Turok: Rage Wars

Turok: Rage Wars
Developer(s)	Acclaim Studios Austin (N64)[1] Bit Managers (GBC)[2]
Publisher(s)	Acclaim Entertainment[3] Golden Books Family Entertainment
Composer(s)	Alberto Jose González (GBC)[4]
Series	Turok
Engine	Turok (optimized) (N64)[5]
Platform(s)	Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color
Release date(s)	Nintendo 64[6] NA October 31, 1999 EU December 26, 1999 Game Boy Color[7] NA June, 2000 EU 2000
Genre(s)	First-person shooter(N64) Platformer(GBC)
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer(N64)

Turok: Rage Wars is a first-person shooter video game for the Nintendo 64 released alongside other major multi-player-focused first-person titles such as Quake III Arena and Unreal Tournament.^[8][9] The Nintendo 64 game supports a maximum of four players simultaneously via split-screen. Like its predecessor, the game allows use of the RAM Expansion Pack for high-resolution play, but does not require it.^[10]

A side-scrolling 2D platformer of the same name was developed by Bit Managers for the Game Boy Color and released the following year. Although both games take place in the Turok universe, the Game Boy Color version of Rage Wars differs from the Nintendo 64 version in gameplay and plot.^[11]

The game is non-canon in the Turok video games series.

Gameplay

While the Nintendo 64 game is a 3D first person shooter with a heavy emphasis on multi-player,^[12] the Game Boy Color version is a side-scrolling 2D platformer similar to Turok's previous incarnations for the Game Boy.^[11] The Nintendo 64 version of Rage Wars features three distinct modes of gameplay: a single player campaign, a two-player cooperative mode, and a non-cooperative multiplayer mode.

Single-Player Trials Mode - In the Single-Player Campaign, the player must go through a number of death matches through the various game mode types and must face all four game bosses as well. Each character in the game must be played to the end of their campaign at least once to unlock other characters and rewards, including Talismans and an increase in maximum health.

Two-Player Trials Mode - This mode is similar to the Single-Player Campaign with the addition of cooperative gameplay. Some rewards can only be gained in the Two-Player Campaign. In early copies of the game, the two-player trials mode was affected by a glitch which prevented progressing past a certain point.^[13]

Multiplayer - In this mode, the player selects a character and level to play. The player starts with Turok, Adon, Bio Bot Elite, and Mantid Drone as the first playable characters, with more characters unlockable through the Single-Player Trials Mode. Multiplayer has several game type options, including, Bloodlust and Team Bloodlust, which are deathmatch-style games, Capture the Flag, and Monkey Tag, in which a random player is transformed into a monkey that other players can frag to score points. In this mode, the player can configure the options for gameplay before each game.

The game features weapons divided into three ammunition types: bullet rounds, energy rounds, and explosive rounds. A player may only carry six pre-selected weapons at one time. However, when playing as Tal'Set, the player has access to every weapon in the game at once.

In addition to weapons that can be picked up in-game, most arena maps contain a Power Core, a glowing pink-and-blue crystalline item floating in a set location. They are similar to the "Power Ups" in Quake III Arena and grant the player a randomly selected power. Each Power Core lasts approximately 15 to 20 seconds.

There are 50 medals that can be earned in the game to unlock cheats and character skins. Medals are awarded for completing a range of actions, from defeating bosses to committing suicides. One of the medals is impossible to achieve in the United States version of early (black-cartridge) copies of the game due to a Two-Player Trials glitch in the "Creature Tag" levels. Acclaim recognized this glitch and exchanged any black cartridges with fixed grey cartridges. The recalled variants weren't widely known, however, and have led to the grey cartridge variant of the game being a rare collector's item.^[13]

Characters

The Single Player Trials of the Nintendo 64 game begin with only Joshua Fireseed, Adon, and Bio Bot Elite as playable characters. However, other characters, including the four bosses, can be unlocked through single-player mode. As the player progress, more playable characters can be unlocked, each with their own mission tree. Playable characters include:^[14]

