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When it comes to the Nintendo 64 store kiosk carts, this is the big one. Welcome friend to Micro-64's giant article on the Turok 2 Not For Resale cart!
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter was one of the most successful 3rd party releases for the Nintendo 64. It was released in early 1997 to stellar reviews and strong sales. Critics were wowed as the game really showed off what the Nintendo 64 was capable of. A sequel to Turok: Dinosaur Hunter became inevitable. Strangely, Acclaim had announced they were planning Turok 2 before Dinosaur Hunter was even on store shelves.
Development was long for Turok 2 as it was Acclaim's most ambitious project they had ever done. The game they were developing just kept getting bigger and better as the price of cartridges went down. The ROM size was originally 8MB, but it eventually moved up to 12MB and then again to 32MB. Turok 2 was the second N64 cartridge to use a ROM size that big, and was the first N64 title to make use of the new Expansion Pak. The original planned release date for Turok 2 was to be in October of 1998, or as Acclaim called it "TurOctober". This deadline was missed because the copy of Turok 2 that was sent to Nintendo for testing and approval was too buggy. The release date was pushed back to November 1998. Acclaim did manage to send a fixed version of the game to Nintendo in time, but the game was delayed and did not make its scheduled November release. Turok 2 was complete; this setback had been due to manufacturing delays. Turok 2's release date was moved to December and this time things were more successful. Turok 2 hit store shelves on December 10th 1998 in North America and on December 11th 1998 in the UK and Australia.
One interesting thing came about when Acclaim was marketing Turok 2. Acclaim produced their own Turok 2 Not For Resale carts to be used to demo Turok 2 in store kiosks. This was the first time a non-Nintendo/Rareware NFR was made. This was also the first and only time a Not For Resale cart was made in NTSC and PAL form; NFRs had always been NTSC only. This Turok 2 demo was used as early as October 1998 and in stores such as Toy's R' Us. Out of all the N64 NFR carts, the Turok 2 demo happens to be the most different from its final version. This cart features just the first level, and has tons of beta content.
Just like other Not For Resale carts, these games were supposed to either be thrown out, or returned to the developer when the store was done using it. I'm not sure which of these fates the Turok 2 NFRs were supposed to have, but the bottom line is some did not see this fate and have ended up in the hands of gamers. Micro-64 has managed to find a copy, and we'll tell you everything we've found.
Three quick things about this demo: You cannot save your game. The save points do not work and the game does not give you any information about your controller pak when you start the game. Second, this demo does not have a high resolution option. It plays in the standard resolution and makes no mention of the expansion pak if you have one. When I'm comparing screenshots, the final version will be in low resolution for a more accurate comparison. Lastly, the demo and final version have various degrees of borders. It changes so frequently that it's not going to be mentioned often.
Shall we begin?
Cartridge
That's the Turok 2 Not For Resale cartridge, and its label looks nothing like the final version! The demo comes in a standard gray N64 cartridge, instead of black. The Turok 2 logo appears to be finalized, though in grayscale. The label lacks an ESRB rating, the Nintendo Seal of Quality, a Nintendo 64 stamp, and of course some colour. It has a large Acclaim logo that's impossible to miss, and a product code that's also a different.
The back of the cartridge has the standard N64 cartridge label with a demo sticker on top. The store using this demo was to write their information there. Very few stores actually cared to fill this out.
The top board is from the Turok 2 demo and the bottom board is from a final Turok 2 cartridge. The layout of the components appears to be the exact same, though the chips used are a bit different.
This is probably a good time to bring up the ROM sizes. The demo is 16MB and the final version is 32MB. The demo only features the first level of the game and has no multiplayer. Putting this onto a smaller cartridge would've made more sense for Acclaim as it would've saved them money. It's possible that they just didn't bother and Turok 2 was still supposed to be a 16MB game when this build of the demo was created. If that theory is correct, we may be able to date this build of Turok 2 to be as early as Q1 1998.
Startup
Demo left, final right.
If you exclude the final versions information about using a controller pak, then that copyright screen is the first thing you see in each game. The demo had some minor text errors and a bit of missing information. Everything was corrected for the final version. This screen is skippable in the demo, but not in the final version.
Demo left, final right.
Those two above screenshots are the very next thing you see after the copyright screen in each version. Besides that, they don't have anything to do with each other. The demo lists all the upcoming features as well as explaining that the demo has been censored. The demo actually is censored, more on that later. The screenshot on the right was the Acclaim logo that's seen in the final version. It's not in the demo and probably just wasn't finished yet.
The very next thing that both versions go to is the Acclaim Iguana cutscene. You'll notice that there's now an Acclaim watermark in the top right corner. That logo is going to be there for the rest of the demo and it cannot be removed. This does help for this guide, as you'll always know which screenshot is from the demo and which is from the final version.
Now onto some changes: The Entertainment text is blue in the demo and one of the biggest trees there has moved over slightly. The amount of foliage appears to be the same but the demo has lots of fog. The demo has fewer arrows that hit the tree behind the Iguana and the Iguana has a different scream when he pops up with his guns. The volume is also noticeably quieter in the demo.
The Press Start text that you see is only in the demo. It carries on from this cutscene to the title screen.
Menus
The title screens are the same in both versions, but the demo lacks music at the title screen as well as the menus. There's definite change to the above main select screen. The demo doesn't have the options for multiplayer or adding cheats. This demo is purely a one player game. There are no cheats or cheat codes, but you do start out with a lot of weapons. The first 3 things listed on the menu are all different spots in the first level that you can start at. Picking a save point will start the beginning cutscene, but after it ends you will start at the point you selected. Options and Sound Options have fewer choices.
The Options text and Go Back text are a bit higher up in the demo. The demo also has several missing options including Look Spring, Auto Aim, Blood Color, Opacity, and Resolution. The missing resolution option makes sense as the demo may not have even had the higher resolution at that stage in development. The two Control Stick options were renamed for the final version.
