We played Turok: Origins on Nintendo Switch 2, here are our thoughts
Posted on September 14, 2026 by Richard Ford in Previews, Switch 2
Who remembers Turok? It was quite an innovative early N64 game back in the day and spawned a whole franchise over the following nearly 20 years. Unfortunately, a certain suit-wearing, vodka martini-swilling special agent took over the first-person shooter market on N64 not long after. Still, the dino franchise gained a cult following in the subsequent years and had multiple sequels with expanded lore released. This brand new prequel title to the series is being developed by Saber Interactive, who has worked on the likes of Halo, Ghostbusters, Tomb Raider, and Jurassic Park. The last title is perhaps the most pertinent here, as the developer’s love of dinos is clear as day when you talk to them and indeed when you play Turok: Origins.
I got to play on the Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game at Gamescom, and while the opening cutscene had a couple of frame drops, that’s going to be ironed out by release and the actual game demo I played really well without any technical hiccups. The opening cutscene sets up the crux of why we need to kill the dinosaur aliens. We’ve been enlisted by an intergalactic force’s leader, who’s taken a career-ending injury and forced to hire some new blood. His daughter was considered the best fit for the position, but he wasn’t having it so instead we, the player, have to step into training to become a Turok. Yeah, Turok is a position rather than a person’s name. There are multiple selectable characters to choose from here, with their own little backstories and everything. From there, I warped into a level where I got to grips with the gameplay.
Sprinting, running and gunning, knifing, and using special combat weapons are all mechanics players can take advantage of. If you take a bad guy down in close quarters with a brutal finisher attack, you can boost your health back up which is useful when you’re in a pinch. This game features both Turok’s original first-person perspective as well as a brand new third-person perspective. Both feel really fun so you can go either way and be fine. You’re also not locked to either during gameplay; you can switch freely. So if you prefer exploring in third-person, but prefer combat in first-person, you can play the game that way no problem. The music and environmental design were also really cool, and though my experience with the Turok franchise has been limited, as an outsider to the series I can already tell they nailed the vibe that returning fans would be looking for.
In spite of gunplay kind of being the encouraged method of demolishing dinos, I found myself going full Clint Barton and going hard on the bow-and-arrow action. It was really satisfying to nail a dino kill with a perfectly timed arrow shot. There are also unlockable cosmetics to find within the levels, I actually found one myself by unwittingly solving a puzzle. Though it was cool, that’s kind of the height of my performance here because I found myself up against a sub-boss who really kicked my butt. I was irritatingly close to taking him out too, but he kept putting up a shield that had its own healthbar of its own to take fight through before you could take down the enemy down himself. He only had a sliver of health left, I tell ya! A sliver!
As a result, I couldn’t square up with the final boss, who I’m reliably informed was really bloody cool. So I’m even more upset about that tiny bit of health the other guy had left! I picked up on gameplay mechanics quick enough, but putting them into practice was a completely different challenge for me – one I’d very much like to take up again because I have unfinished business from this Gamescom demo.
Sadly, that won’t be for another bit because the game got delayed a bit for the sake of polishing it up. That said, I didn’t come across any issues during my demo – everything felt responsive and smooth. If there are issues lurking beyond the demo’s length, then Saber is taking the right approach in making sure everything is shiny and clean before releasing the game. It was originally due to come out in autumn this year, but we’ll have to wait until next year to play more. Let’s hope it’s early in the year because I’m itching to slice up some more dinosaurs. My apologies to Saber, I know how much you love dinos! I think I just loved beating them up a little bit more.
More: highlight, Saber Interactive, top, Turok: Origins
