It should have remained extinct

I'm not a fan of short intros where reviewers bluntly tell you to avoid a?? particular game. There are many different factors for why a title can end up so bad that you want to chug battery acid instead of playing it. Sometimes things don't come together as expected or a team lacks experience, which makes being overly harsh a pointless endeavor. Reviews shou?ld serve as a way to give feedback instead of venting your frustrations on the world.

That being said, Turok: Escape from Lost Valley is likely to end up the worst game I review in my career as a cr?itic. For all intents and purposes, avoid this at all costs. It is not worth the frustration it takes to see the ending for yourself. You're better off assuming the video game series ended in 2008 with that stupid rebooted game by Propaganda Games.

If you must learn why I'm saying this, t??hough, read o?n.

Turok: Escape from Lost Valley (PC)
Developer: Pillow Pig Games
Publisher: Universal Studios Interactive Entertainment
Released: July 25, 2019
MSRP: $14.99

In a refreshingly streamlined move, the title of Turok: Escape from Lost Valley tells you exactly what this game is about. Titular star Turok is looking to escape from the "Lost Valley." That's precisely all this game is about as there are very little cutscenes and dialogue boxes to clue you in to what is going on. Born from a contest that Universal held for small?er teams to do something wi??th one of its IPs, this almost feels like the exact type of game you'd see spring up from a Game Jam session. It's light and to the point.

In a bold move from the shooters that came before, Escape from Lost Valley is an isometric action game that has more in common with Bastion than anything Acclaim ever released. You have a basic melee attack, a ranged bow attack, a dodge roll, and the ability to jump/climb certain ledges. It's all simple and, on paper, should make for an easy game to pick up and c?hill out with. Even the level design is rarely taxing, progre?ssing in a mostly linear fashion with slight deviations from the main path for upgrades.

I also want to make note of the art style, which is another stark departure from what fans of the '90s games are used to. Turok, his friend Andar, and all of the enemies resemble Saturday morning cartoon characters instead of the dark, grisly interpretation that the shooters had. It's exceptionally cute, looks very sharp in HD, and is undoubtedly charming. It's also the best aspect of the game, giving a new look to an old classic that feels like a creative interpretation instead of just regurgitated nonsense. Sadly, that's about all the positives I can give for this game. Trailers and footage won't do Escape from Lost Valley justice, because it is probably the most broken and frustrat?ingly?? slow game I've ever played.

As is the problem with most isometric action titles, judging the distance between you and foes is a crapshoot. It doesn't help that Turok's basic melee attack seems to go three inches in front of him, but oftentimes you'll be behind an enemy and unable to gauge where you are on the screen. Couple that with the dodge roll that somehow leaves you open to attacks after use and each system never coalesces into more than a massive migraine??.

The actions are all simple and accomplished with basic button presses, but trying to execute them while hordes of foes are on top of you causes a lot of pain. The first level doesn't properly prepare you for how soul-crushingly difficult Escape from Lost Valley is, which is not something I was expecting from this art style. For the record, I'm fine with games being as difficult as the developers want them to be, but Escape from Lost Valley seems to have confused c?hallenge with being plain unfair.

If you remove how often you'll be dying to sloppy controls, poor visibility, and punishingly awful bosses, the levels in Turok: Escape from Lost Valley would probably take about 15 minutes each. There are only six in the game and it seems effort was spent on bumping up the difficulty instead of providing honest challenges for the player. I'll give credit to each area having a different theme and presenting unique foes to the player, but they all function the same way and are often thrown at you in overwhelming numbers instead of complementing each o?ther.

The best (worst?) exa?mple I can give comes from the third level. Your perpetually inept partner Andar – ?speaking of which, this game somehow does not feature co-op play – gets captured by "Monkey Men," so Turok has to fight them off to save him. While it starts off with only two enemies attacking you, the game increases that number twofold for five different waves of enemies. Their movement patterns are erratic and without repetition, so you have no idea where they'll be going. They sling vines at Turok that tie him up when they connect. Instead of letting the player smash buttons to get out of this trap, Turok sits there like a dumbass for a few seconds, which gives the enemies ample time to strike.

Regardless of the difficulty you've selected, the enemies attack you for three hit points of your health bar. I don't think I need to tell you how irritating this becomes after a while. You can't predictively move to dodge these attacks, getting the enemies to even open themselves up takes forever, the stupid intro dialogue box appears every single time you restart, Turok's attack has such a limited range that you'll often miss and leave yourself open, the dodge roll is almost worthless since enemies can ignore it, the arrows are p?ointless as the enemies move too quickly…I know I'm rambling here, but the thoughts racing through my head and the words leaving my mouth during that moment nearly made me want to drop kick my door off the hinges.

This doesn't let up for the ent?ire game, either. As I said, instead of providing a healthy challenge to the player that requires skill to overcome, it seems Pillow Pig Games cranked up the "difficulty" to compensate for the obscenely short levels. Even knowing how to combat these threat??s doesn't make said moments any easier. The game is just unfair with how it taxes the player at any given turn. Worse still, it actively wastes your time in certain moments by having you repeat unskippable moments of dialogue or cutscenes.