The final version has two control types, Expert and Arcade. Expert is the same control layout as the first Turok game. The Arcade option was a control setup that mimicked GoldenEye's controls. Although Acclaim strongly believed that the Turok control layout was the best and most accurate way to play a FPS, they wanted to please everyone so a GoldenEye style control layout was added. These two control setups are the same in the demo, but the names are more obvious. The demo calls the control setups Turok and Golden.
Two of the options here are broken. If you try to change the Weapon Select, the demo will get stuck for a second and then reset. The demo has the weapon select defaulted to Normal, and the final version has the weapon select set to Quick. It doesn't matter how high or low you set the vertical analog sensitivity, it doesn't change at all in the demo.
The sound effect played when selecting sound options on the title screen is broken and cuts out in the demo. The sound options menu has the text at the top and bottom in slightly different places. The demo also lacks a Speech option and a Music option. The music option was just a sound test. It was likely removed because Acclaim didn't want people hearing the entire soundtrack before release. Strangely, the demo has an option to select between stereo or mono. The final version doesn't give you a choice and you're stuck with stereo.
Both option screens also have some minor changes to the text. In the demo you can adjust the Music and SFX volume to anywhere from -16 to +15. The final version still does this, but -16 has been changed to Off and +15 has been changed to Max.
Opening Cutscene
Once you pick a save point in the demo the game will start with the opening cutscene. It does not mention the memory pak like the final version does. There are some minor differences in this cutscene.
The demo actually allows you to skip the cutscene. As the cutscene starts, you may notice that the demo's background music is just a bit delayed. We can see that the portal that Turok jumps out of is much bigger in the demo, and when Turok comes out of it, the camera is more zoomed in on him. A very noticable improvement made was the voice clairty on Adon. It sounds much clearer in the final version. The story she tells is almost exactly the same. In the demo Turok must destroy 6 energy totems and in the final it's 5. That's an interesting change, sounds like there were more levels planned. A minor part of the cutscene is missing in the demo.
That bug is seen during the final versions cutscene. The demo just shows a black screen.
When Adon begins explaining the story behind the Port of Adia, the music resets instead of continuing like in the final version. We also see what was meant by censorship.
This game is missing all the blood and in most instances the blood was replaced by something else, as seen in the above picture.
During the mission objectives, Adon explains that the distress beacons all need to be activated. The scene in the demo just shows a lighthouse but it actually turns on in the final version. The demo version doesn't have a single cloud in the sky and will not for the entire level.
The last mission objective is to protect the energy totem. There appears to be more energy inside of it in the final version. There's also significantly more fog in the demo.
The cutscene ends after that and our game begins. In the demo Adon will say "3 Lives Remain" as if Turok just lost a life. This was removed for the final version as it was unnecessary. We can immediately see some level differences between versions, but we'll get to that in a bit.
Pause Screen
As expected the Pause Screen is a little more simplistic here. The screen doesn't dim when paused in the demo, the background music continues, and of course there are fewer choices. When you pick Options or Sound Options in the demo, you're taken to the exact same Options screens that you saw earlier. The final version just brings the text up on the same screen. Oddly enough, the Weapon Select choice in the options menu actually works here.
Normally when you pause the game the demo does not bring up your lives and amount of life force. It does in the above screenshot, but that's just because the demo does that when the game starts.
Weapon Overview
As mentioned earlier, both games have different default weapon choices. The demo version has Normal, and the final version has Quick. Normal is the choice that lets you flip through your weapons one at a time. Quick puts all your weapons on the screen at once and you just move the analog stick towards the weapon you want. These screens and the order/placement of weapons differ drastically between versions.
Quick Weapon Select while holding A
A very different look indeed. The demo version has all the weapons in boxes and they're much smaller. The weapon order is a bit different here. The final version had some similar weapons on the same spot and you had to hit that direction twice. The demo has enough room for every weapon.
Quick Weapon Select while holding B
Some weapons have changed to the A screen, and vice versa. The Top Left spot in the demo is actually empty.
If you'd like to see the weapon placement changes by weapon name, click here to see a weapon map.
Normal Weapon Select
The demo weapons are in boxes here as well. The demo scrolls the weapons down and the final version scrolls them up. The final version had you hit left on the D-Pad to get to some alternate weapons but all weapons are there without having to do this in the demo.
Weapon Changes
Many weapons saw minor to major development changes between versions.
Flare
The Flare has a much slower recharge time in the demo that was sped up in the final version. It also appears to be a bit brighter particularly towards the center of it in the final version.
Talon/War Blade
When using either of these weapons, Turok would claw back and forth. There were several different claw animations that went left or right, but the demo featured one more that was removed from the final version. This was a swipe that went forward. It was likely removed because it was slower than any of the other swipes.
Bow
The Bow went through several interesting changes. The demo's Bow could be pulled back faster and it also appears that you may have been able to scope in with it. In the final version, the Tek Bow can zoom in and snipe while the regular Bow can't. In the demo, pressing the snipe button when the Bow is out causes the screen to go glitchy for a second. It's likely that you could originally snipe with the Bow.
Tek Bow
There's also a few notable changes with the Tek Bow. You can zoom in and snipe with the Tek Bow in both versions, but the area around the zoom is brighter in the demo. The Tek Bow also allowed you to switch between normal arrows and Tek Arrows but in the demo you're mostly stuck with just Tek Arrows. The explosion from the Tek Arrows is slightly different between versions and, in the demo version, can actually damage Turok.
In the final version of Turok 2, you can use both normal arrows and Tek Arrows with the Tek Bow. In the demo, there's no way to switch between them when you want. You can however waste all your Tek Arrows and then the game will switch to normal arrows for you.
Mag 60
This weapon went through a name change and is known as the Magnum Pistol in the demo. The firing noise is the exact same, but it lacks an impact noise. An impact noise was added for the final version. The bullet holes you see when firing this weapon at walls are smaller in the final version.
Pistol
The Pistol had two of the exact same changes as the Mag 60. It was given an impact sound for the final version, and the bullet holes on walls are now smaller.
