8 pieces to use it though and you only get three shots))
Some good bosses (level 5 giant insect, level 7 cyborg t-rex, final boss)
Charge shot with the bow (regular arrows suck if you don't use it)
Cyborg dinosaurs in later levels
Level 7 (good variation, interesting setting and enemies)
+/-
Partially non-linear structure after the first level (gain access to 2 levels at a time via a small hub area until level 6 where it becomes linear, minor backtracking to previous levels for optional items)
Large and maze-like levels (need to find 3 keys to unlock each new level (except level 7 which requires 2) while locked doors in levels are opened with switches)
Somewhat rare save points (multiple slots, shows only which level you're currently on)
Frequent checkpoints
Some gore (optional blood color)
A regular HP item only heals 2 HP (out of 100)
Right/left-handed option
Native american protagonist
Hidden bonus levels (find portals and enter them quickly since they disappear after 5-10 secs; these play like the main game but focus on platforming - falling doesn't kill but hazards do, can exit at any point via their entrances, can find cheat codes in them)
Some resource management (limited ammo for all ranged weapons, limited ammo capacity - can be upgraded if you find the backpack)
Frequently respawning enemies in some areas
Extra lives system (collect 100 tokens or find them in the levels, fairly easy to rack up lives)
"Double tap sideways jump" move
Can change the opacity of the HUD but not the mini-map
Levels sometimes wrap around and make you return to an earlier sub area where the next gate leading forward has been opened
Shows bosses' health bars
Oxygen limit while swimming underwater (the bar is hidden at first)
Pretty forgiving hit detection when jumping from platform edges (can take a step outside of the edge of a platform)
-
Backtracking (can't quickly exit a beaten level after finding all the keys in it, can't choose which sub area to enter when revisiting a level, no guiding towards key locations+the non-persistent maps problem also leads to more wandering around)
Control/interface issues (sub area maps aren't persistent - moving between them via teleporters in a level makes them disappear which can be disorienting and means you'll have to rediscover a sub area if you missed a key in it, some paths remain unmapped after finding them, can't switch between ammo types for the bow, can't see stairs on the map, can't zoom out the map - pretty zoomed in, vertical aim auto-resets to default after letting go of the stick, overly sensitive aiming, large aiming stick deadzone (on XB360 controller anyway), can't switch between reverse vertical aim and non-reverse (reverse by default), can't climb sideways, can't turn off or change the "double tap sideways jump" move - killed me several times, you automatically aim downwards a bit when falling down after jumping)
9 lives limit
Difficulty spike at the lvl 3 boss if you didn't find the new weapons before it and saved up on ammo (the jeeps take too long to kill and the last guy both takes too long to kill and easily outmaneuvers you, )
Too much precise platforming around death pits
Lacking control config (can adjust aiming speed only, have to jump with R)
Generic introduction to the game (quick instructions with no story context) and the story barely has any presence - you don't even get an explanation of what happened after the final battle
Trial & error (teleporter "puzzle" in level 4 - most of them teleport you into lava (can at least escape), can stand on torches in level 4 and you're required to do it to progress, the so-so draw distance (all fogged up) leads to it being easy to miss some paths leading to keys and is bad for an exploration-focused game in general (becomes a pretty big problem in level 6/treetop village), enemies often teleport in near you, some enemies can shoot you before you can see them in dark rooms - no torch or other tool to light up these rooms?, )
Samey looking levels early on
Can't carry HP items with you for later use
Enemy drops disappear after a few seconds
Some dead space
Too many minor detours for minor items and ammo is often placed in corners/nooks at the edge of a room/area rather than near the main path of it - either have to look for these or try to avoid enemies where they start respawning since a lot of enemies don't drop any ammo
No health refill after bosses
Can shoot some enemies from afar before they react to you early on
Can't pick up blue arrows/tech arrows by jumping into them for some reason
Some killed enemies take several seconds to drop their loot (breaks flow)
The raptors are a bit too slow (can pretty easily circle strafe and stab them to death if facing one at a time)
Some levels look too similar
Some dead ends (level 5 tunnels)
Level 8 is a bit drawn out and features a sewer maze segment
Bugs:
-One of the bridge paths in level 5 leading to a key isn't solid if jumping to it from the side (means you can't use a shortcut and skip a part with narrow passages and swinging traps)
-Sometimes glitchy hit detection if shooting at an enemy while in a slope
-Can hit enemies through pillars and thin walls with the knife
Level Design-6.5/7* Frustration-7.5*/8.5 Fun-6.5/7* Originality-6
Overall Score-6.5/7*
*w/ all keys cheat
+
Fast and smooth gameplay overall (30 fps, framedrops are pretty rare)
Toggleable mini-map/map overlay (auto-mapper, transparent surfaces but lines depicting the room you're in are not (they're also neon green or white, lines for further away rooms are semi-transparent), 2D top down view only - lower floors have a different color)
Difficulty options (easy-hard)
Climbing and swimming
Many hidden paths and items (decent-pretty good (levels 5-7) spatial awareness puzzles)
Good animation (enemies pivot when changing directions) and some nice visual effects (portals, fire traps)
Separate sfx and music volume sliders
Weapon inventory can be cycled both ways
Alternate ammo types for some weapons
Some neutral creatures/animals - shoot for HP
Pretty good tutorial (optional, interactive, frequent checkpoints, instructions are text only and pause the gameplay though)
