Saturday, October 26, 2013

News::PCGamer- Diablo 3 Reaper of Souls hands-on: taking the fight to the angel of death

PCG:Diablo is hardly one of gamings greatest villains, lets face it. His schemes are consistently thwarted, hes one of the easiest boss fights in the series, and he looks like a big red dinosaur. The sinister Malthael takes his place as the big baddie in Diablo IIIs first expansion, Reaper of Souls. Bedecked in black robes, the angel of death glides about on a mist of captive spirits, wielding a pair of soulsevering sickles. In the details of his gothic finery, Blizzard discovered the tone they wanted to set for Act V of their epic action-RPG.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381066/pcgamer-diablo-3-reaper-of-souls-hands-on-taking-the-fight-to-the-angel-of-death

News::Review of Batman: Arkham Origins [Kuma Kreations Ent]

Kuma wrote: Every hero has a beginning; either you came from a distant planet or starts off with a dark past. Either way it is your choice on what legacy you want to begin and for Bruce Wayne, it was to be the Dark Knight that Gotham needed. This is the supposed prequel to the other Arkham titles where you take on Gotham as a fresh start Batman against a lot of heavy hitters, but the question that everyone is asking, has Warner Bros Montreal succeeded in this Batman? We shall definitely get into that.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381178/review-of-batman-arkham-origins-kuma-kreations-ent

News::Interview with Octodad level designer Majdi Badri.

Platform Nation, and Talking About Games team up to bring you an awesome interview with Octodad Level Designer Majdi Badri. During our interview, we will talk about the early days of Young Horses, Inc, the inspiration for Octodad, and what its like to develop a Video Game for the Playstion 4.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381190/interview-with-octodad-level-designer-majdi-badri

News::Battlefield 4 Helicopter Unlockables Guide

Gameranx writes: "We have a spiffy new image gallery showing off the unlockables for Attack and Scout Helicopters in Battlefield 4. Well also share details below, so if will have a hard time reading the pics where youre browsing this right now, no worries."



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381179/battlefield-4-helicopter-unlockables-guide

News::The Retronomicon: Final Fantasy VII

This week the Retronomicon heads back to the Playstation 1 era to examine the console's seminal role-playing game! Join 411's Stewart Lange as he takes a look at Final Fantasy 7!



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381125/the-retronomicon-final-fantasy-vii

News::Review - Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn | RPGamer

RPGamer: After working through the main story, we're ready to share more of our thoughts on A Realm Reborn. Now to get this posted so that we can get back to our party, if they're still alive.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381075/review-final-fantasy-xiv-a-realm-reborn-rpgamer

News::CD Projekt reveals infographic with evolution of the series

CD Projekt revealed via its facebook a infographic that shows the evolution of the series



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381132/cd-projekt-reveals-infographic-with-evolution-of-the-series

News::Online Play Restored to PES 2014 on Xbox After Monthlong Outage

News::Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures Review | 411mania

Can the Nerd make a game hes proud of, or does it fail like the games in his videos?



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381141/angry-video-game-nerd-adventures-review-411mania

News::Games Only Podcast Episode 110 - Heathstone, SR IV: Enter the Dominatrix

This week on the Games Only Podcast, the old crew is back in town. Doc gets magically invited to the collectable card game, Hearthstone. HP dives back into the machine a realizes that there is much more than the 4th wall with Saints Row IV Enter the Dominatrix. We learn that Sunny just loves trains and scenery when he tries to explain his addiction to Train Simulator 2014.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381151/games-only-podcast-episode-110-heathstone-sr-iv-enter-the-dominatrix

News::Spark Rising: new screenshots

Wicked Loot has released some new gameplay screens taken from their next sandbox game



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381150/spark-rising-new-screenshots

News::For Many Chinese Gamers, the Office Replaces the Internet Café

I studied so hard in middle school to attend a good high school. And I studied so hard in high school to do well on the gaokao [exam] to get into a good college. Now I just want to relax, says Tony Wang, a 20-something marketing assistant in Beijing. Like many young Chinese professionals, he passes some idle time at the office immersed in online games. Maybe four or five hours a week, he estimates. Sometimes he imagines his annoying colleagues are among the animated onscreen targets.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381138/for-many-chinese-gamers-the-office-replaces-the-internet-cafe