Shredder
The Shredder underwent change because it really wasn't that useful in the demo. In the demo when you fired the Shredder once, 5 shots would come out, and if they hit any walls or objects they would bounce off in random directions. These shots would often miss enemies. The final version has a beam coming out of it that goes perfectly straight and is much easier to hit enemies with. If it hits a wall, it will bounce off at a straight angle.
Shotgun
The Shotgun suffers the same thing as the Shredder by having the bullet spread much larger. It's not as bad as the Shredder, but it's much harder to hit enemies from a distance.
Charge Dart Rifle
This weapon received some major changes. The electricity fired out of the gun is always blue in the demo and it always sounds the same. There's no impact sound and the gun always remains still when charging. The final version has the electricity in several different colours to indicate how much the weapon was charged. It also begins to shake when you start charging it.
Plasma Rifle
This is another weapon that's largely different. In the demo this weapon fired bombs that would stick to enemies. The bombs would take a second to explode. This changed when you scoped in as it would instead shoot a beam. The beam looked exactly like the bombs though. In the final version, this is a weapon that shoots a large beam and hurts enemies on impact. The shot is instant with no bombs whatsoever. Both versions allow you to zoom in with this weapon, but the demo has a brighter more detailed area around the zoom.
Firestorm Cannon
The muzzle flash for the Firestorm Cannon was blue in the demo but was changed to yellow for the final release. The sound of the weapon turning also differs slightly.
Grenade Launcher
The Grenade Launcher appears to be the same, but the grenades it fires out have a long yellow trail that follows them. This is a clear, much shorter trail in the final version.
Reticule Change
The final game's aiming reticule is just a bit bolder compared to the demo.
Ammo Changes
Some weapons had their maximum amounts of ammo changed. Those weapons are:
Shotgun/Shredder Explosive Shells: 20 max in demo, 10 max in final.
Tranquilizer Gun: 20 max in demo, 15 max in final.
Flame Thrower: 100 max in demo, 50 max in final.
Misc
Several weapons including the Nuke gun are absent in the demo. The Nuke gun was the big weapon, just like the Chronoscepter from the first game. The demo does happen to have one empty space for a weapon. It's likely that's where the Nuke went, and it was left out of the demo to avoid spoiling anything. The other weapons missing in the demo are the Sunfire Pods, Cerebral Bore, PFM Layer, Scorpion Launcher, and Razor Wind. These missing weapons are the more "gimmicky" weapons of Turok 2. They likely hadn't been made yet.
The Game Begins!
Alright so enough delaying. Welcome to level one: The Port of Adia. The beta version that is. This level has a lot placement changes. Lots of pick-ups are gone or have been replaced by something else. The actual layout of the level is mostly the same, but there are a few structral changes as well. If you're playing the demo, then you'll start with all of the above weapons. I'll be doing a walkthrough of the entire first level and pointing out all the changes. We begin the level on the docks.
Once you start the game, you immediately see a boat explode right in front of you. It goes down the same way in both versions and breaks into the same amount of pieces. The actual explosion is different and has more objects flying out in the demo. When you head up to the top of the dock you'll immediately notice some changes with the fire.
Each fire is the exact same in the final version. That very first fire in the demo is small and is only yellow. The rest of the fires are the same as final only being much more red-orangish. The two dead soldiers are absent in the demo for censorship reasons.
The water appears to have the exact same texture, but the colour is a bit more bluish and unrealistic looking in the demo. If you dive down you'll notice some placement changes with life force. The final version features one red life force diamond at the bottom of each of the 5 aqueducts. The demo only has life force in the very last aqueduct, and it's 4 gold ones and one red one. The two big pieces of the boat each have life force inside them. The piece of the boat that's closest to your starting point has 2 gold life force and 1 red life force inside it. That's in both versions. The other boat piece has that exact same amount in the demo, but 3 red life force in the final version.
The lighting and fog are very different between versions and it's like that throughout the entire demo. The demo will often be brighter and have more fog. These changes are so frequent throughout the level that they won't be talked about in less there's something interesting to point out about them.
There is some notable lighting that's worth mentioning here. When you get to the very first barrel you'll notice something strange going on with the wall. The lighting is acting very glitchy and keeps flickering. This makes it easy to see what part of the wall will be gone when you shoot the barrel. I'm not exactly sure what's causing this, but my guess is that it's caused by the lighting from the nearby fire, and that lighting changes from fire had not been implemented very well in the demo.
Once the barrel is gone, you'll climb up a ladder to a different room. Looking up in the next room, you'll see a Pistol in the final version, and a grate with a Power Cell behind it in the demo.
Both versions will have 4 gold life force that lead to the next room, which is to the right. In the final version there's a Power Cell here. The demo has nothing.
You'll continue on to the next and final room of this particular area. This room has a teleporter in it and a broken ladder. The part of the ladder that you can climb is longer in the final version. This is good as Acclaim made it easier to reach it, but the broken piece on the ground was not changed to be smaller so it doesn't make much sense. Jumping up there will let you access the items mentioned earlier.
In the demo there's a Power Cell there, and in the final version there's a Pistol. In the demo you would have to go up here as you need to get the Power Cell to move on. In the final version you would already have the Power Cell and getting the Pistol is helpful but not necessary. This means that going up that ladder went from being required to optional. Once you have acquired the Power Cell, you have to take it back outside to the starting area as that's where the spot for it is. In the final version you can just jump down from where the Pistol is and that'll save you some time. The demo has a grate in the way, so you have to go back the exact way you came.
Placing the power cell back in its spot causes the lighthouses to turn on. Just like the opening cutscene, the demo doesn't have a cloud in the sky. We have now done everything in this area and can take the teleporter to the next part of the level. This is a good time to point out the different teleporter look.
All the teleporters in the level look like that. If you've collected all the life force up to this point then you'll have 97 in the final and 43 in the demo. Enter that teleporter.
