Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion Remastered Reviews
Nightdive Studios' killstreak continues with yet another superbly executed restoration. Fulfilling its promise to complete the Turok series, this final entry may be the most appealing to FPS fans with a taste for brisk action, violent, bloody bullet decapitations, and stealth kills by way of bow and arrow. On one hand, Turok 3 teases, offering a glimpse into the future of the genre, a fusion of combat and Half-Life-style traversal. On the other, though, it's also home to something since lost: the searching, quick-fire task elements that engage the grey matter, as opposed to the Halo-influenced pure-combat escapades that challenge you only with clearing increasingly cluttered corridors of entrenched enemies. This makes it doubly disappointing, then, that its crucial multiplayer mode has been inexplicably left out of this remaster, losing it a point on our scale.
It’s just amusing to see such a loving remaster of a game that is mediocre in the most charitable of terms. With the attention Nightdive has given it, you would swear it was a classic. And I love that. I wish more publishers and developers had the guts to dredge up the forgotten dregs of the past and not just repackage them but restore them for a new audience. I was prepared for Nightdive to take a pass at remastering Turok 3 because it would be financially unviable. It wasn’t the smart thing to do. It was the right thing to do. So, they forged onward and made it happen with their signature flourishes. Respect from top to bottom. Certainly makes it difficult to slap a score on it, though.
It’ll take a specific kind of person to get the most out of Turok 3. Shadows of Oblivion is an impressive remaster of an interesting retro game, but even when it came out it wasn’t blowing any minds. Did you grow up on games like the Turok series, those chunky, 90s shooters made for consoles before Halo? Are you interested in fascinating, specific corners of gaming history, and what kinds of restorative efforts can be applied thereof? Players just looking for a new shooter to play probably won’t have a great time. For me, I feel like I just slingshot time-traveled inside my own brain. I don’t know what that means, either.
Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion is a weird game that doesn’t feel like it fits into the Turok trilogy, yet here we are. All three games are now available, and remastered with so much love and care. I cannot get enough of these remasters and Nightdive deserve to be commended for their efforts. Cannot wait for Dark Forces and of course whatever else they have cooking up. Keep these remastered games coming, and I will continue snatching them up. If you grew up with nostalgia for N64 shooters, this is a must for your collection.
Nightdive’s excellent work aside, this is a remaster of an OK game. If you’ve played the previous two installments, remember that going into this one. The deficiencies of the original game in terms of storytelling and overall design are still present. If you keep that in mind, be prepared to enjoy the best version of Turok 3 possible.
It's impossible not to appreciate the great work of Nightdive Studios with these types of remasters. Not only because of the quality of its manufacture and the impeccable final result, but also for giving us the possibility of resurrecting in our current systems titles that were totally extinct, that were considered "Lost Media" and that no one has bet on again. If these people continue like this, we may have to open up a new genre called: 'Journey to the Wonders of the Past'.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion Remastered does have some simple and fun levels to go through, and this remaster looks wonderful, but I don’t know if players will want to drop $30 on this title with how little there is here in terms of content.
Despite being from a time when console shooters had awkward controls and terrible visuals, Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion has aged really well thanks to this remaster. The campaign is incredibly fun and offers plenty of replay value thanks to its multiple characters.
Turok 3: Shadows of Oblivion Remastered is fine enough, but lacks the updates and charm of its predecessors.
Turok 3 is a blast for both shooter fans and anyone interested in games history.
All of the usual Nightdive options are available to tweak to your heart's content, and they have done a wonderful job porting this oft-forgotten N64 game to modern systems. Shadow of Oblivion is, however, barely a Turok game, and the levels are much shorter and more directed than they were in Dinosaur Hunter or Seeds of Evil. You can probably breeze through the entire campaign–for one of the siblings, anyway–in a couple sessions. An interesting curio, but not a particularly memorable one.
A fantastic port and a suitably solid way of seeing off the original trilogy of titles. Nightdive has rarely failed to deliver and Turok 3 is still a fun time.
The action is fun. That's what you'll enjoy most. You'll love the new dynamic lighting, the cheats add a little something extra, the game runs like clockwork on every platform, and there're even motion controls on the Switch. But multiplayer is lacking, the textures are ugly, and the sound is downright bad.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
In its remastered form, Nightdive Studios delivers the “Turok 3” we deserved to play all these years. Attention to detail and better level integration and coherency turns one of the late Nintendo 64 titles into the best one in the trilogy.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
If you’re looking for a fun romp through a classic, Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion has you covered, just be mindful of some of its hiccups and N64isms here two weeks into the launch period.
Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion Remastered is a nice conclusion to the upgraded Turok series and I appreciate that I was able to play this trilogy, I am however left waiting for more just like many were ever so many years ago.
There is a reason why Turok 3 isn’t as well-known as the first two games in the Nintendo 64 trilogy: gameplay-wise, it might be the weakest of the bunch. Still, it’s a shockingly revolutionary and monstrously underrated title that deserves a lot more love. It was way ahead of its time in terms of presentation, storytelling and level design. Too bad the N64 just couldn’t handle it properly. Nightdive, on the other hand, could. Thanks to them, Turok 3 can finally shine, with vastly improved visuals and gameplay. The excessive linearity and focus on storytelling might annoy fans of the previous Turok games, but it’s still a fantastic conversion of an underrated gem.
I came away from this with the impression that I really didn’t miss out on much. Turok 3 is a game that lost its identity, and it now comes as no surprise that the next game was a reboot where Turok was changed into a space marine. In trying so hard to be like the other big name franchises, it became little more than another copy and sadly faded into obscurity. That all said, it’s only just mediocre at its worst, and you still get to shoot grenades at dinosaurs, so at least it has that going for it.
Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion Remastered falls short of the high standards set by its predecessors. While the faithful restoration attempts to capture the essence of the original, the lack of significant visual improvements leaves fans questioning whether this remaster was truly necessary. If you’re a die-hard Turok enthusiast seeking a trip down memory lane, the remaster might offer some enjoyment. Still, for those expecting a transformative modernization of a classic, Turok 3 Remastered is a missed opportunity, and you should just bring out and dust off the old Nintendo 64.
Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion Remastered is a faithful remaster of the original that perfectly preserves the feel the original had while also implementing a slew of QoL improvements. For better or worse, it perfectly recreates Turok 3.