Forgotten N64 Turok Games Finally Coming To PlayStation
If you're ready for a blast from the past, the long-dormant Turok franchise is getting a new lease of life thanks to a rumoured next-gen remaster of the first two games. Back in the heyday of the Nintendo 64, Turok (originally known as Turok: Dinosaur Hunter) was about as weird and wacky as you can get. Like Jurassic Park on steroids, the game threw the titular Turok into an alien world populated by dinosaurs. This time-travelling Native American had to blast his way through waves of hungry dinos in a game that mixed the first-person horror of DOOM with the exploration mechanics of Tomb Raider.
While Turok was hardly a groundbreaking title like Super Mario 64 or GoldenEye 007, it proved popular enough to spawn a franchise of sequels and even a reboot. However, with the series lying in limbo since 2008, many of us had long consigned Turok to the history books. 2015 saw a resurgence in the name thanks to a PC remaster, followed by an Xbox version in 2018, and Nintendo Switch in 2019. Rounding off the pack, could PlayStation owners finally be getting in on the action?
Are the Turok games coming to PlayStation?
According to Reddit, a remastered version of 1997's Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and 1998's Turok 2: Seeds of Evil will be coming to the PlayStation Store on February 25. Adding fuel to the fire that the leaks are right, u/GermanZombie's post has been deleted by mods on the PlayStation 4 hub. Iguana Entertainment worked on the N64 versions all those years ago, while remastered versions of Turok have been handled by Nightdive Studios.
The last Turok game was released in 2008 as a reboot from Propaganda Games. It was pretty well-received on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, meaning a sequel had been in the works. In mid-2008, work was halted due to massive layoffs at Propaganda. Apart from the remastered versions, Turok has been buried for the past 13 years. We can assume the PS remasters would follow in the footsteps of the others. The Turok and Turok 2 remasters had better visuals, an enhanced AI, and a new quick-warp ability. Apart from the Switch version, there was also a new multiplayer mode called "Last Turok Standing".
Should the Turok games come to PlayStation?
Nightdive seems committed to remastering classic games. It was originally founded with the sole purpose of remastering System Shock, but in an interview last year (via Medium), Nightdive CEO Stephen Kick, said, "I really didn’t have any expectations on how that effort would be received. When the re-release launched it soon became clear that we were providing a valuable service that’s expanded far beyond that original vision. After that initial success I looked at what other games could benefit from a similar treatment and for the last 8 years I’ve done what I can to recover, remaster and re-release a variety of titles across multiple platforms".
Similar to what Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy did for the PlayStation mascot, could the latest remaster reignite the Turok fires and finally deliver a true sequel for next-gen consoles? Given the series' checkered past, we doubt it. Still, stranger things have happened. For those who consider Turok an old favourite, or those who are new to the series, it's about time the games came to PlayStation. Hopefully, we'll be blasting dinosaurs with shotguns before the month is out.
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Images via Acclaim Entertainment