I could almost forgive some of this, but the true moment that took the cake for me was in the last level. To accurately describe the anguish I went through, I need to set the stage a little better. When I first started Turok: Escape from Lost Valley, I selected "Hard" because I was seriously not expecting much. The first boss destroyed me, so I falsely assumed that mode was balanced for co-op play. Co-op isn't an option (as stated above), so it's really meant for masochists. I dropped it down to "Medium" and was able to progress to the third level. I was promptly flattened by the third boss. Since I hate myself a little and really wanted to give everyone the best review possible, I restarted a second time, swallowed my pride,?? and pu?t the game on "Easy."

So after all of this, I managed to progress to the final level after four-and-a-half hours and came across a boss fight with two invisible lizards. You can see their tracks on the ground, than??kfully, but they often popped up from behind me as I was aiming at what I thought was one of them. Andar, my ever-valuable friend, would peg me with an arrow and interrupt my attack. At that same moment, a lizard would spring up and bite me from behind while I was unable to move. Trying to dodge roll to escape more damage, I ran straight into the second lizard I couldn't see who bit me again and sapped my health to near half. Since the game wasn't done devouring my existence with that, the original lizard hit me a third time and left me with a single point of HP. Why not just kill my family, while you're at it?

Did I ever finish the game? As a ?matter of fact, I did.

After cursing up a blue streak, shutting the game off for the rest of the day, and punishing myself at the gym for a few hours the following morning, I managed to topple the bastards after five more attempts. I have no idea why I was so determined, but the deed is done. Shortly after, the final boss was in front of me and he was comparatively a joke. Turok: Escape from Lost Valley can't even keep its BS consistent.

But really, the idea of this title isn't a bad one. I don't see why Turok can't be a cutesy action title having more in common with the comic line than the '90s shooters. I even really dig the art, which hurts me to write about ??how awful e??verything else is. I know this was made by two people and conceived from a contest, but this really is not an acceptable release.

My only hope with writing this is that people honestly read the words I've put down. I really don't want anyone to take a quick glance at the score and go, "I knew it! My childhood is dead and these developers are jackasses!" I loved Turok as a kid and those games still exist as they were. I don't feel that Escape from Lost Valley is a betrayal of my youth or anything melodramatic. I mostly am?? just upset that this brilliantly adorable game turned out so shockingly poor.

So unless you're in the mood to ruin your day and possibly take a few years off of your life, do yourself a favor and skip Turok: Escape from Lost Valley. Whatever the core concept was, it has not? turned out well.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Turok: Escape from Lost Valley appeared first on Destructoid.

Dinosaur Treasure

Those in the market to expand their physical Switch collection will have reason to rejoice today. Old-school N64 FPS games Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and Turok 2: Seeds of Evil will be getting physical editions for Nintendo's latest console courtesy of Limited Run Games. The news was announced by the company on Twitter and pre-orders will be ope??ning on August 16,?? 2019.

Both games will be getting the standard edition fare and retai?l for $34.99. That's quite a bit more expensive than the digital releases, though it will ensure that th??ese games don't get lost to the sands of (digital) time. As is written on the page for each game, copies are expected to ship out in November after each order is placed. You'll have until Friday, August 30, 2019, at 11:59 pm EST to pull the trigger.

You can find Turok here and Turok 2 here.

Limited Run Games [Twitter]

The post Limit??ed Run Games is producing physical copies for Turok 1 and 2 on Switch appeared first on Destructoid.

Seeds of awesome

Nintendo is just full of surprises this week. From "accidentally" leaking Janemba in Dragon Ball FighterZ to surprise releasing "The Hero" in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, it looks like Nintendo has mastered the art of shocking its customers with shadow drops. From out of nowhere, Nintendo UK's website has posted a listing for the NightDive Studios Turok 2: Seeds of Evil remaster with an August 8, 2019 release date.

Masterfully bringing the retro shooter into the modern era, I honestly have no complaints with the quality of NightDive's work. I didn't think Turok 2 held up all that well in my review a few years back, but it's still worth grabbing if you intend to get some multiplayer mayhem going. Since the remaster fixes the awful framerate of the original and even has online play, there's really no reason to not buy it if Turok still interests you.

There doesn't seem to be any Switch exclusive features for this latest release, but it will give you the chance to play Turok 2 on the go. That's much better than the Game Boy Color version released eons ago.

The post Turok 2 is apparently coming to Switch next week appeared first on Destructoid.

A nice little 20th anniversary surprise

Nightdive Studios once said it would be "cool" to bring its Turok remaster to Nintendo Switch, and as revealed today -- on the game's 20th anniversary -- plans are in motion. An eShop listing for Turok surfaced on Nintendo's official website with ?a $19.99 price tag and an almost-here March 18 release.

Turok: Dinosaur Hunter has made the rounds in recent years on PC and Xbox One. These modernized versions are higher-res, with updated lighting and water effects, and you can see much further into the distance. If you prefer Turok 2: Seeds of Evil over the original,? that's?? coming to Switch at a later date.

