I went hands-on with upcoming co-op third-person shooter Turok: Origins at Gamescom 2025 . Whereas I’m not a mega fan of the dino-slaying sequence, I’ve loved lots of its earliest entries, together with the Nintendo 64 trilogy and even the divisive multiplayer spin-off Turok: Rage Wars.
Except for a now-delisted 2019 spin-off sport, the sequence has been largely dormant since 2008’s Turok for seventh-generation consoles. It now returns in Turok: Origins, courtesy of developer and writer Saber Interactive, with an as-of-yet unannounced launch date.
Reducing to the necessary particulars, Turok: Origins is a co-op-focused shooter for as much as three gamers. You decide a class-specific character – every with their very own weapon and ability loadouts – and cargo right into a map the place you will need to full a linear sequence of targets earlier than going through off in opposition to a climactic boss encounter.
Chances are you’ll like
My expertise with the sport is, thus far, largely constructive. Blasting prehistoric creatures and a hostile soldier-like alien race is tons of enjoyable; weapons and quick-kill animations really feel extraordinarily slick, and I really feel the selection of third-person perspective is a brilliant one.
I do have some issues, although, primarily with environmental design. Maps do really feel reasonably drab and samey from an aesthetic standpoint, and so they had been additionally extremely darkish, making it tough to identify enemies hiding in shadows or overgrown flora.
Even in my quick session, Origins was starting to really feel a bit repetitive, so I’m presently not sure of the sport’s replay worth. But when Saber Interactive nails this, it may nicely be probably the greatest co-op video games of current years.
Hit ‘em with the mind destroyer
(Picture credit score: Saber Interactive)
Let’s concentrate on the great for now, although. Fight does really feel actually good in Turok: Origins. Participant characters are outfitted with all kinds of weapon sorts, together with shotguns, rifles, bows, and iconic sequence staples just like the Cerebral Bore – a terrifyingly merciless instrument that fairly actually sucks the mind out of an enemy’s cranium.
After I requested artistic director Jesús Iglesias if the Bore could be as overpowered because it was in prior entries, he didn’t hesitate with a resoundingly excited “sure!” Normally, a developer would possibly wish to guarantee a level of stability for highly effective weaponry equivalent to this, however I extra respect the truth that Saber appears to have as a lot reverence for this legendary instrument of destruction as Turok sequence followers do.
The excellent news is that Saber Interactive clearly has plenty of love for the supply materials. Dinosaur selection is spectacular, with every kind providing its personal problem. Some favor to cost you at melee distance, whereas others will grasp again and attempt to get a peak benefit, raining down gobs of acid.
What I’ll word, then, is that spatial consciousness is essential to success. Origins’ maps (from what I’ve performed thus far, a minimum of) are designed with a minimum of two vertical layers. A coordinated group of three positively has the very best likelihood of success right here, as you’ll seemingly have to name out precedence threats and divvy up the group’s consideration primarily based on particular person characters’ ability units.
One class, for instance, felt excellent for melee fight. Their abilities allowed them to buff their very own injury. One other appeared higher targeted on crowd management, capable of spawn limitations to limit enemy actions. In isolation, it’s all fairly easy stuff, however in a co-op setting, the synergies these abilities offered positively enhanced the enjoyable issue.
Welcome to the jungle
(Picture credit score: Saber Interactive)
Total mission development was pretty simple, as we progressed from a dense jungle to a hidden temple, earlier than going through off in opposition to a colossal cyborg stegosaurus (sure, actually) in a big round area. Targets ranged from merely activating a set of nodes to killing a sure variety of enemies.
The essential nature of those targets appears high-quality for the early sport, however what had me extra involved was the extent design itself. Environments (particularly exteriors) are fairly, but additionally considerably maze-like and repetitive in nature. I additionally couldn’t assist however word that it was straightforward to lose sight of enemies amongst the thick foliage, leaving myself open to a number of shock assaults. Although truthfully, this might nicely be intentional on the developer’s half.
What’s much more annoying than that was that the environments felt overly darkish. It may nicely have been the screens we had been taking part in on, after all, however an total lack of sunshine sources definitely didn’t assist when it got here to recognizing enemies or targets.
Fortunately, issues picked up once more once we went in opposition to the aforementioned stegosaurus boss. The towering creature had loads of armor and wasn’t afraid to actually throw its weight round.
My group needed to actually grapple with the mechanics of the struggle, loosening its armor to show weak factors for greater sums of harm. On that entrance, saving highly effective abilities for once we wanted them most was essential. If a teammate goes down, you’ll be able to revive them, however that might be tough in such an intense battle.
To assist issues alongside, ammo is a common useful resource throughout all weapons, refillable by ingesting yellow crops strewn throughout the battlefield. Nevertheless, this too (together with the blue-hued therapeutic crops) is a restricted useful resource in itself. So we nonetheless needed to be cautious to not play too quick and free with our sources and our lives.
To date, Turok: Origins looks like it’ll be an gratifying expertise for 3 pals. I’m not too certain it’ll maintain up fairly as nicely in solo play (which is supported), and I hope that ranges and targets get extra formidable as the sport progresses. However I positively could be eager to play extra when it will definitely launches on PlayStation 5, Xbox Collection X|S, and PC.