That teleporter will take you to a large rectangular-shaped room. There's a ladder leading to some life force up top, but otherwise you need to take a left to continue. You'll see your first enemy here, but he goes down easy. Due to the demo's censorship, there'll be no blood when killing him. Head on further into the room and you'll see few explosions in the demo.
There will be 2-3 demo-exclusive explosions coming from that room to the right. These explosions were likely removed for the final version because it was too easy to get hit by them. I also say 2-3 explosions because the third one seems to only sometimes. There's a few pick-up differences here.
The demo has no keys to collect so all pedestals will be empty throughout the level.
The demo has 10 health there. No pick-ups are in that room in the final version.
A quiver of arrows has changed places slightly between versions.
As we continue on, we'll have two enemies jump out at us. They go down easy with the Talon. The next room is also rectangular and has a ladder leading up to some life force. There'll be a barrel to shoot and a small tunnel to crawl through.
There's 6 health pick-ups here. These are each worth 2 health in the demo, and 10 health in the final. The 2 health is more useful at this point in the game, as you can't pick up the 10 health, but the 10 health is more useful later, as you might be back for it after completing a harder level.
After that little health tunnel you'll be here. This is the same room that had that single 10 health in the demo, you're on the opposite side now. One thing worth mentioning is that this is the first Pistol you'll get in the demo. That makes the demo much harder as you would've had to defeat 3 enemies without it. Both versions have the Pistol there, but as soon step into the next room, you'll be attacked by an extra enemy that's only in the demo.
You'll be entering a rather large room with a pool in the center. There's an enemy up top that you need to shoot down. The wall behind him opens up when you kill him. There's a few things worth mentioning in this room that are in the final version.
You'll be entering that closed room later, as the switch for the door is just upstairs. Both versions have two clips of ammo right on the otherside of the wall. What's odd here is in the final version you can collect these clips of ammo through the wall! This glitch doesn't work in the demo. Acclaim must've made it so that you can collect things without having to be as close or something as the clips of ammo are in the exact same spot in both versions.
The other thing worth mentioning is that there's one life force in this part of the room. Only one, and it's just in the final version. It's in the most random spot too. Why is it here you ask? You'll find out in a moment.
To continue on you need to jump in the pool. There's some health and ammo in the center. Carry on through the little tunnel and collect the different life force. The final version has 3 red ones, while the demo has 3 gold ones.
Once you get through the little tunnel, you'll enter a room with a ladder and switch. Activate the switch and a wall will open. Kill the enemy there, collect the health if you need it, and head up the ladder to the top part. There's some life force to collect here.
Take a look at that left screenshot. It's a bit hard to see but that's the single life force from earlier. Now to your right there's 4 life force to collect here. Now strangely enough, there's an empty space half way between life force, almost like they intended to put 5 of them here. If you line up the single life force on the ground, then you'll see it was supposed to be up here.
You'd expect the demo to have an error like this, but no the demo has all 5 life force up top. Acclaim, how did you manage to screw this up?
Collect the life force up top and carry on around the side until you reach a ladder. Climb up and collect the flashlight. Climb up another small ladder and there will be a health difference here.
There's 8 2 Health pick-ups here and 7 of them in the demo. The demo has an empty space for one though. Maybe one fell through the ground while Acclaim was placing them? Carry on and you'll enter a room with a little tunnel and a switch.
The tunnel has different pick-ups at the end. 20 Pistol bullets in the demo, and 10 life force in the final version. Leave this tunnel and hit the switch. A wall will open up. Carry on through and you'll enter the room with the first child.
Kill the enemy here and head across the room as there's a way up. There's another minor health difference here.
There's 2 Health pick-ups in demo. These were changed to 10 health for the final version. It's like this on both sides.
The enemy up here will need to die. Once dead, a door will open revealing a switch. Hit that switch and the childs cage will open, as well as the door across from you with an enemy. Kill that enemy, and pick up the different ammo there.
The demo was kind enough to give you some arrows here. These were removed in the final version.
Also there's some extra gangplanks to the child's cage.
The demo had four bridges while the final version went down to just the one that leads to the front of the cage.
There's not a whole lot left to do. Free the child, and go back the way you came, all the way to the big room. Hit the last switch and the door below will open. Kill the enemy that walks out and enter the room.
The demo will have a large Check Point here. It works exactly like the ones in the first Turok game and the game will say "Check Point" when you walk through it. The demo has given you another Pistol here. That's strange because the way the first Pistol was placed, it was impossible to walk into that room without collecting it. The final version has given you a box of bullets which is much more useful.
You can see the teleporter straight ahead. Kill the two enemies in that room, collect any arrows and Pistol bullets if you need them, and walk through that teleporter to the next area. If you've collected all the life force so far, you'll have 153 in the final version and 62 in the demo.
The teleporter takes you outside. There's crumbled stone all around and a bad guy sitting on top in the distance. It's better to pick him off here where he can't see you. The final version will have several dead bodies and blood on the ground in this area. All of which has been censored in the demo version. There's an enemy to the left which is different between versions.
The demo will have a Raptoid which will charge at you as soon as you pass the corner. The final version has an Endtrail who will sit there and shoot you.
On the opposite side you'll find 3 Compys'. These little dinos are feeding on a dead body in the final version and feeding on nothing in the demo. Kill them with your talon and hit the switch nearby. It'll open a door close to where you fought the different enemy. Head through that new entrance while collecting all the life force on the way. You'll reach another door eventually which will open by itself. There'll be an Endtrail off in the distance who likes to duck behind cover. Kill him with a headshot, climb up the ladder, activate the switch, and move on. You'll find Raptors in the next area. Different looking Raptors.
The Raptors make the same sounds and behave the same, but they have different textures. The demo's textures are a bit loyal to the first Turok game. Here's a closer picture of each:
What's odd is the back of the Turok 2 box used a screenshot with the demo versions Raptors.
After you defeat the Raptors, climb that nearby ladder and activate a switch. A door will open next to that fire you walked by on the way here. Head back that way. You'll end up going over a bridge where a Raptoid will jump at you. Kill him and get the life force ahead.