My most notable memory of Turok stems from the one and only time I rented it on Nintendo 64. (Did anyone else consistently rent the same games multiple times?) Just a few minutes into the first level, I got a sharp headache and had to let my PS1-owning friend take over. He and his brothers were always playing M-rated games like Resident Evil and Shadow Man, so he was in his element. Fun times.

I'm probably not in the market for Turok on Switch, but I'd love to see more games from that era come over either in their original form (let's pick up the pace, Nintendo Switch Online) or with remasters.

[Via reddit]

The post In two weeks, you can play Turok on your Switch appeared first on Destructoid.

This is a blessed image

Nightdive Studios' remasters of Turok and Turok 2: Seeds of Evil will soon find their way to Xbox One.

The enhanced editions first launched on PC in 2015 and 2017, respectively. Peter reviewed Turok 2 for us last year. While he found the campaign bloated and messy at times, he dug the multiplay??er, noting "the prospect of getting friends involved for a night of classic fragging is really tantalizing."

These new Xbox One versions are releasing next Friday, March 2 for $20 a piece.

I can't claim to have much nostalgia for Turok, but I'm happy for those of you who do.

As for the inevitable "Nintendo Switch version when?" question, there's currently "no news on Switch yet, but it would be cool," according to Nightdive. They aren't wrong!

The post Xbox One gets th??e Turok 1 and 2 remasters next week appeared first on Destructoid.

Seeds of Tedium

Turok 1 and 2 played a pretty big part of my childhood. While the first game mostly started the trend of crazy first-person shooters coming to the N64, Turok 2 added multiplayer support with some ?ridiculous le??vels and weapons to up the ante from the original. To say it dominated most of my life in the fourth grade isn’t an understatement.

I have a lot of fond memories of playing around with the absolutely amazing Cerebral Bore weapon, jumping about as a raptor, and utilizing various cheats to screw around in the campaign. Thing is, I don’t actually rem??ember a lick of the single-player levels, despite spending more time with this sequel.

While this port by Night Dive Studios (still doing the Lord’s work) is excellent, I can’t say that Turok 2 holds up after all these years.

Turok 2: Seeds of Evil (N64, PC [Reviewed])
Developer: Iguana Entertainment, Night Dive Studios
Publisher: Night Dive Studios
MSRP: $19.99
Released: October 21, 1998 (N64), February 10, 1999 (PC Original), March 16, 2017 (Remaster)

Unlike the original title, Turok 2 attempts to inject the series with more narrative focus. While there are definitely more cutscenes and people? speaking to you, I never made heads or tails of the general plot. The game deals with an alien force known as the Primagen trying to eradicate all life on Earth, but then each of the six available levels has you battling a different race. I guess it’s cool to have themes, but this game really doesn’t explain much.

Whatever, though! I don’t need a reason to hunt dinosaurs! This is a shooter from the ‘90s, where exposition and narrative drive weren’t that important. Just throw me in a level, give me a crazy arsenal and some keys to find, and let me have at it! To that end, Turok 2 delivers, but the basic desig?n of most of the campaign levels is all over the place.

The game sta?rts in a harbor that has you shooting barrels before navigating a deliberately obtuse layout that does its best to hide important objectives. Since each level has a larger goal beyond finding keys, you can’t just plow forward until you reach the end and call it a day. Now you’ll have to contend with a lot of backtracking and path finding until you stumble upon objectives that seem oddly out of place (why am I saving children, for instance?).

I don’t mind having a bigger goal that sees me dismantling the efforts of the Primagen to impede their assault, but placing pri??mary objectives behind hidden walls or well off the beaten path is just plain mean. What makes this doubly worse is that the later levels are actually fairly streamlined, as if the development team was coming to grips with how to design the game world at the start. After making you suffer through the nonsense of skipping a key and having no clear path back, the last few maps are so straightforward that it almost becomes insulting.

I cannot neglect to mention that some levels have keys specific to certain puzzles which you can use out of order. This happened to me? duri??ng two different situations; I had ended up finding a key/ion core early in the level, missing one of the main objectives, and then using said key/ion core for a different room. This then bloated out my run time because I needed to comb every inch of the level to find what I skipped over.

A lot of level designs feel like a way to pad out the runtime of the game. Since there are only six levels in total, it’s hard not to think Iguana Entertainment was trying to trick players into being lost so that they would be stuck searc?hing through bland-looking corridors for eternity.

I really have to stress that bland part, too, because I was taken aback by how little distinction there is with the graphics. I understand that this was originally an N64 title, ??so memory was limited, but there are hardly any landmarks in these levels to help you find your bearings. All the walls seemingly look the same for each specific level and it becomes a nightmare if you miss anyth??ing to try and find it again.