Permanent life bar upgrades (each one adds 5 to max HP and restores all health - have to kill enemies with the knife or regular arrows for these to have a chance to appear and they tend to be rare (in one level I found several in one spot though))
Temporarily life bar upgrade (ultra health=+100 HP; see Doom or Quake)
Temporary "slow down the enemies"/"spiritual invincibility" power up
Decent comic book giving some backstory in the manual (should've been in the game as well)
Can replay beaten levels (most things seem to stay as you've left them besides the maps)
The grenade launcher lets you reach some previously unreachable rooms in previous levels (optional items)
Some fun weapons (exploding arrows, grenade launcher, quad rocket launcher, fusion cannon (similar to BFG or a smart bomb) - only holds 2 shots though, chronoscepter - laser cannon (need to find 8 pieces to use it though and you only get three shots))
Some good bosses (level 5 giant insect, level 7 cyborg t-rex, final boss)
Charge shot with the bow (regular arrows suck if you don't use it)
Cyborg dinosaurs in later levels
Level 7 (good variation, interesting setting and enemies)
+/-
Partially non-linear structure after the first level (gain access to 2 levels at a time via a small hub area until level 6 where it becomes linear, minor backtracking to previous levels for optional items)
Large and maze-like levels (need to find 3 keys to unlock each new level (except level 7 which requires 2) while locked doors in levels are opened with switches)
Somewhat rare save points (multiple slots, shows only which level you're currently on)
Frequent checkpoints
Some gore (optional blood color)
A regular HP item only heals 2 HP (out of 100)
Right/left-handed option
Native american protagonist
Hidden bonus levels (find portals and enter them quickly since they disappear after 5-10 secs; these play like the main game but focus on platforming - falling doesn't kill but hazards do, can exit at any point via their entrances, can find cheat codes in them)
Some resource management (limited ammo for all ranged weapons, limited ammo capacity - can be upgraded if you find the backpack)
Frequently respawning enemies in some areas
Extra lives system (collect 100 tokens or find them in the levels, fairly easy to rack up lives)
"Double tap sideways jump" move
Can change the opacity of the HUD but not the mini-map
Levels sometimes wrap around and make you return to an earlier sub area where the next gate leading forward has been opened
Shows bosses' health bars
Oxygen limit while swimming underwater (the bar is hidden at first)
Pretty forgiving hit detection when jumping from platform edges (can take a step outside of the edge of a platform)
-
Backtracking (can't quickly exit a beaten level after finding all the keys in it, can't choose which sub area to enter when revisiting a level, no guiding towards key locations+the non-persistent maps problem also leads to more wandering around)
Control/interface issues (sub area maps aren't persistent - moving between them via teleporters in a level makes them disappear which can be disorienting and means you'll have to rediscover a sub area if you missed a key in it, some paths remain unmapped after finding them, can't switch between ammo types for the bow, can't see stairs on the map, can't zoom out the map - pretty zoomed in, vertical aim auto-resets to default after letting go of the stick, overly sensitive aiming, large aiming stick deadzone (on XB360 controller anyway), can't switch between reverse vertical aim and non-reverse (reverse by default), can't climb sideways, can't turn off or change the "double tap sideways jump" move - killed me several times, you automatically aim downwards a bit when falling down after jumping)
9 lives limit
Difficulty spike at the lvl 3 boss if you didn't find the new weapons before it and saved up on ammo (the jeeps take too long to kill and the last guy both takes too long to kill and easily outmaneuvers you, )
Too much precise platforming around death pits
Lacking control config (can adjust aiming speed only, have to jump with R)
Generic introduction to the game (quick instructions with no story context) and the story barely has any presence - you don't even get an explanation of what happened after the final battle
Trial & error (teleporter "puzzle" in level 4 - most of them teleport you into lava (can at least escape), can stand on torches in level 4 and you're required to do it to progress, the so-so draw distance (all fogged up) leads to it being easy to miss some paths leading to keys and is bad for an exploration-focused game in general (becomes a pretty big problem in level 6/treetop village), enemies often teleport in near you, some enemies can shoot you before you can see them in dark rooms - no torch or other tool to light up these rooms?, )
Samey looking levels early on
Can't carry HP items with you for later use
Enemy drops disappear after a few seconds
Some dead space
Too many minor detours for minor items and ammo is often placed in corners/nooks at the edge of a room/area rather than near the main path of it - either have to look for these or try to avoid enemies where they start respawning since a lot of enemies don't drop any ammo
No health refill after bosses
Can shoot some enemies from afar before they react to you early on
Can't pick up blue arrows/tech arrows by jumping into them for some reason
Some killed enemies take several seconds to drop their loot (breaks flow)
The raptors are a bit too slow (can pretty easily circle strafe and stab them to death if facing one at a time)
Some levels look too similar
Some dead ends (level 5 tunnels)
Level 8 is a bit drawn out and features a sewer maze segment
Bugs:
-One of the bridge paths in level 5 leading to a key isn't solid if jumping to it from the side (means you can't use a shortcut and skip a part with narrow passages and swinging traps)
-Sometimes glitchy hit detection if shooting at an enemy while in a slope
-Can hit enemies through pillars and thin walls with the knife