The final version will have 5 red life here, and the demo will have 7 gold life force.
Go back to where you saw the Raptors and follow the path. A Raptoid will be there, but you'll make short work of him. There's a few difference here.
On your right, you'll see a big door. In the final version, going close to this door or trying to grab the nearby Pistol will result in the door opening revealing an Endtrail. In the demo, you need to activate a switch to get this door to open. The nearby ladder will lead you to that switch.
The ladder is a different length here. In the final version you need to jump from the stone piece to reach it.
Up top there's 5 2 health pick-ups as well as the demo's switch for that door.
There's one more little difference here. That one stone has been removed from the final version. It may have been used for an Endtrail to strafe around at one point.
Once the door has been opened and the Endtrail is dead, continue forward. You'll eventually see some fire ahead, and a watch tower behind it. You can shoot that watch tower's barrels to get some health and ammo from from the tower. There'll be a ladder on a wall nearby leading to different pick-ups.
Both versions will have the 2 health, but the demo always has the ammo box. The pick-up that will be there in the final version will be random. That spot is actually an ammo respawning spot. Every few seconds some ammo will appear there. You can collect the ammo there over and over again all the way til you're armed to teeth. When you're done collecting any ammo there, Jump down and kill the Raptoid that's around.
Press on forward and take a right. You should see a floating Shotgun which you'll get later. There's a barrel in the corner. DON'T shoot it. Instead jump on top to reach the different life force.
It's a bit tricky, but you can actually jump on the barrel and then to where the life force is. There's 3 red life in the final, and 4 gold life force in the demo. I'm not exactly sure if you're even supposed to be reaching for that life force at this point in the game. Oh well. When you have the life force, shoot the barrel and collect the Pistol clip.
Turn around, and head right towards that boat. There's a Raptoid to kill here. If you head forward more you'll also see an Endtrail to kill. There's a single red life force hidden in the water nearby, and you'll get a single gold life force by killing a seagull above.
We need to get that power cell. Its location is different here. Shoot the barrel that's close near the water.
The barrel will reveal a power cell in the final version, and a switch in the demo. Hit that switch if you're playing the demo.
That switch will open a wall near the boat. That's where the demo keeps the power cell.
You should see some boxes leading up to a ladder. Go all the way up as that's where you can put the power cell. There's a minor weapon difference right below it.
The demo gave you two quivers of arrows here, while the final version only gave you one.
We're ready to take the next teleporter. Head back to where the Endtrail was and take the door behind him. There's one last life force difference here.
The demo has 6 gold life force in and in plain sight too. The final version has 2 red ones hidden behind each door. If you've gotten all the life force so far you'll have 98 in the demo and 272 in the final. Take that teleporter, let's move on.
You arrive in a new room which will have an enemy walk by. Kill him before he sees you. There'll be a life force difference in the teleporter room.
3 Red life force in the final, 6 gold life force in the demo.
Exit the teleporter room and take a right. Follow the path and you'll see some water to your left. An enemy will jump out from there. Kill him, and then go grab the single red life force that's underwater. Go past the boats and kill the Endtrail up top. Now, let's show some differences in this area. There's some different life force on top of some crates.
3 Red life force in the final version, 2 gold and 1 red in the demo. Between the crates there's some ammo differences as well.
1 quiver of arrows in the final, and there'll be a Pistol clip between each stack of crates in the demo.
There's some bags of supplies hanging from two different cranes in this area. Shooting them will make them drop. Each has some goodies. There's a slight difference between them.
You'll always get 10 health, a Pistol clip, and a single red life force. The demo gives you all that, as well as a quiver of arrows.
Remember that last Endtrail you killed? Well there's a switch behind him. Activate that switch and it will open a door across from you. Kill the Raptoid that jumps out and activate the new switch. Two doors next to you will open revealing a Raptor from one of them. Out of the two doors that just opened up, the right way is the way you need to go progress. The left one leads to different pick-ups.
The final versions power cell is here. The demo gives you a Pistol and 2 clips. So where does the demo hide the power cell?
Try looking behind the crates in the corner.
Yeah the demo hides the power cell here. They may have moved it because it was in too good of a hiding spot. I definitely walked past it the first time. The final version will instead have a Pistol here.
That was the third and final power cell. We can now activate the distress beacon. The spot for it is nearby, next to some crates. The text you get from placing it there is different.
Acclaim originally had it all squeezed on one line. The final version looks much better.
We're done with this area, so take that path mentioned earlier. You'll see some barrels ahead. Shooting them will reveal some Pistol ammo as well as a Raptoid. If you keep going you also run into a few Compys' as well. Continue on and you'll run into two Raptoids and an Endtrail. They may fight each other. Of course, kill every enemy I've mentioned so far. There will be one wall up top with a minor health difference.
There's 2 10 Health pick-ups in the demo, and just 1 in the final version.
Just a bit further is that bridge I mentioned earlier. It will lower and you'll be able to collect the Shotgun finally. You'll need it because there will be an Endtrail across from you. Behind that Endtrail is where the final versions first Save Point is.
Entering that teleporter will take you to the hub world very briefly. You'll be able to save your game, as well as re-fill your health and ammo. You can only get those re-filled once per level so don't waste it yet. In fact, it's better to not use it at all and save it for when you've completed a harder level. This building is there in the demo, but nothing happens when you enter it. The building simply doesn't work in the demo. Even the floor doesn't really work.
That's the view you get from exiting the teleporter in the final version. Notice how much higher you are in the final version. In the demo your legs just go through the floor. Also as typical of the demo, the dead soldiers are missing.
We're done in this little area. Activate that switch on the wall, go back to where the bridge is, and jump off. You were already at this area earlier, but there will be some new enemies. The final version will have an Endtrail, a Raptor, and a Raptoid. The demo lacks the Raptoid. Kill all the enemies and head towards where the Endtrail was. There's a minor pick-up difference.
There's life force in both versions and 10 health in the demo. For the final version this is another respawning spot where you can farm for health.