Just like the first title, the final “boss” is hidden by making yo??u collect a bunch of extra crap. I like that the main character has access to powers?, but this just goes back to the argument I made about padding out the game length. You have to find feathers that are hidden in each level and bring those to a warp portal, though you also need to find a switch to open said portal. These powers are necessary for getting the “Primagen Keys” in each level, but most levels require you to find the power-up from the successive level and come back. This leads to more backtracking and getting lost in generic level designs and my god do I want to punch something.

A few checkpoint portals per level do help a bit with navigating (since you can warp between them), as does the godsend of quicksaving that was included with this port, but the main campaign of Turok 2 feels oddly bloated for such a small map count.? At least the weaponry and general gunplay feel incredible and well beyond the original title.

While I’m not sure there is any reason to have such a large weapon count (most of the guns are upgraded versions of previous weapons), there are a bunch of fiendishly creative guns to dispatch your foes with. The Cerebral Bore is the obvious standout as it launches a dart that burrows into your enemy’s brain and sucks out the blood in a display that would make Quentin Tarantino blush. Things like the sniper scope enabled bow and hidden n??uke are also awesome, especially since the scope display is one of the best ever put into a first-person shooter.

This would all be for naught if there wasn’t a multiplayer component (seeing as how I didn't dig the campaign), but even the original development team saw that adding competitive play was a smart decision after the success of GoldenEye on the N64. To tha??t end, this new port retains the multip?layer and features fully functional online play with all of the maps from the N64 and PC versions.

Reliving the amazing “H2 Whoa!” and experiencing it in fullscreen (for once) is a trip, but I didn’t get a lot of extensive testing with the ??online options. It is nice that there are dedicated servers as well as LAN support, but literally no one is playing this game online. I like that the Steam version (which I tested) can interact with the GOG version, but even that yielded nothing for me to connect to. Thankfully split-screen play is present, though a little complicated to find in the menus. At least it compliments the nostalgia trip this p??ort offers.

As for how this port handles, I’m not sure I can give enough praise to Night Dive Studios. There is an extensive list of graphical options that you can tweak as well as the ability to swap between the N64 and PC variants of the soundtrack. Quicksaves are a welcomed improvement, the ability to unlock the draw distance is very much appreciated, and?? even an option for speeding up level ?warp times is incredible.

You can also display the game at 4K, though I wouldn’t recommend looking at this title with such a clean display. The textures look rough even at 1080p. That being said, widescreen is properly implemented and the HUD has been redrawn, so it doesn’t look abys?mal on modern displays. The game also runs pretty damn flawlessl??y, save for a few micro-stutters in spots.

I am a bit confused as to why some of the audio wasn’t fixed for this port. Maybe Night Dive was trying to fully replicate the classic experience, but the cutscene after you die and get respawned is notic??eably silent. The voice mixing is also off, with the soundtrack being quite a bit louder than the spoken dialog. Those problems aside, this remaster is a solid conversion.

Sadly, I’m just not as big a fan of Turok 2 as I remember myself being. After having replayed the game (and finding every secret area), I’m pretty sure the reason my childhood memories are limited to multiplayer is because the campaign in Turok 2 is just not that good. In atte??mpting to go for a bigger and better action element, Iguana Entertainment bit off more than they could chew and the end result is a bloated mess of a single-player component.

Were i??t not for the successful conversion of the multiplayer mode for this port, I would have rated this game lower. Even without an active player base, though, the prospect of getting friends involved for a night of classic fragging is really tantalizing. Hopefully more people get this in the future, because let??ting these crazy weapons go to waste is a damn shame.

_{[This review is based on ??a retail build of the game purc?hased by the reviewer]}

The post Review: Turok 2: Seeds of Evil appeared first on Destructoid.

Turok and Turoll all night, and party every day

I think the reason Horizon: Zero Dawn stands out so much to me is there aren't enough games where you shoot dinosaurs anymore. Nightdive, I assume, sensed the void and decided to fill it with a much anticipated (from me) port of Turok 2: Seeds of Evil. Following their work on the first game in 2015, Turok 2 is remastered with new bosses, 20 new weapons, and a new multiplayer mode, "Last Turok Standing," which is where?? Turoks will fight to see who Turoks the most Turok. 

Turok 2: Seeds of Evil will release on ?March 16th for PC via Steam, GOG, and the Humble Store. 

The Turok 2 Remaster H??????????????????????????its PC Soon?, Watch the New Trailer [GameSpot]

The post Turok 2: Seeds of Evil remaster hitting PC in Marc?h with new multiplayer mode appeared first on Destructoid.

Studio pledges to give the sequel 'the love it deserves'

Nightdive Studios remastered Turok: Dinosaur Hunter last year, and it also has plans to modernize Turok 2: Seeds of Evil for PC and consoles. But with the developer wrapped up in its crowdfunded System Shock remake, folks have understandably been getting? antsy about the game's prospects.

The latest word from the team isn't so much news as it is an assurance that, yes, things are going fine. Sometimes, that's all we even need to keep our imaginations from assuming ?the worst.

"So as many of you may have guessed, working on the rights to these classic t??itles can be tricky and sometimes contractual obligations prevents the transparency we've enjoyed on some of our other titles which is why updates have been mysteriously absent," wrote Nightdive's Daniel Grayshon.

