Turok [PS3]

Joseph Turok is the latest addition to Whisky Company, a military unit sent to an unknown planet to find and capture Roland Kane, a war criminal who was once the commander of Wolf Pack, Turok's old unit. Kane's troops shoot down your squad's airship, forcing Turok to search the strange, dinosaur-infested planet for his squadmates, Kane, and a way back home.

As soon as you start the game, you'll notice that a lot of care was taken in getting the environment right. Part Land of The Lost, part Jurassic Park; The jungles and swamps that you travel through on your mission are well-detailed and alive with creatures, both in the sky, and on the ground. Grass sways, hiding small lizards that bite, and most of the time you get the feeling that just about anything could be lurking around the next corner. Of course, there often is a raptor or other lizard looking for food, but they seldom travel alone. Both visually and aurally, the game gives you the feel of being there, and the first time you see one of the large dinosaurs, it really is quite impressive.

As you progress through the story, more of Turok's background with Wolf Pack will be revealed through flashbacks and memories, and it's certainly interesting enough to inspire you to continue through the tougher spots. The game isn't easy, with several sections requiring the player to think methodically, rather than charge through the situation at hand. There's also some clever boss battles, and a few places where you'll simply need to die a few times before you figure out what to do, sometimes with a bit of frustration.

The combat system is another high point as well, and Turok can use several types of guns found during the game, as well as a bow and a knife. I especially found using the knife an efficient way of dealing with most of the creatures, and the variety of attack moves kept it from getting too routine. When you need some distance, the bow is efficient, and also good for downing small dinosaurs and Kane's troops while staying hidden. The selection of guns that becomes available is surprisingly varied as well, and you'll even find yourself using an RPG and turrets at some points.

The game isn't without its problems though, and most of them seem to have at least something to do with the less-than-fully optimized state of the Unreal Engine on PS3. There's a lot of frame-skipping here. Not enough to ruin the game, but certainly enough that it's more than just an occasional glitch. The lighting is also harsh at times, with the engine's trademark lighting having too much contrast a lot of the time. It may sound picky, but there's also some long load times that happen at close intervals, giving the impression that this was definitely not the lead platform.

There's also a selection of multiplayer modes, where players can face-off online in several styles of play including deathmatch, capture the flag, and co-op. The stealthy vibe of the story mode carries over into the online game as well, with one of the nicest features being the ability to choose which weapons are available. This enables online knife fights, which are quite a fun change from using guns. The lobby system is bare-bones though, and it's cumbersome to both find and host matches.

Overall, The game feels as though you're playing a movie like Aliens or Predator, at times both hunter and hunted, and it's a lot of fun most of the time. Fans of the original Nintendo 64 title will definitely enjoy it, and it's also different enough from most First-Person Shooters that those looking for something a bit less conventional should consider giving it a try.