Being a big Turok fan growing up, this was a major letdown for me. Just renting this game once from Blockbuster was enough.
Apparently, this was meant to be a prequel explaining how Tal Set from the first game became Turok and a return to the jungle trotting adventures the series began with. While a good idea on paper, it wasn't handled properly.
While locked in combat, Texas Native American Tal'Set and Confederate Captain Tobias Bruckner both fall into a strange portal. They both are transported to the Lost Land, where the evil reptilian despot Tyrannus and his army of Slegs are trying to achieve world domination. Now, Tal'Set must take up the mantle of the Son of Stone and help the human resistance defeat Tyrannus.
First of all, the story was convoluted and hard to follow. The characters are boring and forgettable. Even Bruckner is completely unimpressive compared to the Campaigner. In fact, Tyrannus is the real villain, but you never meet or fight him.
The enemies were pretty dull compared to those from Turok 2, consisting mostly of dinosaurs and other animals and the Slegs, who you fight repeatedly throughout the game. There weren't even any bosses except the final one.
The weapons were boring and largely lacked the awesome style from the previous games. Even worse, they tended to have with flawed aiming, such as the pistols sniper mode.
The levels were more straightforward, lacking the labyrinthian design of past Turok levels. Admittingly, the conventional, platforming levels had solid gameplay and were playable for the most part. What I truly hated were the new and excessive Pteranodon riding levels with the irritating controls, poor aiming, and limited room for maneuvering.
The game was unpolished and had muddy, poorly textured levels and sloppy graphics. They didn't even look any better than those in Turok 3. Even worse, there were lots of bugs and glitches, such as weapons disappearing from your inventory, long loading times, or breakdowns requiring you to reboot the game. Even the enemy AI is a step-down from previous games.
The music was surprisingly good and action-themed but was limited since the soundtrack was re-used on multiple levels.
No question, this was the beginning of the end for the Turok franchise.