"We're well aware of the demand for Turok 2 and it is still in development...in fact we started development just shortly after the launch of the first Turok. Turok 2 is a bigger game, more enemies, more weapons, more locations and most importantly...Turok 2 had Multiplayer." (You'd best respect that Cerebral Bore.)

"In our quest to bring you the most authentic experience at the highest quality level available," he continued, "we've decided to give Turok 2 the love it deserves and release the game 'when it's done' which is why all we've been able to say is this: Turok 2 is coming! Thank y?ou for your continued? support and patience, we know you're going to love it!"

Turok 2 is coming! [Steam via reddit]

The post Nightdive’s Turok 2 remaster is still coming along appeared first on Destructoid.

Hold on to your butts

The Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and Turok 2: Seeds of Evil remasters are coming to Xbox One.

Night Dive Studios, the same team behind the System Shock remake, released an enhanced version of the original 1997 dinosaur shooter for Win?dows PC in December and Mac just last month. Its features include higher resolu??tion visuals and "improved gameplay and level design." 

The remastered se??quel was also ??announced for PC and Mac, but it hasn't yet been released.

In response to a Twitter user asking about the possibility of a PlayStation release, Night Dive mentioned it's "evaluating other platforms," but couldn't conf?irm anything at this time??.

The original developer, ??Iguana Entertainment (Acclaim Studios Austin), shuttered in the wake of its parent company Acclaim Entertainment's financial troubles and subsequent bankruptcy in 2004.

Night Dive Studios [Twitter]

The post Turok 1 and 2 remasters heading to Xbox One appeared first on Destructoid.

Boom boom acka lacka lacka boom

I tried to play Turok once, and only once, back when I was still in grade school. My friend and I rented the g?ame for N64 because 1) the box art was cool and 2) he was into violent games. But shortly after getting back to my house, I got seriously ill. I've still only ever played the opening bit!

Night Dive Studios is bringing Turok back with a re-release on PC. The graphics have not aged well, even with enhancements, but perhaps I'll give it a proper cha??nce. Dinosaurs holding? guns? Pretty, pretty good.

This is coming to GOG.com, Humble Store, a??nd Steam on Thursday, Decemb?er 17.

The post Night Dive’s Turok re-release hits PC this week appeared first on Destructoid.

Looks terrible yet I can't wait to play

[Update: Larry Kuperman of Night Dive Studios confirmed that a fog option would be in for "the pur??ists."] 

Night Dive Studios has released new screenshots of the Turok remaster it has been working on and in the spirit of the original game, it looks pretty ugly. Notably, the thick fog from the original release is missing and honestly, I kind of miss it. Hopefully the devs add an option to turn it on to get that authentic Turok feel. 

Currently only Turok and Turok 2 are being remastered for PC, but here is hoping they get around to Turok: Rage Wars, the arena-based shooter that is arguably the best multiplayer shooter on Nintendo 64. I know you all love GoldenEye, but I've always been about that dino-life and feel like Rage Wars never got the recognition it deserved. Just look at the cerebral bore weapon! That alone makes it cooler tha??n any other shooter on the N64.

The post The Turok remaster gets new ??s??creenshots, missing the fog appeared first on Destructoid.

Remember the kid named Turok?

Remember when Acclaim offered $10,000 to parents who named t??heir kid "Turok?" I still get a good laugh out of that whenever I think of the series.

Beyond that legacy they were actually fun little shooters, and now both Turok and Turok 2: Seeds of Evil are being re-r?eleased for PC by Night Dive Studios. They will be sold through Steam, the Humble store, GOG, GG, Greenman Gaming, and through the developer?'s site.

No release? date was given, but you can check out some screens in the gallery below.

The post Turok and Turok 2 are being re-released for PC appeared first on Destructoid.

Open the door, get on the floor

Dinosaurs! Radical! Nineties! Yeah! Turok was great. And now it might be coming back, according to an interview by TechRaptor with Samuel ‘Kaiser’ Villarreal.

Kaiser is currently working on porting the retro FPS Powerslave to modern PC hardware, but let loose that there are also plans to give the Nintendo 64’s Turok the remake treatment.

Kaiser will seemingly be resuming work with Night Dive Studios – who have recently ported System Shock 2, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, Bad Mojo, and basically every other old game ever – to start porting Turok ?by the end of the year. In the interview, Kaiser said??:

“I was originally working on remaking N64 Turok (called Turok EX) but it got put off to the side. Since now Night Dive Studios has picked up the rights to re-release it, Turok EX will resume development later this year.“

While this isn’t confirmed until Night Dive Studios officially announce it, the studio has retweeted tweets questioning it about Turok, and so it is looking more and more likely.

Dinosaurs!

The post Night Dive Studios might be remaking Turok appeared first on Destructoid.

