I must say, there are not many games that manage to surprise me. A long while ago I've watched some footage of the original Turok 2 N64 version and it left me unimpressed. Sure, the weaponry looked interesting but the pitiful draw distance, the small FoV and that it had to be played with the less than optimal N64 controller... it didn't appeal to me (I wasn't aware of the PC port). Thanks to Nightdive Studios, Turok 2 is back and better than ever. But is it enough of an improvement to warrant a buy?

A first look into the options menu will make any PC enthusiast smile. Nightdive Studios provided a boatload of options to tinker with, including many graphical settings found in current-gen games like Ambient Occlusion and several Anti-Aliasing options. Controls can be easily mapped (even to additional mouse buttons), both N64 and PC soundtracks can be chosen to play during the game and several gameplay options like the new hint system and disabling weapon bob are available.
Unfortunately Turok 2, like the remaster of the first Turok game, is capped at 60FPS due to game speed and physics. Too bad for an otherwise examplary PC port.

Turok 2's presentation still holds up. Graphical fidelity and audio quality have been touched up for this remaster and it shows when comparing it to the obsolete N64 version. The game with all bells and whistles enabled runs smoothly and never dipped from 60FPS. (i7 4770k, GTX 980)

The game's plot is fairly straight forward: Joshua Fireseed must destroy the Primagen who is hellbent on destroying the multiverse. If you want deep storytelling and exposition heavy dialouge, this ain't your game. Not necessarily an issue as it's one thing less that could get in the way of the gameplay. Joshua is aided by Adon, an AI who tasks him with a variety of mission objectives that differ for each location. How to get to these locations is up to the player to figure out. First and foremost, the game won't hold your hand and in the case of Turok 2 this is both a good and bad thing. The game consists of 6 gargantuan levels, each one harder than the preceeding one. For most of the time, figuring out how to get to certain locations isn't an issue if you're used to oldschool FPS games. Turok 2 however doesn't pull any punches and some of the levels (Hive and Lair) can be really confusing at first. This complex level design, coupled with the huge size of those levels can really drain you and leave you frustrated. Be prepared to do quite a bit of backtracking in this one. I stopped playing for two days once I completed the Hive level, to give you an idea how bad it can be. But for the majority of my playthrough it was smooth sailing and I had a blast traversing through each level even if they overstayed their welcome somewhat.

Turok 2's gunplay is amazing. Your humongous weapon roster ranges from simple bow and arrow to a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ nuke and no, that's not an exaggeration. Each weapon stands out on its own and is satisfying to use. Unfortunate enemies who get in your way respond to your arsenal with amazing animations and meaty gore. Most games nowadays, e.g. DOOM 2016 and Shadow Warrior 2 have nice looking gore systems for sure but none of them feel as raw and grisly as Turok 2 does.
While your weapon selection is huge, your ammo pool for each weapon is quite small in contrast. Headshots are key to surviving the onslaught of enemies without running dry. Ammo and health pickups will respawn after some time as a failsafe, but improving your aim is key. Due to this system, even weaker weapons like your normal pistol or bow and arrow will still be viable in the later parts of the game.

Multiplayer is standard arena shooter flare. It's functional aside from some weird graphic bugs (like the sniper rifle's particles looking like a checkerboard) and I didn't experience any issues regarding connection. It's alright but I don't see myself revisiting it. If you liked Turok: Rage Wars for the N64, then this might be something for you.

Turok 2 has quickly become one of my favourite oldschool FPS and I definitely got my money's worth out of Nightdive Studios remaster despite the unfortunate issues I had with the level design. If you can muster up the patience for situations like these, then by all means get it.