News::Radeon R9 290X Review: AMD's Back In Ultra-High-End Gaming

After eight months of watching Nvidia go uncontested in the ultra-high-end graphics market, AMD has a new GPU based on existing technology that promises to challenge the top position. It gets mighty loud at times, but you can't ignore the R9 290X's price.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381159/radeon-r9-290x-review-amds-back-in-ultra-high-end-gaming

News::Batman: Arkham Origins review | The Globe and Mail

Just as Origins represents a start for the Dark Knight, so too is the game a solid starting point for the new Montreal studio.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381071/batman-arkham-origins-review-the-globe-and-mail

News::Assassin's Creed Black Flag Release Date: Amazon Exclusive Figure with In-Game Content Offer

Gamerdeals: "Upgrade Your Game for Only $10 and Receive an Exclusive Figure with In-Game Content at Amazon!"



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381134/assassins-creed-black-flag-release-date-amazon-exclusive-figure-with-in-game-content-offer

News::PS4's Day One Update - IGN Daily Fix

In today's Fix you can Win a 40inch Sony LED TV, the PS4 has a big day one update and Bioshock Infinite's DLC is dated. Plus, a Xbox One web series? & PS4 controller on the Mac .



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381129/ps4s-day-one-update-ign-daily-fix

News::Journey of a Roach Preview | GameGrin

Harrie Bailey at GameGrin: "Before embarking upon this point-and-click journey accompanied by my protagonist Jim, I was unaware that it was possible to feel so much empathy for what is usually a small insignificant insect. Journey of A Roach follows the story of an incredibly selfless cockroach who sets out in his somewhat unnecessary footwear to help those in trouble."



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381086/journey-of-a-roach-preview-gamegrin

News::AMD Catalyst 13.11 BETA6 Released - Brings Performance Improvements In Batman: Arkham Origins

DSOGaming writes: "AMD released today a new beta driver for its graphics cards that comes with various performance improvements in a variety of games. This driver supports AMDs recently released GPUs (R9 290 and R9 290X) and improves performance in Batman: Arkham Origins by up to 35% with MSAA 8x enabled."



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381115/amd-catalyst-13-11-beta6-released-brings-performance-improvements-in-batman-arkham-origins

News::Get Loaded Promotion Has Hitman, Sleeping Dogs And More For 6 Each

GG3 reports on more great deals around the net. Online store Get Games has returned their Get Loaded deal, where they discount a selection of 10 or so high value Steam games, from which users can pick any 2 for 6 each. It also includes many deluxe editions.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381063/get-loaded-promotion-has-hitman-sleeping-dogs-and-more-for-6-each

News::Ultra Street Fighter 4: New Battle Mechanics Add Double Ultra Combos, Red Focus Attack

Developer Capcom made an announcement regarding the addition of new Battle Mechanics to Ultra Street Fighter 4. These tweaks will also result in the removal of Unblockables. These two additions will give players more offensive and defensive options.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381030/ultra-street-fighter-4-new-battle-mechanics-add-double-ultra-combos-red-focus-attack

News::Fresh blood: what the world's best eSports players think of Call of Duty: Ghosts | OXM UK

With a little dedication, it takes the average player 20-30 hours to Prestige in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. That's something we learned in a darkened tent on top of a multistory carpark in downtown Los Angeles, where the next generation of Call of Duty's impossibly popular multiplayer component was revealed.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381128/fresh-blood-what-the-worlds-best-esports-players-think-of-call-of-duty-ghosts-oxm-uk

News::The Stanley Parable Review | GameGrin

Originally a Half-Life 2 mod, The Stanley Parable has been remastered both by looks and story in this standalone version created by Galactic Café. The premise of the game is that you are Stanley. You control Stanley's actions and you decide how Stanley's adventure plays out. However, there is an ominous voice narrating your every decision and trying to guide you through the story. It is your decision whether Stanley follows the commands of your narrator or not and both following or disobeying him will have different consequences.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381092/the-stanley-parable-review-gamegrin

News::Batman: Arkham Origins Review | Wireless Magazine

WM writes: If I wanted to play something the same as Arkham City, Id have saved myself £34.99 and played Arkham City.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381091/batman-arkham-origins-review-wireless-magazine

News::Batman: Arkham Origins review | The Tech Stuff

Batman: Arkham Origins can be said to be another Batman: Arkham game and it certainly lives up to the quality, the only problem is that it offers nothing new.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381089/batman-arkham-origins-review-the-tech-stuff

