Remaster of tentacle-filled Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion coming from Nightdive Studios November 14

Nightdive Studios has announced that the N64 version of Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion will be among the next games to get the remaster treatment. Not only that, it already has a release date of November 14 and is coming to PC and consoles.

Originally released in 2000, Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion was an interesting turn for Acclaim’s Turok series. It really shows the awkward evolution of the first-person shooter genre in the wake of 1998’s Half-Life. While the first two games were largely just fast-paced key-hunting games like early FPS, Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion incorporated more story elements and cutscenes. It involved two would-be Turoks trying to fight back against an encroaching threat in the wake of Joshua Fireseed’s apparent death.

It’s the last numbered Turok entry and, really, the last good one. The level design kind of gets mired in the muddy brown industrial look of the late ‘90s, and the action isn’t as swift as the earlier titles. A lot of the real Turok identity gets lost in the pursuit of gaming trends. Despite that, it’s an interesting early-3D game.

While Nightdive previously remastered the first two Turok games, a rerelease of Shadow of Oblivion wasn’t guaranteed. The first two titles already had PC ports that the studio could work off of, whereas Turok 3 never left the N64. However, since they were able to “reverse engineer” and provide the N64 campaign of Quake 2, I had hoped that they put in the effort because they were working on a port to Turok 3. And sure enough…

Does this mean we’ll get Turok: Rage Wars someday?

Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion is getting the KEX Engine treatment. Nightdive is boasting a lot of the same enhancements that the Quake 2 remaster received, including real-time lighting and updated models. It’s coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch on November 14.