Impressions of the demo of ‘Turok’ for PS3. Leave the dead in his grave….
This is the story of a tragedy. A tragedy that marks time. Regular electronic entertainment players (not to be confused with gamblers) have had to deal with what is known worldwide as the Dave Perry effect. Namely, brutal promotional campaigns and promises to reach the moon that then come to nothing.
Although it is not a work of Dave Perry, does anyone remember the one that was mounted with a Soviet game called ‘Republic’? For months they promised us that they were developing such an impressive and revolutionary graphics engine that would allow us to see everything from bees resting on a wild flower to entire continents like Google Maps. No loads, zooming.
What’s the point? How does the ex-late ‘Turok’ relate to everything I’ve talked about? Well, because history repeats itself. For months we have been seeing screenshots of the reissue of one of the adventures that marked an era, back in the golden years of 64-bit Nintendo. ‘Turok: Dinosaur Hunter’. That occasion left us with a real great game (note, don’t look at screenshots now because they will seem ridiculous, put yourself in the shoes of the gamers of that time).
With the new generation of consoles and the graphic advances that they have brought, the arrival of the new ‘Turok’ promised an event. And it has not been. At least in the PS3 demo that we unraveled today. We hope that it is a product in development and that the quality will take a spectacular leap towards its final version. Although it is easier to believe in the divine advent. Let us begin.
Graphics.
Ridiculously bad. So clear. If a machine with the potential of PS3 has to move these graphics, shut down and let’s go. Although the modeling of the “Turok soldier” (WTF!!) and his companion are not bad at all (is it me or for some time now all the video game characters in this plan look too much alike?) and from time to time from time to time you can see some interesting details in skins, or clothing, the general feeling is very poor. A strange brightness accompanies the two soldiers, as if they had a bluish bulb in front of them, causing a certain bad lighting in the bodies.
As for the dinosaurs, prominent protagonists of such a title, I have to admit that they don’t look bad at all. The velociraptors, for example, are noticeably worked with care (and here being bad I wonder… should we accuse them of repeating the same character model over and over again?), they have a very interesting bumpmapping applied to the skin, but their movements… again leave a lot to be desired.
Too fast and abrupt (I imagine they have tried to capture the supposedly unpredictable, fast and fierce nature of these critters) but come on, a killing machine as it is a Velociraptor gets “stuck” by banging its head against a wall, trying to pass over and over again, in a very strange loop of movements… I don’t know, it makes me think. Things of the beta state, that some will say.
And we come to the cornerstone of the graphics engine. The stages. After seeing wonders like ‘Uncharted’, ‘Assassin’s Creed’ or ‘COD 4’, what ‘Turok’ offers us, at least in this demo, is embarrassing. Some mediocre textures, with a resolution close to what PSP could offer in some cases. Could it be that they have applied texturing to 64 bits? Could it be that it is a demo in a very primary state?
Although most texturing and modeling blemishes, in these rocky settings, are hidden behind the layer of environmental fog, when we get closer to the rocks and other elements they become very apparent. Halfway through what the demo offers us, on a ledge, there is a body of a dead dinosaur, blackened, I imagine that due to the attack of the raptors… it could be a model directly from PSX. Terrible. Let’s hope the whole thing improves.
Sound.
I can say little in this section. The voices in Spanish comply, they are in Spanish. With that I say it all, don’t expect an epic ‘Metal Gear’ dubbing or you’ll be disappointed. At least men have a man’s voice and dinosaurs roar… Regarding background music, what has been said, complies.
gameplay.
Let’s see, it controls well. That of carrying both weapons, one for each trigger, is cool. Let’s not fool ourselves. But little else. Control is the basic in this type of game and responds as such. In shooting with enemies, it offers the same as other similar titles. To highlight, and I dedicate this to my friend Jarkendia, the knife. What the protagonist can do with a knife is incredible. When a velociraptor approaches and you hit it with it, you access a pretty cool cutscene in which our soldier slaughters it. And at this point comes my criticism.
With the heavy machine gun and the double pistol, it is very difficult to hit any bicharraco, you are almost sentenced if a “herd” of dinosaurs attacks you, instead driving ‘Turok’ you could cross Jurassic Park from one end to the other armed with a knife. Insane, but fun, yes.
In short, more of the same that other titles offer, but with worse quality. Yes indeed, if you like dinosaurs here you are going to swell to burst them and hey, that’s a point for a certain section of the public, who prefers to kill raptors to chimeras. I sincerely hope that all these negative personal impressions are demolished in the final version, but for now the demo of ‘Turok’ for PS3 leaves a lot to be desired.
Recommended for fans of Jurassic Park, Cannibal Holocaust and PSX. And although I include myself in that pack, due to my duty to give an honest opinion, I cannot fully recommend it, at least not with the quality that the Demo offers in its PS3 version and there are other proposals of much greater quality and fun.
Not recommended for those who like new generation FPS, those who have played and praised the original ‘Turok’ or hoped that this new version would resurrect the myth. And it is that sometimes, the dead must be allowed to rest, lest they get up and want to slice your brain with a knife…
PS The images that accompany the article are official and I have to clarify that they have little to do with the PS3 version that I was able to play, which is the one analyzed. Anyway, to the owners of the Sony console, I encourage you to try it yourself and decide, because what the editor of a video game website says, in short, has little to do when faced with the personal experience of the game itself. You will tell me how it is.