News::Batman: Arkham Origins Review | Video Game Demons

Next to Arkham City, Arkham Origins is a bit of a dissatisfaction in its lack of new ideas and use of win buttons, making it the least interesting of the trilogy.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381104/batman-arkham-origins-review-video-game-demons

News::Batman: Arkham Origins - PC Performance Analysis

DSOGaming writes: "Batman: Arkham Origins is a title weve been looking forward to, and thats primarily because we wanted to see whether Warner Montreal would optimize the games PC version or not. Would the game suffer from stuttering issues? Would the game run as awful as its predecessor, Arkham City? And would its PhysX effects bring current gen systems to their knees? Thankfully, we can now answer all those questions."



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381100/batman-arkham-origins-pc-performance-analysis

News::AMD Release Batman: Arkham Origins Fix

HardwarePal : Yesterday was the official launch of Batman Arkham Origins , but most users with AMD graphic cards were upset by poor performance. Some might of thought of this as Nvidia sabotaging their The Way Its Meant to be Played title.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381112/amd-release-batman-arkham-origins-fix

News::'Batman: Arkham Origins' Review | eCoustics

Batman: Arkham Origins takes no chances and feels a bit derivative as a result, but its still another round of good times exploring Gotham City as the Dark Knight.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381101/batman-arkham-origins-review-ecoustics

News::Top 5 Horror Video Games

FullSailBlog: Video game designers have been using horror themes to engage players since early Atari classics like Haunted House, which while built on primitive graphics and gameplay, still tapped into the essential elements of what scares us the unknown. Technology has given developers greater possibilities in immersing us in the macabre, and we recently spoke with horror fan and instructor Keyvan Acosta for his selections of the Top 5 Horror Video Games. Keyvan teaches the foundations of story and design as the course director for our Game Design I class, and has a deep appreciation for video games as a unique vehicle for horror. Turn the lights off, crank the volume up, and try your hand at one of these classics of interactive terror.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381036/top-5-horror-video-games

News::Batman Arkham Origins Review | GameShampoo

Gameshampoo: Arkham Origins may be mechanically superior to its predecessors, but its marginal improvements in gameplay can't hold a candle to the massive downgrade in world-building and storytelling. With dialogue that sounds like it was written by a child and voice actors who never quite feel comfortable in their roles, Arkham Origins struggles where Batman stories typically excel the most - in creating a desperate and engrossing atmosphere.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381055/batman-arkham-origins-review-gameshampoo

News::Dota 2 Officially Launched in South Korea

Another huge step for both Valve and Nexon, Dota2 was finally released in South Korea in the 25th of October precisely at 10AM!



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381024/dota-2-officially-launched-in-south-korea

News::Witcher 3 should look similar across all platforms, but PCs with NVIDIA cards will have the edge

During ód Game Summit 2013 in Poland dobreprogramy.pl had a chance to ask CD Projekt RED many questions, one of them being the difference in graphics between powerful PCs and PS4 plus Xbox One. The studio aims to have a similar visual experience in every case and as of yet did not have to sacrifice anything for consoles, but at the same time it confirmed a close working relationship with NVIDIA. While the consoles are based on AMD solutions, some effects may be reserved for PCs with GeForce cards.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381040/witcher-3-should-look-similar-across-all-platforms-but-pcs-with-nvidia-cards-will-have-the-edge

News::13 More Horror Themed Video Games To Play On Halloween

WC writes: We previously released an article detailing thirteen video games that were perfect to play on Halloween. In the spirit of doing something different we deterred from any games that were thematically horror-related or focused on plots involving definite paranormal activity. However, with Halloween less than two weeks away we cant help but think of those precious gems we left out. So dim the lights and cuddle up real close as were about to embrace our darker side.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381051/13-more-horror-themed-video-games-to-play-on-halloween

News::Batman Arkham Origins Review If It Aint Broke, Dont Fix It | Segment Next

Segment Next: Considering the change in development team, Arkham Origins most defining quality is its ability to imitate the previous games. While it does not offer much improvement to what was presented in Arkham City and mostly follows the Arkham formula by the book, Arkham Origins is still a greatly enjoyable entry that would provide hours of entertainment to anyone who enjoyed the previous two games.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381053/batman-arkham-origins-review-if-it-aint-broke-dont-fix-it-segment-next

