by Michael FertittaThe Turok franchise has changed hands a couple of times over the years. The original trilogy on the Nintendo 64 was developed and published by Acclaim, with the attempted reboot being published by Disney Interactive before laying dormant until 2019’s Turok: Escape from Lost Valley, which was delisted in 2022. At The Game Awards in 2024, however, Saber Interactive took the reins and announced yet another attempt at the legacy dino-hunting IP.
Fast-forward to Summer Game Fest this year, where I got the opportunity to play Turok: Origins with the team and interview the developers to find out why they decided to take a stab at reanimating an otherwise fossilized franchise for a modern audience.
In Turok: Origins, a deadly force of Reptilians called the Xenia wishes to secure interplanetary domination for themselves, so it’s up to you to throw on your biomorphic suit and charge into battle. While you can embark on this mission solo, you can also be joined by up to two other players in local or online multiplayer to level the playing field. Turok has always had a multiplayer component since the second game on the Nintendo 64, but I was curious about how Saber considered modern audiences when rebooting this franchise. I was fortunate enough to have a chat with Carlos De María Castillo, one of the game designers at Saber Interactive, about the development of Turok: Origins.
“What we want to do is do something to thrill long-term fans,” said Carlos De María Castillo, game designer on Turok: Origins. For folks like myself who haven’t experienced the original trilogy, he said “it’s a great starting point for people that haven’t had the contact [with the Turok series], because it explores so many concepts that leaves it open for you to play the original games and still get a lot of value out of that.”
While readying up, players have the option of three different classes to pick from with their own weapons and abilities. Each class comes with a variety of weapon types, each of which can be upgraded as you progress in the game. In my demo, I was able to play through two levels with a boss at the end, giving me plenty of flexibility to try out different weapon loadouts. At first, I struggled a bit with learning the game, as I did not know that plants spread across the map would refill ammo and health. Once I got a handle on the fundamentals, Turok: Origins became an absolute blast to play. The game also has a handful of modern options to make the gameplay experience more engaging, including the ability to switch between first- and third-person perspectives.
The gunplay was perfectly intuitive, and it was easy to swap between weapons while fossilizing my enemies. In addition to shooting down dinosaurs, you can also perform finishers if they are low enough health, which was satisfying to do. That said, I think it would be helpful if there were a button prompt for performing finishers, as I had to be shown how to activate them by a developer. Otherwise, using abilities and blasting through dozens of dinos was a thrill!
While it’s only slated for a 2026 release at the moment, Turok: Origins is a game I am excited to get my hands on. For newcomers and veterans of the Turok series alike, this is an action-packed adventure worth gathering a few friends for.
Turok: Origins
