A short, but satisfying finale
Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion is a game that was rushed out the door: at Two Hours long, it is easily the shortest of the Turok trilogy and also the odd-one out, trading in the wide-open areas from Dinosaur Hunter and Seeds of Evil for a more linear affair inspired by Half-Life's cinematic storytelling. Also, the game takes place mostly in earth-like environments like ruined cities, junkyards, and even a Black Mesa inspired military compound.
From that description, you'd expect that this game sucks.
On the contrary!
Shadow of Oblivion is fantastic. An obvious downgrade from its predecessor due to the factors I mentioned, but still a solid send-off to the original Turok trilogy that mops the floor with other console-based shooters of the time.
Above all else, Shadow of Oblivion succeeds as a shooter. Once again the weapons are fun to use and varied, leaving enemies a bloody mess on the floor, and every weapon has a function and neither outweighs the other. In fact, you can even take your time dismembering and destroying the corpses, Soldier of Fortune-style. And lemme tell you, it's so much dark fun.
Also, taking influence from Resident Evil, we get two characters to play as: Joseph and Danielle. Dani can jump higher and has access to more explosive weaponry whilst Joseph gets a pair of Night Vision Goggles, the Shredder, and more marksman-based weapons. I went with Joseph as he gets the Shredder, but you can't go wrong with either character.
Finally, the sound design is also top notch, with some pretty solid voice acting, enemy noises, gunshots, and ambient music. Everything just feels so good to hear and it adds so much to the fun of the game.
Overall, despite the level design being the weakest hands-down, Shadow of Oblivion is still a must play. It's basically Iguana saying "Well, our time in the sun is almost up. But you know what? We still rule the shooter space! Let's make this short sendoff the best we can!" And make it the best they did.