News::Batman: Arkham Origins Review | The Motherboard

The Motherboard: While Im hesitant to call Origins a great game, well just have to settle for good bat-fans.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381060/batman-arkham-origins-review-the-motherboard

News::Batman: Arkham Origins review | RCJ

Christmas is usually a time of great cheer. For Gothams greatest detective, however, there would be no kissing underneath the mistletoe this year as one crime lord decides to swap eight maids-a-milking for eight assassins-a-killing in Batman: Arkham Origins.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381061/batman-arkham-origins-review-rcj

News::Hearthstone Has Made A Great Start, But Can It Go The Distance || TIB

With the announcement of Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, card games have been popping up everywhere, but after finally getting one of the highly sought after keys to the closed beta, This is Beta can tell you that Hearthstone is leaps and bounds ahead of its competition in almost every way including gameplay and polish.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381045/hearthstone-has-made-a-great-start-but-can-it-go-the-distance-tib

News::Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag Open World Preview [Capsule Computers]

Zac Elawar from Capsule Computers wrote: "Stunning, yet dangerous the Caribbean Sea in 1715 was the perfect playground for pirates; none more-so than Captain Edward Kenway, in Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag. After getting our hands on the Naval & Fort demo at the EB Games Expo 2013, Ubisoft Australia invited us to experience an extended open world demo of the PlayStation 4 version, where we made new eternal enemies with a certain aquatic life-form."



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381049/assassins-creed-iv-black-flag-open-world-preview-capsule-computers

News::The Wolf Among Us Episode 1: Faith Review | Game Shampoo

'Faith' is a ferocious start to what promises to be another superb season of adventure gaming. With The Wolf Among Us, Telltale has honed their writing and artwork to a deadly point. This feels like a developer at the top of their game, and anyone interested in a gritty and wholly different kind of detective story should take note. If the rest of the season follows suit, we've got one beast of a mystery on our hands.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381056/the-wolf-among-us-episode-1-faith-review-game-shampoo

News::Let's Play Minecraft - Episode 74 - The Pit

AH descends into the dark, scary recesses of The Pit in Minecraft for the Xbox 360.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1380996/lets-play-minecraft-episode-74-the-pit

News::Batman: Arkham Origins Intensive Training Challenge Guide

Get all 3 Medals in Intensive Training Challenge in Batman: Arkham Origins, to get these medal you need to get 40k (40,000) points. Below we have the guide how easily you can get the points and can get all 3 medals in Batman: Arkham Origins.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381016/batman-arkham-origins-intensive-training-challenge-guide

News::11 Video Game Dudes That Look Like Chicks

ArcadeSushi: Before you start mouthing off about how weird this list of 11 Video Game Dudes That Look Like Chicks is, hear us out. Gender bending has been a pastime of video game character designers for a long time. We arent particularly sure why they enjoy making gender ambiguous characters so much. Maybe it has something to do with Japanese game designers roots in anime and manga or maybe game designers just like screwing with us. Either way, some of these androgynous characters are pretty badass. So we created this list of 11 Video Game Dudes That Look Like Chicks to celebrate them.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381028/11-video-game-dudes-that-look-like-chicks

News::Enslaved Graphics Fix video

Enslaved on Steam does not provide any options to remove the eye straining motion blur, but this Enslaved Graphics fix video and instructions shows how to remove it amongst other things.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381034/enslaved-graphics-fix-video

News::Forced Review | Gamereactor UK

GR-UK writes: "The real draw here is the well balanced mix of ingredients, along with the unrelenting challenge. When everything falls into place and you're working well with a team and hitting the right notes, Forced is great fun to play. There were several levels that took what felt like an eternity to complete, and this was somewhat frustrating, and the razor-sharp difficulty means that this game isn't going to suit all tastes. However, co-op orientated gamers are urged to check it out. You might die a lot, and at times you'll hate the game to its very core, but it's the good kind of hate, the kind that keeps you coming back for more."



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381026/forced-review-gamereactor-uk

News::Batman: Arkham Origins How to Unlock All Costumes

Just like the previous Batman games, you can swap the costumes, now in Batman: Arkham Origins you can also change your outfit skin, also these outfit skins will actually appear in cut-scenes. Find out how you can unlock these new and awesome skins in the game.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381015/batman-arkham-origins-how-to-unlock-all-costumes

News::Batman Arkham Origins Walkthrough

Batman Arkham Origins Walkthrough will guide you through all the missions in the game and provide you with the best strategy to completing your own playthrough.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1381032/batman-arkham-origins-walkthrough

News::The Making Of: Turok: Dinosaur Hunter


Can dinosaurs save Acclaim?” asked Business Week in March 1997. It was a fair question. The previous year, the videogame publisher based in Glen Cove, New York had begun to struggle. Its share price dipped 76 per cent and Wall Street was shouting “sell, sell, sell”. Then came that year’s E3 in Atlanta.


