Better, Resolution, Shadows, Effects with added widescreen and 60+fps, fog is also removed by default, but if you enjoyed the atmoshere the fog created you can add some to the game in the options, however I think it could of been better impleamented for example a better fade in and out, the way it is currently done is you can see the level draw in and undraw through the fog too much which looks awful. There is a lot of complaints by newbies to Turok 2 about the level design and even some past fans returining to it, I personally don't find it to be an issue, maybe as I completed it over 10 times now. There was nothing new added to Turok 2 like NightDives version of ShadowMan or Turok (Turok had a level editor added) which was disappointing in that regard, and the min requirements to run this game are heavy for an old game even with all the added extras. If you played this and loved it on the N64 you will just be happy with the fps boost, but you get other graphical improvements too.
The sounds system and stylish art is what make this game, the sounds are incredible make sure you wear headphones to really appreciate them and the atmosthere they create along with the visuals. The gameplay (demo) from what I have played is good also, if you like stealth you will like love this, it's kind of like Disonered but different at the same time.
If your looking for a title to push your GPU this is it, if your looking for a title to run and look good on low end hardware this is it, the game looks amazing on all presets and has the room to look even better on more powerful hardware. For example on my entry level gaming laptop below: GTX 1660 TI (6GB VRAM) 16GB RAM RYZEN 5 4600H With textures and anisotropic filtering being the only two settings set to high and the rest set to original (original being the same as PS4/PS4 Pro/PS5 settings) and the game locked to 70fps the game would only minorly drop below 60fps (58fps 59fps for split seconds) on very few occasions, the overall average would be 70fps and your getting better than PS4 and PS5 (PS5 uses orignal settings with checkerboard rendering locked to 60fps) settings, this would be with FSR 2.0 enabled which is an amazing feature to have, the upscaling comes out better than native 1080p IMO with textures looking more defined with a huge performance boost, and this was using the quailty mode with FSR 2.0 you could also use the performance mode at the cost of blurry graphics. Gamplay wise the games main story is good (acting is very good) and the game is not overly long but there is plenty of replay value, you won't even have scratched the surface with collecting and upgrading everything on your first playthrough. The menus can be confusing at the start and remembering all the upgraded movesets can be a challenage. Fighting certain enemies can be overwhleming (if your a lower level don't) if you do not have a strategy, you will need to switch between the blades and hachet and watch your back and control your son all at the same time, but once you master most of that you will enjoy the game better. Worth a mention, the game wants to collect your gameplay data, if you block in your firewall you won't get the achievements, other than that I highly recommened this game.
PC version suffers from a random changing difficulty bug which is related to the save load system from what I read, this means that if you choose normal difficulty the game could go to the highest difficulty, you will get less ammo drops and be killed over and over, the menu still say normal difficlty too even though it wil be set on the highest. I did mange to still finish the game but it runied the experience on my second playthrough which was on PC, my originally Xbox360 playthrough was better despite the worse perfromance and graphics. Maybe get the newer one if they also fix the issues with that one.
The tombs were well designed and good to explore, however the battle system is terrible with you needing to time when the traget goes red over an enemie so you can jump out of the way and shoot a fatal shot (sometimes it requires many fatal shot not just one) and it can be very hit and miss to do, alternatively you could try shooting (the enemies have some of the worst bullet sponges ever almost taking endless amount of ammo) but in some areas you wil be surrounded and killed alomost instantly. The most fun to be had is the actual tombs and Lara's house, but there's not much exploration inbetween tombs, Laras house is fun to explore but has a wired save system, if you try Laras house first and save yoour progess before you start the main game your progress for the mansion will not save, YOU MUST START THE MAIN GAME AND CREATE A SAVE FIRST BEFORE PLAYING THE MANSION, then when you play the manison and save it will save proberly. Another issue that's actaully game breaking is a some temple you need to grapple hook a door/bridge open, it doens't work the grapple hook will not attach you have to MANUAL AIM AT THE HOOK RING BY PUSHING THE LEFT STICK AND WHILE IN THAT POSTION PRESS THE X BUTTON TO GRAPPLE HOOK then it will hook on, this bug still has not been fixed since launch. If you get some crackling audio issues restart your PC and don't mess with the audio volume when you launch the game, this fixed this issues several times for me, the issue only occured when I messed with the volume as the game was loading, probably as Windows does things differently compared to when the game was launched. The music and sounds are really good ans set a good atmosphere, it really feels and sounds like the old Tomb Raiders but looks better. Despite all the issues mentioned it's a nice old school adventure that older gamers will enjoy and appreciate, it deserves a place in your colllection. Recommended.
