Turok
Publisher: Touchstone
Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Rated: M — Mature
Game type: First-person shooter
Rating: *** 1/2 (out of five)
What’s the premise?
You are Turok, an intergalactic special forces agent packing a bow, a knife, some guns, grenades and a bunch of other nasty toys — and you’re going to need them after you and a group of military misfits crash land on a mysterious planet where dinosaurs roam wild and snack freely on anyone who gets too close.
This game is most similar to…?
Turok for Nintendo 64.
Is it suitable for younger gamers?
Not unless you’re planning on having them enter Green Beret training instead of high school.
One player or more?
The story mode is solo, but there’s online multi-player for up to 16 gamers and even a four-player co-op mission.
What’s missing?
Room to roam. Like the recent Clive Barker’s Jericho, Turok tends to force you to follow along a fairly narrow pathway to a wider area where a battle ensues and then you’ll find yourself right back on that narrow path again. It’d be nice to be able to have a little more freedom to mix things up and approach things from a different angle.
The (not-so) secret to success is…?
Kill the head and the body will die. You’ll be packing a pretty impressive arsenal as you trudge through the jungle, but somehow all that heat barely makes a dent in your enemies — be they dinosaur or human. Whenever you can, try and get them right between the eyes and save yourself a lot of ammo.
And in the end?
This new edition of Turok is full of wonderfully nasty moments — especially some of the bow and knife stealth kills — that make it compelling, but there are equally frustrating sections that, in the end, make it solid, but not A-list.
Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platforms: PSP
Rated: T — Teen
Game type: Action
Rating: **** (out of five)
What’s the premise?
It’s been two years since Pursuit Force arrived on the scene and cleaned up the mean streets of Capital City and now a new collective of gangs are ready to take a shot at dirtying them up again. Your job is to hop in your car, tank, hovercraft, etc. and stop the bad guys from doing bad stuff by shooting them — a lot.
This game is most similar to…?
Crackdown meets Spyhunter.
Is it suitable for younger gamers?
My general rule is that any game that involves shooting someone with a gun is pretty much off the safe list for my kids and it applies here.
One player or more?
There’s actually some really fun multi-player action via Wi-fi and Ad Hoc with modes like Cops And Robbers (pick a side), Survivor (you take the wheel and I’ll take the turret), Ram Jam (run each other off the road) and Rampage (an all-out gun battle).
What’s missing?
Crackers. They would go perfectly with the incredibly cheesy dialogue in this game — although I think it’s done deliberately.
The (not-so) secret to success is…?
Get out your seat and jump around (jump up, jump up and get down!). You’ll never best the bad guys by just chasing them around, so get up alongside their vehicles and you can leap onto their hoods and blast ’em. Then you can hop behind the wheel of some of their souped-up rides and really make things interesting.
And in the end?
Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice is like a cliché-filled summer action blockbuster — you may feel a bit ashamed for enjoying it, but you will certainly enjoy it.
Jonathan P. Kuehlein/Metro Toronto