Hidden away in a corner of the exhibition space was a small Texan developer named Iguana Entertainment and its youthful project lead David Dienstbier. Firing up a copy of Nintendo 64 game demo Turok: Dinosaur Hunter on a tiny TV, Dienstbier began blasting away at raptors.


No one had ever seen anything like Turok. It was a firstperson shooter set in a lushly vegetated outdoor world inhabited by dinosaurs, motion-captured 3D humans, and the odd wild boar. While Doom asked you to glide through hi-tech corridors blasting demons, Turok was mapped out across fog-shrouded mesas. The mist helped mask draw-distance issues but it also added an atmospheric feel, enhanced by brilliant audio design featuring monkey calls and jungle drums.


An hour into the demo, Dienstbier had a gaggle of onlookers. By the end of the day, he had a crowd. “I pulled out a nuke and levelled half a dozen palm trees and they were like, ‘No waaaaay!’” he recalls with a hearty chuckle. “People had seen big guns onscreen before but they’d never seen those sorts of effects. They just went apeshit.”


In that instant, Turok became a sensation, especially among the corporate suits at Acclaim. “It was a very surreal moment because everyone at the company suddenly went, ‘Turok equals money… Dave, my boy! Have a Cuban cigar’.”



By the end of E3, Dienstbier had been slapped on the back so many times that he was in danger of bruising. When it was released on March 4 – dubbed ‘Turok Tuesday’ – the game went on to sell 1.5 million copies. Acclaim’s stock price bounced and the mayor of Glen Cove temporarily renamed one of the town’s streets ‘Turok Boulevard’.


Through the rose-tinted specs of hindsight, every hit title looks like a sure thing, but the picture is less clear when you’re submerged in development. Work on Turok began in 1996. Eager to bolster revenue from its lucrative licensed movie games, Acclaim had begun to diversify. Among its acquisitions was Valiant Comics, which published the long-running title Turok, the story of a Native American warrior lost in a land populated by dinosaurs, aliens and supernatural beings.


When Nintendo approached Acclaim and asked it to make an exclusive FPS to help launch the new N64 console, the publisher dusted off Turok. Making the game of the comic fell to Iguana Entertainment, a software house in Austin that had also been part of Acclaim’s buying spree. The developer – which kept a glass tank of reptiles in its offices – had previously scored a slamdunk with the console versions of NBA Jam. Hopes for Turok were less high – which may be why Iguana’s management farmed it out to an inexperienced team led by fresh-faced newbie Dienstbier.


An escapee from the ad industry (“Where I saw concerted proof that Satan did exist”), the burly designer had never project-led a game before. “When they called me into the office, I said: ‘You do realise I don’t know what the hell I’m doing? I just started in this business’.” You’re a smart kid, they told him, you’ll figure it out. With few resources and even fewer staff, Dienstbier rolled up his sleeves and got stuck in.


Acclaim was a giant of the 16bit era. Its fortune had been made with the home console version of Mortal Kombat – a game which impressed with its digitised 2D sprites. As times changed, though, Acclaim had begun to struggle. 3D graphics demanded a completely different approach. Remington Scott, the company’s soft-spoken interactive director, was one of the new breed of talent brought in to help the company make the leap to the next generation. The answer was motion capture.



“Acclaim spent about $10m on building a motion-capture studio strictly for entertainment, not medical or sports analysis,” remembers Scott. “They cored out the centre of a building and created a two-and-a-half-storey-tall optical-motion-capture facility.” Acclaim’s vigorous adoption of the technology helped drive its ubiquity during the ’90s, and games like NFL Quarterback Club, Frank Thomas’ Big Hurt Baseball and Turok became early landmarks of motion capture. “Everything you see going on in videogames today [in terms of motion and performance capture], we were doing and defining back then – trying to figure out how to do it for the first time,” Scott says.


It was so successful that Hollywood came calling. Acclaim’s mo-cap studio was used for some of the visual effects in Batman Forever and Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. Meanwhile, Scott himself became a leading figure in performance capture, working on cinematic CGI pioneers including Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, The Lord Of The Rings and Beowulf.