Screw beer pong, hand me that controller

Gamers are a d??iverse breed. From PC aficionados and console fanatics, to retro devotees and casual admirers, there is no one-size-fits-all model of videogame hobbyist. Though we possess many differences, like game preferences, level of devotion, and platform of choice, we can all unite under a common flag of shared interest. There is one event, however, that my family celebrates. A monthly tradition that I believe just about every gaming fan can appreciate. I call it Old School Day.

Old School, Retro, or Classic Day as the name suggests, is a celebration of your personal gaming past. This holiday of sorts should not be compared to the feeling on Christmas morning or the anticipation of New Years Eve, Old School Day is simply in a league of its own. Whether you have been hooked on virtual adventures since childhood, or if? you're a current-gen convert, th?e first experiences that characterize an activity like gaming are special and worthy of remembrance.

Exactly how the gaming festivity is commemorated is completely up to you. There is one stipulati?on, however, simply that a hectic work week, argument with the misses, and any other stressor of life takes a back seat for a few hours in pursuit of videogame nostalgia.

Gaming celebration with a personal twist

The trip down retro lane is a cherished monthly spectacle among my siblings and I. Every few weeks we put our adult lives on hold to relive the games from our youth. If there is any ??day that we truly unite as a family, it's while bonding over the classics. As painfully sappy as that sounds, videogames hav??e always acted as a supernatural Band-Aid, mending all pissed off sentiments and sibling-based grudges.

While we each were transformed into instant videogame buffs through the allure of the NES, many of our greatest memories reside with the N64. During our version of Old School Day, we welcome the titles that have contributed to the process of shaping us into the people we are today. Super Mario 64, Goldeneye, Star Fox, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Super Smash Bros., Pokemon Stadium, Rampage, Banjo-Kazooie and Yoshi's Story just to name a few, form the framework of the evening. Those titles served as the backbone of my childhood so it's rather fitting. E??ach time we get togeth?er, we sprinkle in a few different games, maximizing the fun output while minimizing the risk of getting bored through repetition, if that's even possible.

Over the course of two to six hours of pizza-induced noshing, old school gaming, and admittedly potent languor, ?we've typically covered the spectrum of emotions from anger-filled multiplayer sessions, to heartwarming regard in response to a favorite cut scene. In diplomatic fashion, we take turns choosing the next entrant to revitalize our nostalgia, but in reality, any choice is a good one when you're playing favorite games amongst family and friends.

Old School Day rocks! Still not convinced?

With the next generation of consoles on the horiz??on, you may be hesitant to turn back the hands of time, to accept the glory of Old School Day. There's no way that earlier generations can compete from a graphical standpoint and not all of the oldies were auditory masterpieces, yet despite these technological inferiorities, the games that defined past generations exude a certain charm that often propels them into superior status. Reliving them for yourself is almost certain to conjure up sentiments such as, "Why don't they make games like this anymore?" rather than, "Yikes, I'll stick with the Xbox." Purchasing the titles through XBLA or PSN is technically a viable option, but summoning the warm feelings of familiarity is that much better in its authentic form.

Re-experiencing the definitive moments of a simpler time, a period when eating vegetables and finishing homework were the main opponents of happiness, is satisfying on multiple levels. For one, rekindling ancient memories is enormously rewarding. Exploring old saved files and realizing that wow, I can't believe I actually collected all o??f those stars, puzzle pieces, coins, or heart pieces is always a heart-wa??rming, ego-boosting find.

I recall loading up my saved game from Harvest Moon 64. . . I had ten in-game years worth of gameplay on one file. That's more virtual years than I had spent on Earth at that time; how much would that achievement/trophy be worth? Equally as shocking is the realization that some aspects of older gaming were much more difficult than memory would serve. Conker's Pocket Tales on Gameboy Color was one such instance of perplexity. While I nearly finished the game as a kid and don't recall any Ninja Gaiden-like frustrations, with all my might I can barely get past the firs???t level to this day. I must have had the child-like reflexes of a ninja or at least that's what I keep telling myself.

Conker-based inadequacies aside, dusting off your Atari 2600, Dreamcast, or other old console is guaranteed to fulfill your sense of humor as well. Things that were badass in the 1980s or 1990s are often hilarious now. Turok 64 death screams are absolutely priceless, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater has musical accoutrements that will transport you into the late '90s punk scene, and Gex 64 makes in-game references to the X-Files, Poltergeist, and Full House. Wh??o needs a time machine when a gateway to your childhood is right within reach? The esse??nce of forgotten trends and declining fads aids in sweetening any excursion into the past of gaming through hands-on reminiscence and a healthy dose of gut-busting laughter.

Beyond the arenas of personal achievement, hilarity, and frustration, hopping on the symbolic DeLorean in the name of Old School Day allows us to respect the pioneers within the industry, those instances of brilliance that set in motion what we now take for granted as technological commoditie??s. Videogames as a medium have come so very far.

What started as a hodgepodge of pixel?s and simplicity has evolved into visual, narrative-driven masterpieces easily on par with cinema. Gaming may have been an obscure hobby de?cades ago, but whether you adhere to the pastime personally or not, it is impossible to ignore its significance on an economic, cultural, and political scale. The current discussions about videogames and gun control are a testament to that.