There aren't any differences from this point to the next teleporter so I'll keep this short. Go through that tunnel and kill the Raptoids as you go. Climb up the ladder, activate the switch, and take that newly opened up way. There'll be a child to rescue here. Just kill the enemies and that will open up the spot where the switch to the cage door is. Go back a bit and take the other way toward the barrels. The next teleporter will be to the right of them. If you've found every piece of life force so far then you'll have 376 in the final version and 160 in the demo version.
You won't be in the next area long, as the teleporter is not far away. Climb up the ladder and kill the Raptoid. There will be a key for you to collect in the final version and an empty pedestal in the demo. Go through the little tunnel and collect the 3 explosive Shotgun shells. When you drop down you'll instantly recognize where you are. You're back in that room with the pool down below. A new door will open to your left and an Endtrail will walk out. Blow him up with the Shotgun.
In the final version there will be one more Endtrail below that's not present in the demo. Don't waste your ammo killing him though, he's too far away from you and isn't really a threat.
When you enter that new room you'll see a Check Point in the demo, and nothing in the final version.
The Check Point is the exact same as the one earlier. You can see the teleporter straight ahead, but there's one ammo difference next to it.
A Pistol clip in the demo, and 5 arrows in the final version. Nothing too exciting.
Like I said, this is a short area. Take that teleporter when ready. Your amount of life force will not have changed from last time.
The scenery in this level was already impressive. It's about to get much better.
From the point where you spawn, you'll want to look behind you. There's a barrel to destroy that reveals different things.
3 10 Health pick-ups are there in the demo. It's an ammo respawning spot in the final version.
Head forward and you'll get to a big area with a few houses, a pool, and a waterfall. There's some health, ammo, and life force to pick up in this area. One of the first things you saw when you teleported here was 8 red life force and an ultra health all on the roof of a building. The developers were sneaky about how you get up there. You'll want to aim your gun at the sky and shot all the seagulls. Yes as odd as it sounds, kill the 3 seagulls here. Be sure to pick up any health or life force they drop. Once all 3 are dead, you'll want to find the trail of 8 gold life force that's on the ground in this area. There will be a ladder to the right of that gold life force. Climb up that ladder and it'll lead you right to the life force and ultra health.
Well, that's what you do in the final version. This ladder is glitched in the demo version! You can climb up to the top of it, but you can't get off it and go forward. It's the strangest thing. I think it has to do with the demo not realizing the door there has opened. I'm pretty sure this is the only ladder with broken programming.
I've been keeping track of the amount of life force at each teleporter and I just want to leave a note about this. The 80 life force on top of that building is being counted in the final version, and not being counted in the demo. To my knowledge there's no way to reach that life force in the demo. It may be there, but it's uncollectable. Also, the life force from the seagulls is only being counted once. If you step into a teleporter and return, the seagulls will be back. You could kill them over and over again and get an unlimited amount of life force. That's ridiculous and won't be done in this guide.
Back to the game. Return to where you saw the trail of 8 gold life force and go up through the tunnel. There's an Endtrail to kill, and an ammo difference here.
5 arrows in the final version, a Pistol clip in the demo.
Once you're at the top you'll see a strange looking structure. That's the entrance to the talisman chamber. It's being guarded by an Endtrail in the final version and a Raptoid in the demo. The switch to open the chamber is on the wall nearby, and it's a bit different.
The switch is enormous in the demo! Hit the switch and the entrance to the talisman chamber will open.
Adon will say "Warp Portal Activated" and the text on screen will say "Portal Activated". Both of these things do not happen in the demo. In the final version you can now walk in there and a cutscene with Adon will explain what the purpose of the talisman's are. The demo says otherwise.
Enter the warp portal in the demo and you'll be greeted with the friendly message "Game Demo - No Access". When you're done here, take the nearby passage.
They'll be several Raptoids jumping at you when you reach the top. The building to your right oddly has a weapon difference.
A Shotgun in the demo and nothing in the final version. Strange, that it was removed and made into a big empty building. There's a difference up top though.
There's 4 red life force in the final version and 4 gold in the demo. I'm glad Acclaim made this game more forgiving by giving out more red life force. You really do need all the extra lives you can get for some of the harder levels.
You'll want to jump down, and continue down the road. Straight ahead is one odd difference.
There's 3 gold life force in the final version and an extra door in the demo. Hmm where does it lead?
Continue on the path destroying any enemies that get in your way. There's plenty of dead soldiers here that are absent in the demo. Also a minor life force difference behind the building.
Same amount of life force, it's just moved over.
Nearby you should see 3 10 health pick-ups. Jump off that ledge to reach a switch. A door behind the waterfall will open up revealing another key being guarded by an Endtrail in the final version. It's an empty pedestal guarded by nothing in the demo. You'll have to make your way back up now. Go to where the building was that had the Shotgun and 4 life force up top.
Take the right side this time. There'll be a switch to activate here which will open the door nearby. In the demo you'll see a Tek Bow and an Endtrail straight ahead. Kill him and pick up your new weapon. In the final version it's just the Tek Bow, but as soon as you go around the corner you'll find that Endtrail. This Endtrail moved just to keep things simple. There's an extra 3 Tek Arrows in the corner of the demo version which are not present in the final version.
This next area will involve sniping 4 different Endtrails from far away. The first one will be just around that first corner. It's where the final versions Endtrail was. Best way to kill him is to creep around the corner and put an arrow through his head. The second Endtrail will be sitting on top of the wall around that next big corner. Do the same. Killing him will open a door up. You'll also see another door not present in the final version.
You'll get that demo-exclusive door open in a moment, take the newly opened way. It'll lead you up top, but don't step out as there's two Endtrails that will shoot at you. One's to the left, and one's to the right in a very far away building. The one on the left is more oblivious and should be killed first. The one on the right is difficult to kill in the demo. That Endtrail is way off in the distance and demo's fog makes it real difficult. I swear you have to purposely lose health as the only way to kill him in the demo is to go closer and out in the open where you can actually see him. The fog is not as bad in the final version so this Endtrail is not difficult to kill. When that last Endtrail is dead, that demo-exclusive door will open. Before we jump down to it, there's one big change up top.
