Well, I beat Turok 2...again. This recent playthrough sort of stripped a bit of the nostalgic veneer from what I've always considered one of my favorite games. Playing this immediately after Turok: Dinosaur Hunter revealed more flaws than I'd remember, but I will say I still think this is a fantastic game.
Now, I finally decided to replay these to get all the achievements. Doing so in the first game was breezy and pleasant, but it was far from that for Turok 2 which requires a completion on "Hardcore Mode." What I will say about this mode is I simply don't recommend it. It turns this game into a serious slowburn. Where before I'd sprint through corridors with the trusty and beautiful double barrel, blasting dinozoid limbs off care-free, I now had to be extra cautious. One minor step around the wrong corner could mean nearly instant death. Enemy fire locked on, some even hitscan and unavoidable, would pelt me from across the map. Each round doing upwards of a quarter of my health or more. It just wasn't fun and boss fights became incredibly tedious. Then there's the way you have to backtrack if you miss even one objective. It can become maddening when you can't find that last little thing to carry on, going through the entire level 3 times before finding it. It's not great, and is often straight up unfair.
What I love so much about Turok 2 is it's atmosphere. Each level with it's own theme, dour midi chords carrying you through. Really impeccable sound design here. Each enemy with it's own death throes and warning roars. The way the mantid soldiers screech as when a leg is blown off or the gurgling of a raptoid whose chest was just blown off. You really feel in it. This is all further elevated by the dreamlike level design. You'll be in places that were perhaps inhabited, but you wonder how anyone could traverse the impossible architecture. Of course the levels were simply created for Joshua Fireseed to run-and-gun through, but their impossibility gives a unique vibe.
In the end, Turok 2 is inextricable from my years with it and how it formed my tastes. I can look on it more critically now than ever, especially after my slightly enjoyable Hardcore run which succeeded in showing me every flaw the game has. It's far from perfect and in some cases is a complete mess, but I love every minute I exist in it.
Now, I finally decided to replay these to get all the achievements. Doing so in the first game was breezy and pleasant, but it was far from that for Turok 2 which requires a completion on "Hardcore Mode." What I will say about this mode is I simply don't recommend it. It turns this game into a serious slowburn. Where before I'd sprint through corridors with the trusty and beautiful double barrel, blasting dinozoid limbs off care-free, I now had to be extra cautious. One minor step around the wrong corner could mean nearly instant death. Enemy fire locked on, some even hitscan and unavoidable, would pelt me from across the map. Each round doing upwards of a quarter of my health or more. It just wasn't fun and boss fights became incredibly tedious. Then there's the way you have to backtrack if you miss even one objective. It can become maddening when you can't find that last little thing to carry on, going through the entire level 3 times before finding it. It's not great, and is often straight up unfair.
What I love so much about Turok 2 is it's atmosphere. Each level with it's own theme, dour midi chords carrying you through. Really impeccable sound design here. Each enemy with it's own death throes and warning roars. The way the mantid soldiers screech as when a leg is blown off or the gurgling of a raptoid whose chest was just blown off. You really feel in it. This is all further elevated by the dreamlike level design. You'll be in places that were perhaps inhabited, but you wonder how anyone could traverse the impossible architecture. Of course the levels were simply created for Joshua Fireseed to run-and-gun through, but their impossibility gives a unique vibe.
In the end, Turok 2 is inextricable from my years with it and how it formed my tastes. I can look on it more critically now than ever, especially after my slightly enjoyable Hardcore run which succeeded in showing me every flaw the game has. It's far from perfect and in some cases is a complete mess, but I love every minute I exist in it.