Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion 3 Remaster - Review

When I was growing up with my Nintendo 64, Turok was the only consistent series that was releasing, there were four games on the platform after all. While I have fond memories of the first game, the subsequent ones have faded over time, so with a vague sense of recollection, I was eager to jump back in on Turok 3: Shadows of Oblivion. Did it spark nostalgic joy or should it have been left in the past?

As with the other Remasters that Nightdive Studios have completed, this is mostly a 1-1 port of the original release, so story wise it’s the same game. The opening shows Joshua, the protagonist from the previous two games, waking up from a dream about a child and explains to Danielle that the child is the key. Soon, enemies warp into the house and after Joshua manages to defeat a few, he is shot and decides to sacrifice himself in order to give Danielle and Joseph time to escape. Their escape is short lived, but before they can be hurt or killed, they are saved by Adon, someone who Joshua knew. Explaining the the threat of Oblivion, the siblings decide to take up the mantel of Turok, in order to defeat it and save the known worlds. The story isn’t Shakespeare and while there are some interesting characters that you get to meet, most of it is just done via cutscenes. While the experience will differ slightly at times, depending on which character you pick, once the story is done, it is done.

Gameplay is where the biggest changes will come in, not in terms of level design or such, as again they are the same as what we got originally. Rather the change comes in how the game feels while playing it, when I first played the game it was on a Nintendo 64 console, which makes sense, but this time I played the Remaster on PC. The addition of a mouse and keyboard for controlling the game did feel strange at first, playing Turok without a Nintendo 64 controller always does, but I adapted quickly. I did break out my 8bitDo Nintendo 64 modded controller, to see if it would work, but sadly the game did not register it as a controller and I couldn’t be bothered trying to set it up myself. In any event, the gameplay is tied to the shooting and exploration and like the other games things felt great in motion. The games vertical nature really helps out at times, making locations feel a lot bigger than they actually were, but this time the default brightness does reveal just how empty some of those locations are.

The games visuals are a highlight of this remaster, with locations especially looking great. The first location, the city streets is perhaps the weakest of the locations, if only because it had nothing really going for it in the first place. Once you start getting to a few familiar locations or the late game places, things do look much better. The weapons all look great and being able to see them without having to squint was much easier on the eyes. Enemies do look good, though some of that is down to some great character design in the first place and even when the enemies die, seeing those classic death animations is great. The sound side of things is mostly great, the guns all sound impactful and when you get the Cerebral Bore, that iconic sound effect still sounds wicked. The games music sounds good, though I did pick up on the chanting call more than I remember, but it could just be me.

Sadly it is not all praise here, there are a host of elements that feel out of place now, one of which is tied to those death animations. When characters die, more specifically if they die slowly, they tend to leak blood or alien goo as they do, but that is all quite low-res. This wouldn’t be an issue if it was anything else, but as the rest of the visuals look great, seeing something like that is a bit of a stand out. The other weird visual oddity is the characters themselves, specifically around their eyes, they look wrong and not a funny kind of wrong. Don’t misunderstand the designs are still great, but their eyes all look like they have been recessed into their heads and its weird. The weirdest audio issue is that of the voice work, I understand the team were trying to do their best with very little, but the voices just sound hissy most of the time. I am not talking about the quality of the acting, that was a product of its original release, but the actual audio quality is just not quite there, which when you compare it to the rest of the games audio, is a bit of a let-down.

If you are a Turok fan, or have enjoyed the first two remasters, then picking up Turok 3: Shadows of Oblivion is a must. The games visuals are a very welcome step up, some of the lighting is a treat, but for me it was the smoothness of playing it that made it fun. There is some visual and audial weirdness going on, but nothing that stops you from enjoying the game and as there are two characters, there is reason enough to play through a second time.

The Score

8.5

Review code provided by Nightdive Studios

The Pros

The game plays much smoother than the original release, which is very welcome

Much of the world looks great, which is a testament to the original design and the remaster effort…

The Cons

…however some of the rooms now feel empty, as there is nothing really hiding the lack of things in them

The voice work is not the best, and given the impact some scenes are meant to have, that is a shame