In the final version you'll see a big gap to jump across with 6 red life force. There's a primagen key on the other side to collect. In order to get this, you'll have to return to this level after getting the Leap of Faith from level 2. You'll find nothing interesting like that in the demo. No gap at all and only some Tek arrows to collect.
Another quick note regarding the life force counter. The 6 red life force there will not be counted for the final version. You're supposed to come back and get them later. I realize you can probably use your normal jump and collect the first 2, but let's keep it simple and not count any of them.
Getting close to the next teleporter. The two extra doors are connected in the demo. There are 6 10 health pick-ups between them. You'll want to get out of this sniping area and go back all the way past that house that had the moved over life force behind it. Go all the way ahead, make a right, and kill the Endtrail. There'll be a Teleporter and a Save Point here.
The demo is actually nice enough to tell you what it is this time.
Going in it will put the text "Save Point" on screen. The floor will actually works here as well. When you're done here, jump into the teleporter. Our life force count is up to 518 in the final version and 283 in the demo version.
This next area isn't too long. If you missed the Tek Bow then you'll get another chance to get one.
There'll be a Tek Bow right out in the open of the final version, and nothing in the demo. So where does the demo hide the Tek Bow?
Blow up that nearby barrel and you'll find it. In the final version this is an ammo respawning spot.
The Tek Bow comes in handy because there's several Raptoids and an Endtrail here. Once they're all dead, you'll need to climb that pile of broken stone and jump for the ladder. There's a switch up top which will open a secret wall that leads to the next child.
The next area has two minor differences. Here you're supposed to activate switches, kill enemies, activate more switches, and kill more enemies until the final switch opens the child's cage. There's one minor enemy difference which happens when you activate the second switch. In the final version you get attacked by a pair of Raptoids, in the demo you get attacked by Endtrails. Otherwise the enemies are all the same here. The next difference is a glitch that only happens in the demo.
If you started at the beginning of the game and have rescued the first two children, then this glitch will happen to you. When you rescue the 3rd child in the demo, Adon will say "Mission Accomplished. Well Done." It will be accompanied with some text squeezed onto one line saying "The Children are safe. Mission Complete." That's exactly what's supposed to happen when you rescue the 4th child, but this is the 3rd child! Why this glitch happens I have no idea, but Acclaim found it and fixed it for the final release.
Once the child is rescued, go back outside. There's another small ammo difference in that pile.
Arrows in the final version, a Pistol clip in the demo.
The next area has too giant statues with a pool in the center. The statues serve no purpose other than to make you appreciate how excellent the graphics are, and to make the game more immersive. Damn do those statues ever look cool. The only difference I've found in this area is that the waterfall is a lot louder in the final version. There's life force to collect in the pool.
Almost done here. There's two switches that will activate a secret passage. Going through it leads to life force and the next area of course, but in the final version the game acts like you went through a teleporter, and in the demo you just kinda appear in the next area. Odd difference. Your total amount of life force will be 539 in the final version and 304 in the demo.
The final version's waterfall will be loud here as well. As you enter the next area you'll see several explosions. There's one little ammo difference behind the house.
Arrows in the final version, a Pistol clip in the demo.
Hit the switch that's inside the house and go through the newly opened up door. There's a demo-exclusive explosion that you'll see just as you make your way out.
That was not easy to get a screenshot of!
There's one immediate change that was removed from the final version. As you approach the building you'll see this extra 10 health on some blocks.
In order to get the health, you have to drop down from the above window. That's in the demo anyway. The window and 10 health are not in the final version. Figuring out that you had to jump out the window to reach that 10 health is thinking outside the box and I think something like that should've stayed in the game.
This area has several changes with ammo and health placements. All of which are behind walls that need to be destroyed with barrels. Here's the nearest one:
30 health in the demo, 20 in the final. Both versions also have a Raptoid that jumps out.
There's a barrel on a corner nearby with differences.
40 bullets in the demo, 20 in the final version.
There's one more barrel on another wall with differences.
There's 12 life force in the final version. The demo has 10 life force, 3 Shotgun shells, and 10 health. Quite a change!
There's another silly little change that's also in this area.
A Pistol clip in the demo, and a dead soldier in the final version? Well that's kinda harsh.
Once you've collected all the ammo and health in the area, hit the switch in the building. If you go up the stairs, you'll see a box of Shotgun shells in a closet.
A Shotgun shell box that's changed sizes! It's so tiny in the demo. The Shotgun shell box contains 10 shells, even though you can clearly see it holding 12 of them. They made the box bigger because the 3 green Shotgun shells you'd often pick up were the exact same size as this box that contained 10. Didn't make a whole lot of sense to have them the same size.
That switch you hit will have lowered a bridge, unlocked a door, and released an Endtrail. Kill the Endtrail, and head for that bridge. On the other side of the bridge you'll get attacked by different enemies.
Across from you is a single Endtrail in the final version, and 3 Raptoids in the demo.
Kill everything you see and take the teleporter. Life force totals are up to 564 in the final version, and 327 in the demo.
In the next area you'll head downwards towards some life force. An explosion behind a wall will reveal an enemy. There's an ammo difference there.
3 Pistol clips in the demo, 1 in the final.
There will be several Endtrails to kill in the area. Once dead, jump on top of the roof and leap for the switch behind the building. This will open a door revealing a Raptor. Kill him and go to that newly opened area. There's two switches here. One reveals different pick-ups.
There's 20 health in the demo here. In the final version you'll instead find an ammo respawning spot. Also when you open this door, you're attacked by a Raptor in the final version and a Raptoid in the demo.
There's another switch next to the respawning spot which will open another door in the area. It reveals several Raptoids. Kill them, and after that climb up the crates. There will be another switch which will open a secret passage way. Take that passage as it leads to the last child.
The room with the last child is more straightforward than it looks. Just kill an Endtrail and move on. There aren't many of them. I've noticed one extra 10 health pick-up here.