The industry boasts a powerful presence within the global landscape but also within my own life. I adopted Old School Day as reminder of why I became a gamer in the first place: the fun times with frie??nds and family, the lessons learned from macho protagonists, t??he ability to step into the shoes of countless characters, and the satisfaction felt from saving the world, galaxy, or universe. If you find yourself in a place of gaming stagnancy, my hope is that after reading this, you'll incorporate a bit of Old School Day into your life and join me in celebrating retro gaming on a regular basis.

What are your favorite older games? Do you ever take a break from new releases to play t?itles from the past?

[Note: If you own Pokémon Stadium 2, follow my instructions without restraint for guaranteed laughs. Visit the mini games section and select Streaming Stampede. Make sure to play with the company ??of an easy or normal com and watch the stupidity e?nsue. Enjoy!]

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The post My ultimate gaming tradition of Old School Day appeared first on Destructoid.

On November 10, metalcore band Unearth will release a special edition set of its 2008 record, The March. Distributed by Metal Bl?ade, the set comes with bonus tracks as w?ell as a DVD of music videos, tour footage, making-of footage, live clips, and more. 

Okay, so what does this have to do with videogames, you ask? Up there is the world exclusive premiere of Unearth's music video for their track "Grave of Opportunity." The theme -- a kegger/party featuring videogames, more specifically, Guitar Hero.

"With our video for 'Grave of Oppounity,' we wanted to g??ive the vibe of a party meeting music," says Unearth vocalist Trevor Phipps. 

Looks a lot like a few parties we've been to except we've never actually been in the videogame.? But we're working on it, trust us. In the meantime, we'll just have to live ??vicariously through Unearth. (Editor's note: Hey, I totally had that Faith No More shirt!)

If you're looking to be brutalized live, Unearth kick ?off its tour with Hatebreed, Cannibal Corpse, Born Of Osiris, and Hate? Eternal next week.

The post Exclusive:? Unearth rocks music games in new music video appeared first on Destructoid.

I thought it was a mercy killing when it was announced that yet another sequel to the Turok franchise had received the axe. Little did I realize what might have been, the hope and promise of a generation dashed once again by the swipe of some money-grubbing fool's pen. Now that I learned ??that dinosaurs might hav?e been playable in this now cancelled game, I feel an emptiness in my soul that may never be soothed.

The folks at Voodoo Extreme discovered some interesting tidbits about the title, culled from the portfolio of Propaghanda Games former Lead UI Artist, Garrett Knight. Most notably is an interface video showing an option to configure controls for Turok and "Dinosaur." Knight has since taken his entire port?folio off the web??, citing "unforseen circumstances." You would think that info leaks of this nature would no longer qualify as "unforseen" by this point.

I'm really bummed about this because the last time I had the opportunity to play as a dinosaur in a game which even remotely appealed to me was on the Sega Genesis, with the "Rampage Edition" of Jurassic Park. Velociraptors were all the rage back then, but I wonder ?now. What t??ype of dino would you have wanted to eat Turok as?

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Remember a while back we were talking about the new Turok game's list of Xbox 360 achievements? Remember that one of them, "??Grab Bag," essentially rewarded you for griefing? If you can't recall, or are too lazy to click on links, the "Grab Bag" achievement rewards you ten points if you kill an enemy, a team-mate and yourself in a public online multiplayer match. Yes ... it's a chaotic disaster waiting to happen, really.

The developers have finally wised up to the reality that gamerscore whores and achievement completists would have no qualms about detonating themselves in front of a team-mate's face for those ten glorious points and have promised to patch the offending feature if ??it becomes an issue upon release. The achievement was called "the worst ever" online as gamers lashed back at what they saw as an encouragement of douchebag behavior. Developer Propaganda VP Josh Holmes, however, claims that the genesis of the achievement was quite innocent:

"What we found was that players playing their first match in Turok - almost every player - was (accidentally) killing himself, a team mate and an enemy with a grenade or a Stick Bomb gun and so we thought 'hey, ??we should give them an achievement for that', as kind of a joke."

There is a philosophical lesson to be had here, people. These harmless developers, in their cherub-like way, innoc?ently sought to provide a fun and amusing achievement for us all to unlock, but it was our own cynicism and mistrust in man's intentions that truly was unlocked in the end. In truth, Propaganda encouraged no such griefing, but that was the first thing we ourselves thought of because we hold such darkness in our hearts. For shame, ?gentle gamers. For shame.

The post Achievement locked? Turok’s achievement whore bait getting possible patch appeared first on Destructoid.

Have you ever wanted to cap a dinosaur in the ass? It's an urge that can only be satisfied by playing videogames, unless you want to go the hardcore route. Of course, that involves slapping a dino costume onto one of your "buddies" and inflicting violence upon him. Alternatively, you could just get a Turok demo disc by pre-ordering the game.

