Saber Interactive is betting that dinosaurs are a surefire way to resurrect a dormant franchise. At Summer Game Fest's Play Days, the studio showed off Turok: Origins, a reimagined take on the classic shooter series that swaps the familiar first-person view for a flexible camera system that lets players toggle between first and third-person perspectives on the fly.
The switch to third-person isn't just a cosmetic choice. It opens up a whole new layer of gameplay that the original Turok games never had. According to Alberto San Josè Tabares, senior game producer at Saber Interactive, the perspective shift allows players to actually see character customization elements like outfit upgrades and weapon mods, features that would be invisible in first-person mode. But the studio heard player concerns about losing that classic Turok feel, so they kept the option to stay in first-person if you prefer the traditional experience.
The gameplay loop revealed in a hands-on demo is far more complex than a straightforward shooter. Players choose from three "Primal Forms" at the start: Cougar, Bison, and Raven. These aren't just cosmetic skins. Each archetype has its own skill trees, progression paths, and playstyle mechanics. In co-op, they encourage tactical synergy. One example Tabares shared: a Bison player can erect a barrier to block incoming projectiles while teammates use it as cover to return fire. The entire campaign supports three-player co-op, though solo play remains fully viable and rewards players for experimenting with different builds.
Customization runs deep. Beyond outfit changes, weapons can be modded with up to nine different configurations each. The Cerebral Bore, a signature weapon from earlier Turok games that drills into enemy heads and explodes, can be modified to lock onto three targets simultaneously instead of one. Other weapons can be rebalanced between automatic and semi-automatic fire, giving players freedom to tailor their arsenal.
A surprising addition called EchoSyncs sets Origins apart from typical shooters. These are unique ability upgrades that players unlock primarily by defeating bosses. Described in-game as enhancements to a biomorphic suit called a mantle, they're earned by extracting DNA from dinosaurs and the environment. During the demo, one EchoSync equipped provided a powerful soundwave roar attack that felt ripped straight out of Skyrim.
Combat is fast and fluid. The demo started with fights against raptor-type dinosaurs in dense jungle, but quickly escalated to encounters with Xenia, reptilian humanoids that serve as the primary antagonists. One standout enemy type featured teleportation and stealth mechanics that forced tactical adjustments. The level design included environmental details too: colored glowing plants that restore shields or ammunition, destructible obstacles, and opportunities for melee finishing moves that play out with gruesome spectacle animations.
The boss encounter highlighted what makes Origins feel different from its predecessors. A mechanized T-rex straight out of Monster Hunter faced off against the player with a devastating arsenal. It unleashed tail swipes, laser blasts from its eyes, homing missiles from its back, shockwave stomps, and environmental destruction from toppling structures. Dodge rolls feature invincibility frames, making them a core defensive mechanic rather than just positioning tools. Pulling off perfectly-timed dodges felt more engaging than the traditional strafe-and-cover approach of older shooters, especially in third-person where the animation actually matters.
Turok: Origins is built around rewarding experimentation. New weapons and EchoSyncs unlock naturally through progression, but each level contains additional secrets and unlockables that encourage replays with different character builds and weapon configurations. Tabares emphasized that the design goal is to guide players toward testing combinations and finding their own playstyle rather than forcing a single optimal approach.
The game runs solid on Nintendo Switch 2 with a controller and is coming to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S sometime this fall. The dinosaur-filled premise may sound gimmicky, but the actual gameplay depth suggests Saber Interactive has built something with real staying power.
Author Emily Chen: "Turok had to come back eventually, and if it needed a mecha T-rex and a three-player co-op campaign to do it, I'm not complaining."
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