Truth be told, this is a review I never expected to write. The Turok series has been long dormant since the Xbox 360 era and even then that wasn’t its prime. No, Turok found its footing on the Nintendo 64 in a post-Goldeneye world. An era where developers realized that first person shooters could escape the confines of the PC and reach a whole new audience with consoles. Turok stood out from the rest of the pack with its world building and use of dinosaurs as the main threat. Expansive environments combined with brutal first person combat made it a must play and yet… it never lived on into the modern generation.
Enter Nightdive Studios. A developer who cut their teeth on standard setting remasters of classic games that honor and respect the source games. Nightdive have remastered the first two entries of the Turok, bringing the series to a new generation with a plethora of modern features that have turned these once lost relics into playable modern experiences.
That tradition continues with Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion, the final chapter of the original Nintendo 64 trilogy. Turok 3 was somewhat of a departure from previous entries. Rather than jungle environments and Jurassic enemies, the third entry focused heavily on urban environments and alien-like enemies, giving it a unique sci-fi feel compared to the previous games. It’s a bit jarring when playing the games in succession, but Shadows of Oblivion carries a unique ’90s charm that I can’t help but be enamored with.
Players will take on the role of either Danielle or Joseph, the siblings of Joshua Fireseed. The story has them dealing with a new cosmic entity named Oblivion, and in the process becoming the new Turok hunter. It’s a story that for all intents and purposes plays out like the finale of a trilogy but also sets a new path going forward. The siblings also play differently from one another as Danielle uses heavy weapons and Joseph a sniper rifle. Their journey plays out across a kick ass cyberpunk/sci-fi campaign that features the signature Turok action you know and love.
Enough about the game from 23 years ago. I’m here to tell you how good the remaster is. In short: it’s excellent. Nightdive has taken a game that struggled to even run on the Nintendo 64 and expertly ported it. I spent my time with the PS4 version (running on PS5) and was constantly in awe at how good it looked and ran. It almost feels like watching your favorite horror movie for years and years on VHS and all of sudden experiencing it on a 4K Blu-ray. It’s jarring, but evokes memories of how you remember experiencing it.
In addition to overhauled but faithful visuals that keep the original tone, Nightdive has gone the extra mile and added modern features like an FOV slider and head bob disabling. These not only make the one fiddly N64 game more accessible but far more enjoyable to play.
With Turok 3: Shadows of Oblivion, the original Turok trilogy is now fully playable on modern systems. Though never reaching the heights of popularity of games such as Doom, Quake, or Goldeneye, Nightdive has ensured these games can be enjoyed by modern audiences or anyone looking to revisit the past. This is an exceptional remaster and should set the standard of what we expect going forward. Also, somebody give us a new Turok game. Please.
Review code provided by the publisher.
The post ‘Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion’ Review – An Exceptional Remaster of a Nintendo 64 Classic appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.