{"id":98331,"date":"2019-08-12T13:30:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-12T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/switch-eshop\/turok_2_seeds_of_evil"},"modified":"2019-08-12T13:30:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-12T13:30:00","slug":"review-turok-2-seeds-of-evil-a-painfully-incomplete-version-of-an-n64-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2019\/08\/12\/review-turok-2-seeds-of-evil-a-painfully-incomplete-version-of-an-n64-classic\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Turok 2: Seeds of Evil &#8211; A Painfully Incomplete Version Of An N64 Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/087d90a44822d\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/087d90a44822d\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div id>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Turok 2: Seeds of Evil Review - Screenshot 1 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/98264\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/98264\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Turok 2: Seeds of Evil Review - Screenshot 1 of 4\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>The first-person shooter has become so prevalent on consoles in today\u2019s market, it\u2019s bizarre to think back to a time where PC gamers held the lion\u2019s share of the genre. By 1998, the desktop faithful were gorging on <strong>Half-Life<\/strong> and <strong>Unreal<\/strong>, but a little console by the name of Nintendo 64 wasn\u2019t about to bow down to the overclockers. A year earlier, Rare had surprised everyone with the intricate design of <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/n64\/goldeneye_007\">Goldeneye 007<\/a><\/strong>, and now it had <strong>Quake 64<\/strong> and a little thing called <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/turok_2_seeds_of_evil\"><strong>Turok 2: Seeds of Evil<\/strong><\/a>. With its black cartridge and a combat model that was creative and unrepentantly gory, Iguana Entertainment\u2019s sequel was further proof that Nintendo could shoot with the big boys.<\/p>\n<p>And while the <strong>Turok<\/strong> franchise has gradually slipped into complete obscurity by 2019, the importance of Turok 2 and the strengths of its overall design are still something to savour. The big selling point it lauded for 20 years ago no longer holds true \u2013 those graphics were pretty hot at the time, but even with a HD remaster they\u2019re still very much an ugly trip down polygonal lane \u2013 but some of the issues that dogged it as a result (specifically its problems with framerate drops and considerable distance fogging) have now been completely rectified. So it might not look <em>exactly<\/em> how you remember, but its stellar gunplay and exploration have nonetheless endured.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Turok 2: Seeds of Evil Review - Screenshot 2 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/98266\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/98266\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Turok 2: Seeds of Evil Review - Screenshot 2 of 4\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>One thing that Turok 2 does far better than its predecessor, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/n64\/turok_dinosaur_hunter\">Turok: Dinosaur Hunter<\/a><\/strong>, is giving you a far clearer sense of purpose and direction. Its six levels are pretty big by the standards of the time (flying in the face of traditional corridor shooters), and there are plenty of shortcuts, hidden rooms and secrets to be found, but by adding in a little more linearity \u2013 especially in the opening hours of the game \u2013 Iguana helped refine the occasionally wayward nature of the first Turok. There\u2019s a little more of a story this time \u2013 Turok has been summoned to stop the imminent escape of alien entity known as the Primagen \u2013 but what really makes this ballsy sequel stand out is the creativity of its levels and the destructive power of its weapons.<\/p>\n<p>Oh, the weapons. <em>The weapons!<\/em> Things start off innocently enough in the style of its predecessor with just a bow and a clawed gauntlet to your name, but then you get your hands on more and more destructive firepower. Pistols give way to shotguns, which give way to the brutal power of the Firestorm Cannon, which then bows down to the missile-launching hell of the Scorpion Cannon, the glaives-slinging Razor Wind and the energy-powered Nuke. It\u2019s <strong>Ratchet &amp; Clank<\/strong> levels of creativity, especially when you\u2019re firing guns on the back of a triceratops and causing enemy craniums to cave in with the slow death of the Cerebral Bore. Iguana really raised the bar with its guns, tapping into an almost slapstick approach that\u2019s very, very \u201990s.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Turok 2: Seeds of Evil Review - Screenshot 3 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/98263\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/98263\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Turok 2: Seeds of Evil Review - Screenshot 3 of 4\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>And while you can tell its development cycle ran very close to that of its predecessor \u2013 with the inclusion of level designs that can be a little too obtuse at times and an over-reliance on backtracking and key collecting \u2013 Turok 2 remains a <em>far<\/em> more complete shooter experience. For a game that\u2019s over two decades old, the sway of Turok as he turns a corner and the unique death animations each enemy descends into when you deliver the killing blow are still a marvel to behold. Turok 2 is the series at its absolute best, refined just enough to put rewarding gunplay and open-ended exploration at the forefront.<\/p>\n<p>The Switch version benefits from all the technical improvements Nightdive Studios made to the previously-released HD remaster. The sluggish frame rate of the original version has been fixed, as has the sheer amount of fogging that Iguana used to make Turok 2 run on 64-bit hardware (honestly, the original was like running around <strong>Silent Hill<\/strong> at times). Now you can see every level in full clarity with proper draw distances. Even something as simple as adding in objective markers makes the backtracking to find certain keys or secrets a far less frustrating experience. And, yes, there are gyro controls in this version as well, and they <em>really<\/em> make a difference when you&#8217;re zooming in with your Tek Bow. You can even aim with the touchscreen, if you really want to play awkwardly.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Turok 2: Seeds of Evil Review - Screenshot 4 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/98265\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/98265\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Turok 2: Seeds of Evil Review - Screenshot 4 of 4\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>But for all the things this shooter still does right 21 years on, especially with the technical improvements Nightdive has made, there\u2019s one glaringly obvious problem \u2013 and it\u2019s an issue entirely isolated to Nintendo Switch. <em>There\u2019s no multiplayer.<\/em> Not a dime. For whatever reason, the developer has completely removed a fundamental feature that gave Turok 2 such longevity back on Nintendo 64. We love the game\u2019s single-player campaign to this day, despite its faults, but it\u2019s not enough to justify the full asking price.<\/p>\n<p>Because every other version of this particular remaster features multiplayer, both local and online. You can buy Turok 2 on Xbox One today, and you\u2019ll get the full package <em>for the same price you\u2019ll pay on the eShop for the Switch port.<\/em> Considering you can play the recent ports of <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/doom\">Doom<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/doom_ii\">Doom II<\/a><\/strong> in local multiplayer on your Switch, it\u2019s an omission that simply doesn\u2019t make sense. We can understand the developer potentially removing online support, but to stop players from splitting Joy-Cons and enjoying a tarted-up version of one of N64\u2019s most memorable multiplayer modes is a decision that ultimately diminishes one of the system\u2019s greatest exports.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"conclusion\">\n<h2 class=\"heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s a testament to the quality of Turok 2: Seeds of Evil and the great enhancements made by Nightdive Studios that this remaster is still an essential chapter of FPS history \u2013 more so than its rough-around-the-edges predecessor. Every gun still feels incredible, every level still looks unique in its design and the bosses and enemies are still a riot to hunt down and slay. But the bizarre amputation of the game\u2019s multiplayer modes renders the Switch version painfully incomplete. Until support for multiplayer is patched in or addressed in some shape or form, we\u2019re forced to give this N64 classic a score it doesn\u2019t deserve.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first-person shooter has become so prevalent on consoles in today\u2019s market, it\u2019s bizarre to think back to a time where PC gamers held the lion\u2019s share of the genre. By 1998, the desktop faithful were gorging on Half-Life and Unreal, but a little console by the name of Nintendo 64 wasn\u2019t about to bow [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98331\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}