Many moons ago, a relativity unknown developer unleashed Turok: Dinosaur Hunter on the Nintendo 64. The game became an instant smash and produced several sequels. What made the game so popular was the setting: prehistoric with futuristic weaponry, and the fact that you could massacre dinosaurs. The games popularity dwindled when the game began to focus more on the future, while forgetting its animalistic roots. After the last game was made for the Nintendo 64, Acclaim set out on creating another Turok game for the next generation consoles. Now that the game has finally been released, the question remains: will it be as good as its predecessors in both story and gameplay?

Turok Evolution is a prequel to the original Turok. The game returns players into the lush forests, with myriads of hungry, relentless dinosaurs wanting to make you their next meal. The story begins with Tal'Set, a powerful Native American warrior of the Saquin nation, on a cliff fighting his nemesis Captain Bruckner, of the United States Army. Suddenly, a strange energy engulfs them and transports them to another world entitled "The Lost Lands." There are many malicious things going on in this land and it is beginning to get to the point where all hope is gone. Tal'Set undertakes the mission to find out what is the cause of this vile disturbance. To do this he will transverse though lush forests, swim underwater, and soaring through the air. He must use all of his acute senses to be victorious over this sinister evil, and live up to the proud name: Turok!

This games premise was to take Turok back to the roots of the first game, and it does so very well. The main character is the same person who stared in the first game Tal'Set, and it shows the reasons how and why he became the man he was in the Turok: Dinosaur Hunter. In the beginning of the game, players are only armed with the mighty war hammer, and a normal bow with a few arrows. The first level is basically a training mission to show players how to become accustom to the game. Players will learn the importance of strafing to avoid gunfire, be moderately conservative with ammo, and come to the realization that they will get shot, and the best approach might be a more aggressive one. Players also learn the value of jumping. This element becomes crucial later on, when the timing needs to be just right in order not to fall to a terrifying death.

Once players become familiar with the ground controls, they will take to the air. These missions add the very much needed addition to this series, and a whole new playing field. The flying missions feel very reminiscent of games such as Star Fox or Panzer Dragoon. The only bad thing about the flying missions is that it comes with the occasional slow down, and the very annoying loading breaks. At some points in the game you might be in this heavy air battle and you might have just made it to a cave, than the action takes a break for the blissful loading screen. Besides fighting in the air, Turok will have some missions where he will have to swim. The controls are very similar to playing on the land, except now players have to worry about the oxygen. If players stay under too long they will drown.

There are many different weapons, powerups, and ammo that will be used in the games single player mode as well as multiplayer. First there is Turok's trusty War Club, regular usage is an axe, but if you charge it long enough it will turn around and it will land a one-hit kill with its deadly spikes. Next is the basic bow, but that will become a thing of the past once players locate the Tek Bow, which allows players to use a variety of different arrows and delivers a much more powerful blow. Than there are the automatic guns: pistols, shotguns, machine guns, and flechette gun (shoots large steel darts at enemies and is very effective). High-powered weapons include: rocket launchers, flamethrower, plasma cannon, antigrav beam, and many others. The ammos are different types of arrows, bullets, grenades, and anything else needed to fuel these different weapons of mass destruction. For the flying missions players will be able to use machine guns and rocket launchers. Health comes in the form of small and large med kits, these will prove to be extremely useful, and a much needed tool later on in the game. The powerups that are used only in the multiplayer games are: cloaking Belt, Death Helm, Empathy Chest Player, Jump Boost, Shield Belt, Damage Idol, Max Health Idol, Regeneration Idol, and the Speed Idol.

The enemies Tal'Set will face will be varied from hungry dinosaurs to Sleg troops, and other things creating general mayhem. A few of the dinosaurs players will be delighted to run across are: Raptors, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, Crocodiles, and many other interesting creatures. Sleg warriors will be the workers, soldiers, scouts, snipers, captains, and many more. One thing is for sure; Turok will never have a dull moment while he is in the Lost Lands.

No Turok game is complete with out a fleshed out multiplayer mode and Evolution carries on this tradition and expounds upon it ten fold! The game modes are: Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Team Deathmatch, Hunter, One Flag, Last Man, Monkey Tag, Turok Fight, Team Turok Fight, Warrior Rage, Blood Bath, Beginner Deathmatch, Sniper Match, and Flight. Death match and team Deathmatch are basically the same, people fight to see who is the strongest, the player/team with the highest score wins. Hunter is where players score points by killing as the hunter; kill the hunter to become the hunter. Capture the Flag is where you steal other peoples flag from their base and bring it to your base to collect points. One Flag is a team battle to incinerate the opposing team's flag. Money tag is where players can see who can hold on to a monkey for the longest amount of time without being killed. Last Man is a king of the kill type game. Turok Fight/Team Turok fight is where the only weapons available are the warclub and bows. Warrior Rage the more you kill the more powerful you become. In Blood Bath players will begin with every single weapon. Beginner Deathmatch auto balances between the newbies and the really good players. Sniper Math is only sniper weapons and bows. Finally the last mode is Flight where gamers will be fighting on the backs of the Quetzalcoatluses to see who is the king of the sky.

Turok Evolution is rated "M" for mature, and takes up 1 block on your memory card.

Gameplay: 7.0
The game plays much very much like its predecessors. The controls are easy enough to learn, and people will be playing as a master in no time. What is bad though is that the flying missions seem to be put into the game to take stress off the ground missions. They are not integrated well into the story at all; sometimes they are thrown in the mix for no real purpose. It is a very nice addition, but it could have been implemented better. One of my favorite new additions is the destroyable terrain. There is nothing better than a Triceratops on a rampage destroying the forest.

Graphics: 7.8
The game is not the most technically astounding thing you will see running on the GameCube. Nevertheless it is impressive to see the lush jungles teeming with life. In certain levels, Acclaim gave players the feeling that they are actually deep in a lush jungle. In certain places the foliage is really thick, and it can become easy to get disoriented. To further make the game feel alive, there are always harmless creatures like deer running through the forests, or taking a drink in the lake. The character animations are also really well done, and at times they seem realistic and at times are comical.

Sound: 8.5
Just as the first game sucked players into the world of Turok by the music, this game follows suit. The music used really sets the theme and mode for the entire game. When players are in the midst of a heart pounding fight, the music will change to adjust to that moment. It sets the tone for the whole game, and really draws players into this forsaken world. The sound effects are also really well done, from the gun shots, to the scary T-Rex screams; it will have many gamer's hearts leaping out of their chests, knowing that something bad is about to happen.

Difficulty: Medium
The game is fairly easy, but it becomes really strenuous after a while. It is not that the game is hard in any sense, but at times it will feel cheap. The hardest part of the games is the air missions because one miscalculated move, and players have to start all over from the beginning. At times the Sleg Warriors will seem like they are being on the cheap side.

Concept: 7.0
Acclaim started the whole dinosaur hunter crave when the Nintendo 64 was first coming into the limelight. The addition of the flying levels was a major plus, and something that this game needed. To me it seems like Acclaim could have used a little more time polishing up the gameplay for those missions and made them entwine with the game more.

Multiplayer: 7.6
The multiplayer for the game is really good, and there are a lot of things that players can do. Acclaim included a ton of different things to keep players competing against their friends until the next Turok game hits shelves.

Overall: 7.5
It is such a shame to see this game not live up to its full potential. There are so many little things that could have been done to make this game a must have this holiday season. It seems like Turok: Evolution was rushed to get out on the selves on time. Instead Acclaim should have delayed the game a few weeks and polished the game a little bit more. There are better first person shooters out there than Turok, but if you are a die hard Turok fan, this will be the game for you!