The demo disc will be available at Best Buy, Walmart, GameStop, and Game Crazy. Sorry PlayStation 3 owners, this offer is only valid for the Xbox 360 version of Turok. Although, if you do place a pre-order at GameStop for e??ither version, they'll throw in a free t-sh?irt too.

Turok is set to be released on February 5 for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles. It'll also be available on PC at some point during Spring 2008. The game's official Web site has also undergone major reconstructive surgery, so you might want to check it out.

The post Pre-order Turok and receive a shiny new demo disc appeared first on Destructoid.

After the jump you'll find the just-released list of Achievements for the Xbox 360 version of the upcoming blood, guts n' dinos FPS Turok. Normally this wouldn't even blip on our radar of actual, useful news but something about this list sticks out like a ??bloody limb that once belonged to your best fr??iend. Have a look:

	Grab Bag	10
	??Kill at least 1 creature, 1 enemy, 1 teammate, and yours??elf in the same round of a public match

We ask that those of you literate enough to read the above text help those who aren't as educated, but for those of you who are both stupid and lonely, I'll put this as simply as possible: Turok rewards players for murdering their own team members!

This is the point at which I realize even with bold-face font, illiterate readers of this si?te still probably couldn't read that text, nor could they read thes??e words I'm typing currently ... or any of this site for that matter. If you're illiterate, what the hell are you doing on the Internet? We don't even have any pictures of cooters or adorable kittens on this page.

Idiot.

	Triple Kill	20
	Kill 3 opponents within 4 seconds of each other in a ranked match
	Thorn in Side	20
	Kill the Flag carrier 5 times in a ranked match
	Co-Op 1	30
	Finish Co-op Map 1
	Co-Op 2	30
	Finish Co-op Map 2
	Co-Op 3	30
	Finish Co-op Map 3
	Hometown Hero	25
	Return 5 Flags to your base in one public game
	Arch-Nemesis	15
	Kill the same player 5 times in a row without killing anyone else in between during a public match
	Crack Shot	15
	Kill 5 opponents in a public game with headshots
	Accuracy Award	20
	Achieve an accuracy of 75% or greater with at least 20 shots fired in one ranked match
	Great Round	15
	Finish a public DM match with a Battle Rating of greater than 100
	Grab Bag	10
	Kill at least 1 creature, 1 enemy, 1 teammate, and yourself in the same round of a public match
	Unbreakable	30
	Play through a ranked match without dying
	Pacifist	15
	Play a public match with no shots fired or kills awarded, capturing the flag at least twice
	Dino Hunter	15
	Kill 20 Dinos in one public game
	Exterminator	15
	Kill 20 Bugs in one public game
	Resurrection	15
	Finish a player match free-for-all game with at least 10 deaths and 10 kills
	Gamesman	15
	Play a full round of each gametype in public or private matches
	Retribution	15
	Knife kill your Rival in a public match
	Primitive Weapons	15
	Play a public match using only the bow or knife, earning at least 10 kills
	All-Purpose Warrior	30
	Win 10 public games of each team game option (Small Team, Large Team, Co-Op)
	Medal of Citation	25
	Achieve 100 player kills in ranked matches
	Medal of Commendation	50
	Achieve 500 player kills in ranked matches
	Boomstick	10
	Destroy a dilo with the stickygun during a public match
	Arsenal	20
	Kill at least one enemy with every weapon in the game during public play
	Massive Battle	10
	Participate in a public 6 on 6 team game
	Buddy Blowout	20
	Play a full 8 on 8 private team game
	Multiplayer First-Class	35
	Finish a ranked match with 100% accuracy and at least 5 kills
	Multiplayer Master-Class	40
	Finish a ranked match with all headshots and at least 5 kills
	Practically Canadian	20
	How aboot defending your flag, eh? And that's in ranked matches, sorry.
	Big Game Ribbon	20
	Whoa momma!
	Angler Ribbon	20
	Fishing anyone?
	Sell Your Shotguns	35
	Complete "Mother Superior" without using the ORO Shotgun
	Dino Dominance	25
	Knife kill 50 creatures in the Story Mode campaign
	Turok Service Ribbon	40
	Complete the Story Mode campaign and unlock Inhuman difficulty
	Turok Campaign Ribbon	60
	Complete the Story Mode campaign on Inhuman
	Sniper!	40
	Head shot 10 enemies in a row during the Story Mode campaign
	Impaler Ribbon	10
	Pin an enemy to the wall with an arrow in the Story Mode campaign
	Turok Defense Force	25
	Successfully fight off 20 Raptor mauls during the Story Mode campaign
	It's A Trap!	15
	Get dinos to kill 5 soldiers by sticking them with the flare in the Story Mode campaign
	Loud Love	15
	Kill 3 soldiers with one ORO Copperhead Rocket Launcher shot in the Story Mode campaign
	5, 4, 3, 2, 1... BOOM!	15
	Kill 3 Soldiers with one Frag Grenade in the Story Mode campaign
	Pincushion	25
	Pin 50 enemies with the Bow in the Story Mode campaign
	Man or Animal	30
	Record 100 stealth kills of soldiers with the ORO P23 Combat Knife

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