Never been a huge "Damn this game has so many weapons hell yeah" guy, and that's unfortunately so much of what they're trying to sell you here. When you aren't 11 years old, it's more like cerebral BORE am I right.

Still some absolute god-tier songs in the score, of course. Also some fun level design and kineticism for the era. The basic reptoid enemies look a little generic but their many animations are obviously lovingly detailed and super memorable. In spite of the at-times mazey level design, the levels still feel enormous in scope. Importantly, like the original, the levels also have a ton of height and verticality, which is so important for conveying scale.

My ultimate take is that I wouldn't have changed anything about the level design, but I would have killed all of the objectives. They're so arbitrary and obviously phoned in to ape Goldeneye.

After hearing about how good Turok 2 in comparison to the first game, I finally decided to probably play through it after so many years of never playing past the first level.

Turok 2, ironically, helped me appreciate how enjoyable the original Turok is. Turok 2 is mired in backtracking, so, so much of it. And the absolute worst of 90's mazelike level design. (Good like getting past level 4 without a guide...) That being said, there is clear ambition here and I can definitely appreciate how complex this game is for the time it came out, and on the N64 to boot! I will also say needing to 100% a level simply to progress is honestly one of the worst design choices. Playing it now, though? In 2024? It's heavily outdated and there are certainly much better games.

Overall I enjoyed my time with Turok 2, and i'm glad I played it. Will I ever replay it? Doubtful. I'd much rather replay the original Turok.

Coming off my first playthrough of Turok, I was surprised to find that the gunplay in Turok 2: Seeds of Evil now demands precision from the player, and it rewards them with some of the grossest blood and gore that I've seen in a game. But to facilitate the enhanced combat mechanics, levels now have a plethora of corridors and maze-like segments, ditching the wide-open jungles that dominated the first game. There's also a surprising lack of dinosaurs! It almost makes me regret asserting that Turok lacks a cohesive setting, because this sequel feels more like a run-of-the-mill boomer shooter than its predecessor, albeit with some really gnarly and unique weapons.