Back in 1996, Iguana’s team happily embraced the new technology. Motion capture offered an elegant solution to the production problems with which they were saddled: limited resources (“We had about two

or three animators when we started the mo-cap shoot,” says Dienstbier), a lack of Nintendo devkits, and a punishing 17-month schedule. Thanks to Acclaim’s studio, movement could be quickly mapped on to the textured models bringing blocky, low-res polygons to life with startling results.


While Turok’s character models weren’t as photorealistic as the digitised sprites in, say, Mortal Kombat, their lifelike movements made them surprisingly convincing. On the team was stuntman Brad Martin – now a Hollywood pro with credits on Spider-Man 3, Die Hard 4.0 and Salt – who was launched gamely off air ramps and trampolines to simulate enemies being blown up by grenades and rocket launchers. “We strung him up on a harness and flung him around like he was in the mouth of a dinosaur,” Scott remembers.



More tricky were the non-human enemies. “I really wanted to record the actions of a dinosaur, but seeing as they’re extinct, that was a little challenging,” he explains wryly. “We ended up doing some tests with large birds. The ostrich was too big and the trainer couldn’t control it, but the emu was a better choice. We had problems adhering the markers to the animal and directing it, so we didn’t end up with much usable data. But the reference material was valuable. I still come back to that on projects that come up to this day concerning dinosaurs.”


In the end, it was only the human enemies who were mo-capped, but it set a new benchmark in terms of 3D character animation. “Turok became a poster child for the kind of motion capture that was possible in 3D gaming,” explains Dienstbier. “We wanted to make the game an event. We were saying: you may think you know everything about what firstperson shooters are, but we want to show you what they can be. We really wanted to fire up people’s imaginations.”


Mention the words FPS and N64 to most gamers and you’ll get one answer: GoldenEye. While Rare’s seminal shooter thrived on the elegance of its multiplayer, Turok had to fly solo. As a singleplayer experience, it proved suitably atmospheric. The environments took most of the credit for that, providing players with a selection of lush jungles filled with wild boar and vicious raptors, juxtaposed with gloomy caverns and ruins. “Games like Doom were extraordinarily limited to confined, rectangular interior spaces,” argues Dienstbier. “We wanted to do something that would open that up.”


Not content with merely opening up the FPS, Iguana also wanted to max it out. In Turok, everything was bigger, bolder, badder. Neither Sir Arthur Conan Doyle nor Steven Spielberg ever imagined ‘binosaurs’ (bionic dinosaurs), but Turok did. The insane result was, among other delights, a T-Rex with a head-mounted laser cannon. Then there was the weaponry design, from the quad-rocket launcher to the lip-quivering power of the fabled Chronosceptor.



“It’s tame by today’s standards but at the time I think Turok had a grandeur about it,” reflects Dienstbier, who’d go on to work on several of the sequels. “It felt bigger. It was more over-the-top in terms of what its weapons did and how the enemies reacted to being hit – our particle effects system was very, very advanced for home consoles. We wanted to make PC fans go: ‘Holy crap! This is playing on a Nintendo machine that I just plugged in!’”


Considering the game’s violent content, there were naturally concerns over how Nintendo would react. “We really knew we were pushing Nintendo’s tolerance for violence in a game on their console,” says Dienstbier. “But it turned out a lot of our fears were unfounded. They never wanted to see anything, approve anything.” Instead, realising it had a potential hit for its new console, the house of Mario began throwing resources at the Turok team.


“We were having a real hard time getting devkits from Nintendo, and we only had two of those really expensive SGI machines,” Dienstbier explains. “All of the artists and designers were sharing one, and our lead programmer [Rob Cohen] had one in his office so he could write the game engine and test it. After that E3 demo, development systems suddenly started turning up. It was great.”


So, did the dinosaurs really save Acclaim? Yes and no. Although the game’s sales, and the franchise it spawned, helped the publisher struggle along for a few more years, Acclaim filed for Chapter 7 in 2004. The company may be defunct, but Turok lives on with six sequels and a reputation as one of the most bonkers firstperson shooters of the ’90s. It’s a dinosaur of the FPS genre, but it needn’t fear extinction.


This feature was first published in E228, June 2011.


The post The Making Of: Turok: Dinosaur Hunter appeared first on Edge Online.






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