Software:Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion

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Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion
Turok 3 - Shadow of Oblivion Coverart.png
Developer(s)Acclaim Studios Austin
Nightdive Studios (remaster)
Publisher(s)Acclaim Entertainment
Nightdive Studios (remaster)
Director(s)David Dienstbier
Producer(s)Jeff Everett
Designer(s)Andy Schwalenberg
Chuck Lupher
Jeff Shelton
Programmer(s)Dave Smith
Artist(s)Scott Brocker
Michael Janke
Composer(s)Nelson Everhart
SeriesTurok
Platform(s)
ReleaseNintendo 64
  • NA: September 6, 2000
  • EU: September 8, 2000
Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
  • WW: November 30, 2023
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion is a first-person shooter video game developed by Acclaim Studios Austin and published by Acclaim Entertainment. It was released for the Nintendo 64 video game console in 2000. Shadow of Oblivion is the third main installment of the Turok series and a sequel to Turok 2. The game received generally favorable reviews from critics. A separate game, also titled Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion, which is set in the same universe but follows a different storyline, was released for the Game Boy Color in 2000. A remastered version of the game developed by Nightdive Studios released on November 30, 2023 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.[1]

Gameplay

The player engages in a boss fight with an enemy. The game's HUD at the bottom left corner shows the player's health and ammunition.

Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion is a first-person shooter where the player controls the protagonist from a first-person perspective. The player can choose to play the game as either Danielle or Joseph, who both have unique abilities. For example, Danielle can jump higher and carry high-powered weapons, while Joseph can crawl into crevices and use the sniper rifle in conjunction with the night vision goggles.[2] Each character has eight main weapons that may be upgraded in different ways for a total of 16 weapons per character, although some of them are shared.[2] Players can save their progress at any time with the use of a Controller Pak.[3]

In addition to the single-player campaign, Shadow of Oblivion features a multiplayer mode where various players can compete against each other in eight game types, including blood lust, capture the flag, last stand, and monkey tag.[2] Multiplayer games can be played in 42 different maps and can also include bots.[2] The multiplayer mode is not included in the remaster.

Plot

When the Primagen's Lightship was destroyed at the end of Turok 2, the chain reaction it triggered was so powerful that the universe as it existed was completely eradicated, pushing Oblivion, a monstrous cosmic entity that consumes bodies of the living and reigned before the birth of the universe, to the very brink of destruction. Though totally ravaged, Oblivion survived and now desperately seeks a means to punch through the Netherscape that separates the living world from the Lost Lands, a strange and primitive world where time has no meaning. The last shreds of the pure energy source that created the living world and nearly wiped out Oblivion are contained within the Light Burden, the bag that every member of the Turok lineage has carried. Deep within the Lost Lands, Oblivion's henchmen have a massive headquarters from where they assemble their armies and direct their operations.

The game begins with the current Turok, Joshua Fireseed, having dreams of a child that must be protected, as he is the last of the Fireseed lineage. During that night, Oblivion Spawns teleport into his home and try to kill Joshua in his sleep. Joshua catches them and fights, but is outnumbered. He then tells his sister Danielle and his brother Joseph to escape, while he stays behind with a bomb in his hand to blow the Spawns away, along with himself. While Danielle and Joseph drive away, they are attacked by a monster, but Adon, a female alien who helped Joshua in the previous game, saves and teleports them to a council meeting to deal with the situation of Oblivion. They decide that either Danielle or Joseph must become the next Turok, and the player must choose. The player will eventually have to infiltrate the enemies' headquarters to destroy the scourge of the universe.