The story, acting and atmosphere is good, but the gameplay can be quite annoying, every part of the combat system revolves around shining a torch at enemies to weaken them, while doing this you are surrounded and hit from behind (three or four hits to die) happens all to often, you can use frags and the flare gun (if you can find them) and they help a lot, you can also tap the left shoulder button to dodge an enemies attack and if you time it right (a lot of the time it's hit and miss) time slows down until you have finished the dodge, if there are may enemies the dodge is useless, all enemies look the same too. Game goes like this, a bit of story,fight and to a street light which is a save point, you might have to fight off many enemies in between and repeat again against the same enemies, any upgrades you find like a better torch is taken away until you find it again. If you can deal with the repetitive gameplay theres a good story and the graphics are still decent and set a good atmosphere, it's worth at least one playthrough. Get in a sale if and there is nothing better.
Finished this twice (once back on the Xbox360, second and third time on PC) and on my third playthrough now. It's an excellent port and it was a joy to playthrough it again on much more powerful hardware with higher fps (Xbox360 was 30fps) and prettier graphics. The game has a unquie art style and it still stands out today because of it, the music and sounds are very ambient and match the games visual style very well to create a wonderful atmosphere, the story is good enough and the voice acting is decent. It is exciting at parts to get away from the enemies while doing partkour stuff, the levels are tightly designed (unlike Mirrors Edge Catalyst) and it feels good to jump around most of the time. There are some briefcases to collect, but that's all you get collectablewise. The partkour system is good if not perfect, and disarming enemies can be very hit and miss. Things that are somewhat annoying, you have to build up speed when running by just holding forward which takes a bit of time to bulid up speed, time slowdown cannot be canceled which means if you accidentially press it your stuck in slowdown until it wears out, wall running can feel a little clumsy at times. Despite the annoying parts this game is enjoyable and stands out, they had a chance to fix these issues in the follow up and they did to some extent buf failed with the open world design and being forced to fight enemies otherwise catalyst would have been better but it's not, Mirrors Edge is still the better title. Highly reccommened.
The game is excellent I played through it on the Gamecube however although the GOG version is the best PC version out there it still has some issues worth mentioning. Telekinesis in third person (left stick) cam rotation is too slow. Targeting with left stick and holding item, turning left or right sends the cam continiously in that direction until you centre it. While holding the left stick and pulling back with the right stick to throw an item is too slow, you never get the full power of the throw, this action with the mouse feels a little off too as pushing forward with the mouse to throw objects moves the cam upward for a moment. You can edit the games .cfg file to speed up the first-person mode aiming but there doesn't seem to be away to edit the cam rotation speed despite changing the cam rotate variable. Graphically the GC version (with dolphin) is the same as the PC version it also runs at 60fps but the PC version is slightly less colorful to the GC version and also lacks bloom, the GC seems to overuse the bloom effect on walls and surfaces so it appears to look better (lightning) at parts that it is not overused, this might be a preference for most though. while the gog version is patched for widescreen the games cutscences are still stretched and the games HUD appears to be too small, also the hud was not patched. The dolphin version with the gekko widescreen patch fixes the widecreen issue and also retains widescreen in the cutscenes but also stretches the HUD (energy bars, title of loctaions etc) but at least it's not tiny like the PC version. Recommend for PC if you want to it try out Mouse and Keyboard, I recommend for console if you like using controllers.
Game is great I have it on EA, however the GOG version will not launch at all, neither the 32bit or the 64bit .exe or any of the included launchers, log file points to "Could not enumerate GPU", so with that I tired to add the .exes to the control panel and manually select the dedicated GPU and also the integrated GPU, none of this worked, don't waste your money or your time until they patch it if ever!!!
First two episodes are good with decent short to medium length levels, however by episode 3 the game is dragged out beyond belief with massively longer levels ans also fighting the same boss over and over, they even add in a timer and take out the maunal save system, what you started out liking you forget with the tediousness of episode 3 and the boss "MAW" . During my playthough there was plenty of level breaking Bugs (after release) even if they fixed them it still doesn't take away how dragged out this game is and the other issues listed. Worth getting for the first two episodes, but skip the last one, it will drive you mad.