• Joshua Fireseed AKA "The Coyote Knight" - For generations, first-born males Fireseed bloodline have donned the mantle of Turok, sworn to maintain the balance of good and evil. Joshua, the current Turok, has taken on the "Light Burden", a sacred vessel containing the last pure fragments of the energy of creation. Fierce Battles called Rage Wars began in an effort to wrest control of The Light Burden from the line of Turok and thus conquer The Lost Land, a strange world where time has no meaning.
• Adon - As the "speaker of the forever light", Adon serves the Council of Voices, the minds of the Lost Land's greatest leaders whose consciousnesses were uploaded into massive computer systems. She is the only governess of Galyanna permitted to speak with the council.
• Bio Bot Elite - A conglomeration of living tissue and cybernetic parts. When Primagen was defeated, all Bio Bots went into berserker mode, destroying any life they encountered. Joshua managed to kill all but one, Bio Bot Elite, who has tracked him to the Rage Wars in a search for vengeance.
• Campaigner - A once tyrannical ruler, Campaigner was badly damaged in a battle with Tal'Set. As a result, much of his body was augmented with cybernetic parts.
• Fireborn - A fiery mutation of a dinosoid, a genetically engineered dinosaur hybrid; dinosoids hate the Turok, and vie to take the Light Burden from Joshua.
• The Lord Of The Dead - A zombie-like creature and inhabitant of the "Deadside", a place where evil spirits become trapped. The Lord of the Dead seeks the Light Burden to destroy the barrier between his world and the world of the living.
• Mantid Drone - An insect warrior. The Mantid's Queen was killed by Joshua Fireseed, dooming their race. The Mantids seek the Light Burden so that they may bridge the gap between the Lost Land and their homeworld.
• Mantid Soldier - The strongest insects in the Mantid army.
• Mantid Mites - Small Mantid hatchlings. (Mantid Mites are to use weapons, but may use claws or spit acid.)
• Blind One Guardian - A member of The Blind Ones, a subterranean race of flesh eaters that use extrasensory perception to hunt their prey.
• Oblivion Spawn - A servant of Oblivion.
• Pur-Linn Juggernaut - A cybernetically-enhanced member of the Pur-Lin, a race ape-like creatures that have always inhabited the Lost Land. Their culture respects strength and detests weakness. Resentful of mankind's technological progress, they seek to destroy the Turok.
• Raptor - A genetically enhanced Velociraptor with heightened intelligence. His race is almost as ancient as the Pur-Linn and wish to destroy the Turok after centuries of defeat at his hands. (Raptor is unable to use weapons, but may use claws.)

Boss characters

• Bastille - A formal Lord and General, Bastille faced execution after an attempt on the King's life. A temporal distortion sent him into the Lost Land where he raised an army of warriors to claim the Light Burden and take revenge on the King.
• Syra - The child of an arms maker whom was murdered at the hands of bandits, Syra was a trained killer from childhood. She roams the Lost Land as a hired assassin and took on a contract to kill Joshua Fireseed.
• Symbiont - An alien, arachnid, and parasitic species, the Symbiont use their hosts as vehicles by controlling their minds and stealing their memories. The Symbiont aim to destroy the Turok so they may assimilate the Lost Land.
• Tal'Set - The final boss that shares his name with the original Turok. Their connection is unclear. (Tal'Set can use all weapons in multiplayer, but they are randomly chosen.)

Reception

Turok: Rage Wars for the Nintendo 64 received mixed reviews, scoring a 72 overall on Game Rankings based on 19 reviews. Game Industry News praised the game for its multiplayer, noting the extensive character selection and wide variety of battle grounds.^[22] GameCritics remarked that the "graphics and animation are more than competent" and the "controls are also responsive and handle with considerable ease."^[12]

The game has been criticized for multiple issues. GameSpot noted that the single player trials "play more like a training session for your multiplayer games" and that the AI "can't stand up to any steady-handed human player." While the game does not require the RAM Expansion Pack, playing without it resulted in "mushy and quite ugly" graphics.^[16] The Daily Radar noted that the "audio feedback is lacking" and "the weapons interface, as well as the lack of ammo, makes the game frustrating."^[23]

References

External links

• Official Webpage
• GameRankings reviews
• Turok: Rage Wars at MobyGames