Development

Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion was developed by Acclaim Studios Austin and published by Acclaim Entertainment.[4] Before production of the game began, the development team decided to remove the Nintendo 64 Expansion Paks from their development kits to guarantee a smooth frame rate on a standard Nintendo 64.[5] Instead, high-resolution and letterbox settings were developed for owners of Expansion Paks.[5] The team rewrote the graphics engine, resulting in the game having a 30 degree wider field of view and two to four times the draw distance that Turok 2 had.[5] A co-operative mode, where two players, one as Danielle and the other as Joseph, would play through the campaign missions together, was originally intended to be included in the game, but was ultimately dropped due to technical difficulties related to Danielle and Joseph's unique abilities.[6][7]

Unlike previous Turok games, where artists were limited to pre-designed levels, Shadow of Oblivion features maps that were entirely built to suit the designers' requirements.[8] Levels also include events that unfold independently of the player's actions. As creative director David Dienstbier explained, players can "see police choppers swooping throughout the world. Police drive up to certain buildings and charge into the building to go fight. Some of this stuff is scripted specifically around the player's actions and movements, and some of it takes place completely independent of where the player is".[8] In the weeks leading up to the game's release, the development team was composed of 21 people and worked 24-hour shifts.[8] The game was released on September 6, 2000, in North America.[4] A separate game, also titled Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion, was released for the Game Boy Color in 2000. Although set in the same world, it follows a different storyline.[9]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic77/100[10]
Review scores
PublicationScore
EGM8.17/10[12][lower-alpha 1]
Game Informer8/10[14]
GameFan(E.M.) 98%[15]
89%[16][lower-alpha 2]
GameSpot7.9/10[2]
Hyper72%[17]
IGN7.4/10[3]
N64 Magazine82%[18]
Next Generation4/5 stars[19]
Nintendo Power8/10[20]

Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion received generally favorable reviews from critics.[10] Mark Green of N64 Magazine described it as a "gigantic, gorgeous game that's packed with goodness and perfectly playable in every way", but noted that the game failed to topple Rare's Perfect Dark, an earlier first-person shooter that he felt the Turok 3 team was unlikely to better.[18] GameSpot praised the game, stating that it "concentrates upon what made the Turok franchise a best-seller instead of attempting to one-up the competition, making it in many ways the best Turok yet".[2] The Electric Playground highlighted the game's unique weapons and multiplayer deathmatch variants, but overall felt that the game was worthier as a rental than as an actual purchase.[13] NextGen concluded that "despite a few problems, Turok 3 is a satisfying experience that closes this [Nintendo 64] series in style. [First-person shooter] fans will not be disappointed."[19]

Writing for IGN, reviewer Fran Mirabella III praised the option for players to save the game at any time, saying that "you can no longer live in fear of playing for 45 minutes only to end up getting whacked before you reach a save beacon".[3] However, he criticized the game's inconsistent frame rate and the fact that the game can occasionally look worse than its predecessor.[3] Similarly, GamePro's The D-Pad Destroyer said that the game's "sloppy" frame rate discourages the use of "awesome" multiplayer options, especially in 4-player mode.[21][lower-alpha 3] The Enforcer, however, had a different opinion: "If you're a fan of the franchise, you'll find a lot to like about Turok 3. Its intense single-player adventure and extensive multiplayer mode will have you fragging till the wee morning hours."[22][lower-alpha 4] Nevertheless, Nintendo Power highlighted the realistic character models and the cinematics for their lip-synched speech, a feature that is uncommon in Nintendo 64 games.[20]

Notes

  1. ↑ Two critics of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game each a score of 8/10, and the other gave it 8.5/10.
  2. ↑ In GameFan's viewpoint of the game, three critics gave it each a score of 94, 89, and 83.
  3. ↑ GamePro gave the game two 3.5/5 scores for graphics and sound, and two 4/5 scores for control and fun factor in one review.
  4. ↑ GamePro gave the game three 4/5 scores for graphics, sound, and fun factor, and 3.5/5 for control in another review.

