©1991-2007
Student Publications,
All rights reserved.

Last modified:

Contact:
ktruitt@uh.edu

Life & Arts

Gamers gear up to hunt dinos 

‘Seeds of Evil' serves as an one-person shooter outlet for those who want to slay reptilian beaSts 

by STEPHEN CLEBOSKI 
The Daily Cougar

Mere humans have long held dinosaurs as objects of fascination or terror. Jurassic Park taught us to run away in the face of dinosaurs, but Turok gives the chance to take vengeance against those cretaceous fiends in Seeds of Evil. 

Seeds of Evil is the sequel to Dinosaur Hunter released on the Nintendo 64, but actually shares none of the history or characters from its predecessor. The only parallels between the two are vague references to a mystical place called the "Lost Land" and the ridiculously unwieldy control scheme. Seeds of Evil begins with Joshua Fireseed, a fledgling dinosaur hunter who is teleported to Ada's spaceship against his will. She immediately charges Joshua with the task of defeating an alien tyrant named the Primagen and his army of monsters intent on destroying seven sacred artifacts called the energy totems. Apparently, these energy totems contain enormous potential power, and their destruction would mean the collapse of the universe. No pressure, Joshua.

The game features six rather long levels or "realms." Every level has a set of mission objectives in addition to finding and protecting the energy totem for that realm. Mission objectives can range from destroying ammo caches to rescuing children who never stop crying. 

Following in the Turok tradition, Seeds of Evil features awkward controls, and a wide range of very creative enemies. Turning on the automatic aim in the options menu can negate the frustrating movements and aiming, but that would prove to the world that you are simply not meant to slay reptilian beasts. Speaking of beasts, Seeds of Evil contains quite a large variety of mutants to slay. At the start of the game, Joshua must sate his bloodlust on small, lopsided dinosoids armed with tooth and claw. Luckily, Joshua will obtain something to defend himself with: guns, a lot of guns. 

The weapon menu is huge, containing twenty different death dealing machines, almost all of which are capable of dismembering enemies in some way. The shotgun is a solid example. A standard shell can decapitate most beasts, provided the aim is true. Each kill is more satisfying than the last, as players sharpen their aiming skills and whet their appetite for destruction.

Turok has tremendous flaws, 

ut the gaping holes in design are remedied by gaping holes in the corpses of the slain. Seeds of Evil provides a surprisingly large amount of game play as players hack and slash their way to the Primagen. 

Send comments to dcshobiz@mail.uh.edu