Turok: Evolution [Xbox]

This week Acclaim set up a posh demo room, complete with a Sony XBR HDTV, Altec Lansing surround sound all for the purposes of showing off the company's flaship title, Turok: Evolution, developed by Texas-based Acclaim Austin studios. It was only playable on the Xbox, but the company has repeatedly noted that it will be comparable to what will show up on GameCube and PlayStation 2.

Following, IGNcube editor Fran Mirabella III delivers his hands-on impressions of the latest build.

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Given that fact that I'm a Nintendo editor who's spent some considerable time working on IGN64, I was elected to take a look at Turok. I had no qualms with this, as I've been a huge fan of the series from Turok: The Dinosaur Hunter to Turok 2: Seeds of Evil all the way through the last release Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion, all of which debuted on the Nintendo 64. That said, it should come as no surprise that I've been excited about Acclaim's next-generation Turok ever since it announced it at E3 2001. Since then, I've was fortunate enough to see its first playable unveiling, which took place in January of this year, as well as numerous other demonstrations through E3 2002. Now, just a month before its public release, Acclaim is showing off a much more complete work. From the brief demonstration we had, Turok: Evolution is starting to look like a respectable sequel to its predecessors.

The first thing everyone here at IGN noticed about the demonstration was that it was much more alive than the previous versions. Instead of empty worlds and enemies with only basic AI, the vast landscapes were teeming with heavily equipped dinosoids and passive animals. In fact, the first few stages in Evolution demonstrate this well. It's all set in a lush jungle, filled with everything you'd expect including ring-tailed lemurs, brontosauruses, alligators, man-eating baboons, and, of course, pistol-equipped dinosoids. Like before, you realize that the jungle is dangerous for a lot of reasons. The local wildlife is a mix of passive and aggressive, while you also have to worry about evil foes that lurk around trees, hide in bushes, and take aim at you from ledges high above. It sets a detailed backdrop, immersing you deep in Evolution's prehistoric world. For this much, the sequel is delivering on its promises. It's a pleasant throwback to the antediluvian world represented in the first Turok, which released way back in early 1997.

I spent some time exploring the verdant landscape, which was notoriously walled in by towering cliff faces and thick foliage. The experience could be described as a mix of free exploration that ultimately led to a more linear gameplay path. Eventually I found myself in an area that demonstrated Evolution's platforming elements. A group of cylindrical pillars spiraled up to a taller centerpiece, where I would find the item I needed to progress to the next area. Much to my surprise, as I approached the pillars, they dropped into the ground, with the tallest one now only being a few feet above the ground. Then, another surprise -- a horde of rabid baboons came charging out from the nearby foliage. I frantically switched to my pistol in hopes that I could one-by-one blow their pea-sized brains from their heads, but instead I found myself pinned up against a tree, surrounded by the disgusting creatures. I leaped over them, shot a few in their swollen behinds and leapt up on the nearest elevated pillar. This was the solution I was looking for, which gave me time to pick them off without attack. Eventually the pillars rise back into place, and you'll have to carefully jump your way to the top, grab the item, and reveal the next area.

Additionally, I spent some time infiltrating one of the more protected camps. This time there were a great deal of dinosoids, but fortunately for demonstration's sake I was able to toy around with the bigger weaponry. IGN will go into detail about the weapons at a later time, but I'll tell you about a few of the ones that tickled my fancy. We don't have the name for all the weapons yet, so bear with me. One of the more interesting was an energy-powered gun that let you send a stream out to a nearby enemy and trap him in its grasp. You could then proceed to swing left and right with the analog stick and smack the evil beast up against nearby rock faces, busting his limbs and leaving a bloody mess everywhere. It's a bit sadistic, but they are just evil dinosoids after all. No harm done.

Another cube-shaped weapon let you disrupt time and space to open up a mini-black hole of sourts, sending nearby enemies imploding into the unstoppable finite point. The final count for weapon types is over 30, but a lot of them are shared. For instance the bow has normal arrows, explosive arrows, and poison-tipped arrows. Other guns transform from simple grenade launchers into all-powerful nuking devices. It's all a matter of upgrading your weapon and having the ability to transform it. The weapons, more vicious and devastating than ever before, will be sure to please the most twisted gamers.

I also spent a brief time with the flying levels, which seem to be a great change of pace for the first-person shooter. As covered in previous hands-on impressions, the flight-based bombardment offers up a solid experience with the gigantic levels and smooth control. But, at this point, I'm curious to learn how the flying fits in with the whole experience. It's somewhat entertaining on its own, but it's going to have to be every bit as fun (or more) as the normal first-person shooting to not seem like a roadblock between players and the standard gameplay.

The biggest question everyone wants to know, then, is where does this put Turok: Evolution in regards to the franchise? This is very difficult to answer without having sat down with the game for an hour or two. As soon as that happens, we'll return with more impressions. Equally, because we don't even have a final build of the game yet, I'm eager to see how the finished product performs when it releases in September. Turok: Evolution is a title that's been in development for over two years, so we're optimistic that the team will be able to tweak some of the visuals and gameplay elements to make sure everything is perfect. We want to see the promised 60 fps framerate and silky animation in addition to that tried-and-true Turok gameplay that we gamers have always found entertaining.

So far, I like what I've seen with the basic platforming elements, brutal weaponry, and variation on gameplay with flying. I just haven't got a chance to dig into the deeper puzzles or face off against the infamously huge boss figures. Indeed, there is a lot to see. On that note, bear in mind that we've barely even touched multiplayer, which was surprisingly amusing even in its early state at the beginning of the year.

Look for more media and impressions soon. In the meantime, click through to our media page below to check out all the available screens and movies. And, if you haven't heard about the Game Boy Advance version, be sure to check here at IGNpocket for hands-on impressions of the 2D side-scroller.

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