References

  1. ↑ Romano, Sal (August 22, 2023). "Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion coming to PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC on November 14". https://www.gematsu.com/2023/08/turok-3-shadow-of-oblivion-coming-to-ps5-xbox-series-ps4-xbox-one-switch-and-pc-on-november-14. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Satterfield, Shane (August 30, 2000). "Turok 3: Shadows of Oblivion [sic Review"]. Fandom. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/turok-3-shadows-of-oblivion-review/1900-2622124/. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Mirabella III, Fran (September 5, 2000). "Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion (N64)". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/09/06/turok-3-shadow-of-oblivion. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "The Final Episode of The Turok Series for the Nintendo 64 Arrives In Stores". September 6, 2000. http://www.acclaim.com/company/pressReleases/product/Turok3inStores.html. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Casamassina, Matt (May 26, 2000). "Going Behind Turok". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/05/27/going-behind-turok. 
  6. ↑ IGN staff (March 17, 2000). "Uncooperative Co-op". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/03/18/uncooperative-co-op. 
  7. ↑ IGN staff (April 12, 2000). "Turok Won't Cooperate". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/04/13/turok-wont-cooperate. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Prepare for the Hunt". Nintendo Power (Nintendo of America) 133: 26–30. June 2000. 
  9. ↑ Harris, Craig (August 4, 2000). "Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion (GBC)". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/08/05/turok-3-shadow-of-oblivion-2. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion for Nintendo 64 Reviews". Fandom. https://www.metacritic.com/game/nintendo-64/turok-3-shadow-of-oblivion. 
  11. ↑ D'Aprile, Jason (October 5, 2000). "Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion". CNET. http://www.gamecenter.com/N64/Reviews/Turok3/. 
  12. ↑ Lockhart, Ryan; Mielke, James "Milkman"; Kennedy, Sam (November 2000). "Turok 3 [Shadow of Oblivion"]. Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (136): 248. https://www.nintendo64ever.com/scans/mags/Scan-Magazine-1745-248.jpg. Retrieved November 5, 2023. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Conlin, Shaun (October 18, 2000). "Turok 3 [Shadow of Oblivion"]. Greedy Productions Ltd.. http://www.elecplay.com/review.html?article=4103&full=1#mr_toppy. 
  14. ↑ McNamara, Andy; Reppen, Erik; Reiner, Andrew (October 2000). "Turok 3: Shadow Of Oblivion – Nintendo 64". Game Informer (FuncoLand) (90). http://www.gameinformer.com/reviews/review_detail.cfm?ITEM_ID=4822. 
  15. ↑ Mylonas, Eric "ECM" (November 2000). "Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion". GameFan (BPA International) 8 (11): 112–13. https://archive.org/details/Gamefan_Vol_8_Issue_11/page/n115/mode/2up. Retrieved December 28, 2021. 
  16. ↑ Weitzner, Jason "Fury"; Van Stone, Matt "Kodomo"; Ngo, George "Eggo" (November 2000). "Turok 3 [Shadow of Oblivion"]. GameFan (BPA International) 8 (11): 26. https://archive.org/details/Gamefan_Vol_8_Issue_11/page/n27/mode/2up. Retrieved December 28, 2021. 
  17. ↑ DMC (December 2000). "Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion". Hyper (Next Media Pty Ltd) (86): 78–79. https://retrocdn.net/images/c/cd/Hyper_AU_086.pdf. Retrieved November 5, 2023. 
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Green, Mark (October 2000). "Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion". N64 Magazine (Future Publishing) (46): 46–53. 
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Rice, Kevin (December 2000). "Turok 3: Shadows of Oblivion [sic"]. NextGen (Imagine Media) (72): 119. https://archive.org/details/NextGen72Dec2000/page/n119/mode/2up. Retrieved December 28, 2021. 
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion". Nintendo Power (Nintendo of America) 136: 109. September 2000. https://www.nintendo64ever.com/scans/mags/Scan-Magazine-378-109.jpg. Retrieved November 5, 2023. 
  21. ↑ The D-Pad Destroyer (August 31, 2000). "Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion Review for N64 on GamePro.com". GamePro (IDG). http://www.gamepro.com/nintendo/n64/games/reviews/6610.shtml. 
  22. ↑ The Enforcer (October 2000). "Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion". GamePro (IDG Entertainment) (145): 136. https://www.nintendo64ever.com/scans/mags/Scan-Magazine-1944-136.jpg. Retrieved November 5, 2023. 

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