While it may seem like an outdated series, Turok 2: Seeds of Evil offered one of the more diverse arrays of weapons seen in gaming, which still stands as a high bar for variety. Turok: Dinosaur Hunter offered its own unique assortment to battle hunters, aliens, and of course dinosaurs, but it was Turok 2 which upped the ante and the firepower. While most shooters today offer weapon modifications and upgrades to customize weapons, these aren't particularly unique. Customization wasn't an option in the Nintendo 64 era. Instead, Turok 2 came fully loaded with a veritable arsenal of weaponry within arms reach and without loadouts.
Turok 2: Seeds of Evil debuted in 1998 coming off of the success of its predecessor. Turok: Dinosaur Hunter saw players charged with protecting the barrier between Earth and the Lost Lands, but the narrative was easily lost in the gameplay loop of tight action and exploration. Turok 2 took the game's engaging combat a step further, creating enhanced versions of these weapons as well as variants of them for more gameplay options. This greatly increased how many weapons the player had to choose from when fighting aliens and mutated dinosaurs, with the added benefit of being able to carry all the weapons simultaneously.
Today's games, like Call of Duty, often limit weapon loadouts, forcing players to customize and selectively build their character with two or three weapons on hand. During the early era of first-person shooters, players could have every weapon available on their person and switch between them on the fly. 26 weapons are available in Turok 2, with the majority being unique from one another. Standard weapons such as the pistol or shotgun appear, but there are some more interesting ones as well. The Charged Dart Rifle electrifies and paralyzes the target, and the PFM Layer fires proximity mines release an AoE effect at knee height. And then there is the iconic Cerebral Bore, a device which locks onto a target's brain, tracking them around corners, before latching onto their head, pumping out their blood, and exploding.
Turok 2's Arsenal Can Burn, Electrify, Explode, and Irradiate
Bow and arrows, wrist-mounted blades, and the Scorpion Launcher, which fires three homing missiles, are just some of the weapons which help round out the options available to the player. Modern shooters often focus on realistic weapons with slight variations; handguns, shotguns, and rifles. Each weapon type generally has an associated trope in of their handling, and often times can be upgraded or modded to suit a different playstyle. This makes each weapon different from one another, but not necessarily unique. Although first-person shooters have evolved greatly over the years, these games have trended towards having fewer weapons with greater customization and mod capabilities rather than a diverse list of fundamentally unique options. Firing a shotgun or a rifle and adding a scope or a silencer doesn't change the core functionality all that much.
Turok 2's weapons each work differently, feeling purpose-built for a different situation. Given that games of the time couldn't handle the level of customization offered now, it was important to cover a wide array of destructive options. Turok 2 offered more options than most; in addition to what's already been mentioned, it had an arching flamethrower, a chakram called the Razor Wind, and the advanced alien weapon simply referred to as "Nuke," which sets off an incredible, high-power energy explosion that blinds the player as it detonates.
Despite the technical advancements in first-person shooters, Turok 2 contains one of the most diverse assortments of weapons today. While some games may contain outlandish or fantastic weapons, Turok 2: Seeds of Evil has likely had the most varied weapon options by far.
