Turok: Origins reminds me of my childhood. I recall reading Turok comics back in the day with its tales of brave dinosaur hunters.
In Turok: Origins, the video game, I’ll get to relive those memories as players get to fight as the legendary Turok warriors to face off against “ferocious dinosaurs and a terrifying alien threat that seeks to destroy all human life in the galaxy.”
At Gamescom last week, I got to play a preview of the first/third-person shooter game and listen to Jesus Iglesias, the game director at Saber Interactive, as he described the gameplay behind the third-person co-op combat title with a compelling narrative.
“It’s an exciting moment for us as developers, as you can imagine,” said Iglesias. “For you, it’s another game, but for us, is the result of four years of our work. So we are very excited that we can finally show you what we were working with.”
Iglesias said that the gameplay will revive the classic series for both new and old fans. You get to unleash “devastating attacks on your enemies with a lethal arsenal.” You use biomorphic suits to channel primal animal powers with enhanced abilities. You can harness the DNA of fallen enemies to upgrade your own powers.
The game is built with the Unreal game engine and it runs at 60 frames per second.
It’s coming to thje PC, PlayStation and Xbox Series X|S. I played the game on an easy level with a total of three human players. We fought against a variety of dinosaurs across ancient ruins, jungles and vertical stone structures. We fought with melee attacks, ranged weapons and special abilities.
I played with a shotgun most of the time, but tried out the sniper rifle and bow as well. Iglesias said Saber’s goal was to bring the sleeping franchise back to life, much like the company did with Space Marine 2, one of last year’s big hits.
“The way we decide to make these reboots is first because we love the game. It’s something that we internally discuss. We do love this idea. We have the possibility to make a game based on this idea. And secondly, are we sure that we can bring something to the IP, expand the IP the universe, and make it a little bit better?,” Iglesias said.
He noted the old Turok IP was very eclectic because every game in the series was so different, with space travel and a variety of enemies. It was linked to Native American culture, and the team decided to amplify that element and write a new story. The team hired Native American consultants to help with the authenticity.
“On all platforms, the game will run at 60 frames per second, very smoothly, very high resolution. But the Xbox Series S will be 30 frames per second,” he said.
The original franchise was a series of comic books from the 1950s, and it was rebooted in 1993 with another comic series. The first game appeared in 1997 on the Nintendo 64, while another title came in 2008. That latter title wasn’t successful, and it put the IP to sleep. The new game will have an “amazing story,” where you have to protect the universe from a race of reptilians who want to conquer the universe. You collect materials from different planets in your efforts to oppose them.
Iglesias described the game as an “intense shooter.” It was true. Hordes of enemies come out in a confined face and I found I had to use the shotgun at very close range. Using the sniper rifle was harder as the dinosaurs moved fast and the levels we played were close-range maps. You can unlock futuristic features on the weapons in a sophisticated progression system, said Igelsias.
“When you unlock new weapons, you can improve them, unlocking modes that will add the passive or active abilities to the player,” Iglesias said.
There are primal forms that serve as classes. There are three of them, and they take animal form such the bison and the cougar. You can collect echoes from the dead bodies of opponents and use them to enhance your character.
Disclosure: Gamescom paid my way to Cologne, Germany.