Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion

Acclaim backs up their truck and unloads just about every trick imaginable into the final N64 instalment in this hit series. Long time gamers know that the biggest, feature-richest Paks often come out late in a platform's life cycle, when heroic developers toss every trick they've learned into slam-bang finales. Such is the case with Turok 3, a Pak packed to the rafters with jumbo environments, garrulous voice samples, many multiplayer options and, of course, some massive weapons.Turok 3 has eight multiplayer modes on top of a five-stage adventure mode that, Castlevania-style, features two controllable characters. Joseph Fireseed, the younger brother of Turok 2's Joshua Fireseed, can squeeze in small places and takes the stealthy route with a pair of night-vision goggles. Danielle Fireseed, Joshua's big sister, embraces the more conventional action-heroine role. She can reach high places with an Energy Grapple. While you can play the game to the end with either character, about 20 percent of the levels will be accessible only by one character or the other. Turok 3 does a good job of keeping you informed about your next objective, but won't give everything away - you'll need to poke around for a while before exclaiming "Aha!".Although each character receives the same eight basic weapons, those will upgrade differently, so Joseph and Danielle will end up with eight unique upgrades. Yes, the Cerebral Bore is back, but even more mind-blowing is the PSG, which simultaneously obliterates every evildoer in sight and bends and twists your reality like multiple trips on a roller coaster. Multiplayer modes include Bloodlust (most kills), Capture the Flag, Last Stand (win the most rounds) and Colour Tag (win over rivals). In Golden Arrow mode, your object is to hold the arrow as long as possible - but unfortunately (and painfully) for you, weapon use is banned while you have it. In Monkey Tag, one poor unarmed soul tries as hard as possible not to get tagged. But, of course, Turok 3 brandishes a million multiplayer options for weapons and length of battle. You can customise the intelligence and defences of your own character as well as CPU-controlled bots.