That 10 health is only in the final version.
When you find the switch to the childs cage and rescue the child, you may get different text.
In the final version Adon will say "Child Rescued" and the text will say "The Children Are Safe. Mission Complete." The final version will always say this if this is the last child you rescued. If the demo glitched earlier, than rescuing this child will be the exact same as rescuing the first or second child. If not, than it will count as rescuing the last child like it's supposed to.
There's no way out of the child room besides a teleporter. No this area isn't over yet, it just leads you back outside. There's an extra red life force nearby in the demo.
Both versions have red life force hidden between the crates on the right, but the demo has a second one on the left.
Once you've collected any red life force, head to the tunnel you opened earlier. It's the one where several Raptoids came out. It'll lead you to an Endtrail and a switch. Go for the switch once the Endtrail is dead. The switch opens a big door with two Raptoids behind it. You know what to do. This next area has a couple more ammo differences.
The final version has 5 arrows and the demo has nothing here.
This Pistol clip has changed places.
There isn't much left to do here. There's an upwards path leading to an Endtrail who's guarding a switch. Once he's outta the way, hit the switch and take the exit. Your life force count is up to 578 in the final version and 351 in the demo. For the first time the demo actually had more life force in an area.
The last few areas have been rather short and this one is as well. From the spot where you start, follow the tunnel. When the door opens on the other end you'll be attacked by an Endtrail.
Only in the final version that is.
To the right you'll see a life force difference.
There's 5 life force in the demo. This is the only life force till the next teleporter so once again the demo will get more life force in one area than the final version.
This area is home to yet another Check Point in the demo.
This is the 3rd Check Point so far.
Once you go through the Check Point, or where the Check Point would be, you'll reach a switch. Once you hit the switch, a large door will open revealing two Raptoids. There's an Endtrail patrolling the area as well. In the corner you'll find more ammo placement changes.
But first, the barrels are stacked in the demo. There's no other stacked barrels in this level from either version. Shooting them will destroy 3 parts of the wall each revealing something.
In the final version there will be 3 Shotgun shells to the left, and 20 health in the middle. The demo has 10 health to the left and 6 Shotgun shells in the middle. Both versions will have 20 Pistol bullets on the right. There's several Pistol clips in the area so you'll have plenty of ammo. Getting extra health is more useful.
There's another minor ammo change nearby.
Arrows in the final version and Pistol bullets in the demo. Excitement.
In order to make it to the top of the building, you need to take the ladder. To get the ladder to fall down, you need to activate each of the switches in the building. The first switch will be near where you just picked up the ammo/arrows. Just go inside the building there and you'll see it. You'll also see a minor health difference.
6 health in the demo and 4 in the final version.
Head around the other side of the building and enter there. Kill the Endtrail and hit the last switch. You'll now be able to go up top. Once you get up top you'll see an explosion and you'll get attacked by an Endtrail. Kill him. This spot has a key to it.
Of course there are no keys in the demo. Oddly enough, the final version has that extra 2 health up here. It's also exactly one floor above where it could've gone to fit neatly in a line with the other health. Don't tell me Acclaim screwed up again...
Like I said, this is a really short area. There's a switch up top that will reveal where the teleporter below is. Of course, hit the switch and take the teleporter. Your life force is up to 356 in the demo, and continues to be at 578 in the final version.
This is the last area of level one, the Battlements. It's quite long. By now all the objectives will be complete and there are just two keys left. There's some major sniping coming up.
From the spot where you start, you're going to want to go forward a bit and slowly edge around that corner. There's two Endtrails to your left that need to be killed. Once dead go for the switch that's in the corner. It will open up two doors. The first door reveals different ammo.
It's an ammo respawning spot in the final version, and a Pistol with 2 clips in the demo. That door in front of you will open later, but for now you need to go through that second door that was opened from the switch.
As you enter the next area you'll be killing two Raptors, an Endtrail, and a Raptoid that's patrolling the area. You'll find the last Save Point in the level as well. As expected this Save Point will not work in the demo. The floor is at least working and entering it does give you the "Save Point" text. It seems it was only the very first Save Point that was acting a little screwy.
Continue on the path that's next to the Save Point. When you pick up the Tek Arrows, you'll know you've reached the sniping point. There's going to be plenty of Endtrails off in the distance that'll you need to kill. If you pop out too much, they'll see you and start shooting. You're going to have to carefully peek around corners, preferably while crouching, and shoot the Endtrail in the head. You'll also have to be careful not to fall off anywhere. This is the hardest point of level and is likely the spot where you may lose a life.
There will be two paths each leading to something. The right is where to you will need to progress and has two Endtrails to kill. The left leads to something different between versions.
10 health in the final version, and 3 Tek Arrows in the demo.
I'm not going to be talking about the whole sniping area. It's very straightforward, and I didn't find any differences besides the one above. Here's what you find when you finish the sniping area.
5 Tek Arrows in the final version and nothing in the demo. As you go past the arrow spot you'll hear a door open below. Before you jump down there's another change here.
Both the left and right side of this platform will have something different in the corner. In the demo it's 3 Tek Arrows, in the final version it's 10 health.
Right below you will be a tunnel that leads to life force. This tunnel takes you back pretty well where you started the Battlements. It's where the respawning ammo was in the final version and Pistol with 2 clips in the demo. Since this spot connects you won't have to go through the boring sniping part when you come back to this level. The life force that was in this tunnel is different.
5 red life force in the final version, 5 gold life force in the demo.
Collect that life force and turn back around. This big new area will have some health and ammo around. There's also two ladders to the the right, and a single one going up on the left. Go for that left one first as it leads you to a switch. That switch reveals a hidden path which will take you to the 5th key. Of course the key is missing in the demo. Next to the key is an ammo difference.
The final version has another ammo respawning spot as well as a health respawning spot. The demo will have 2 gold life force and a box of Shotgun shells.
When you're done here, go for the other pair of ladders mentioned. You'll be attacked by two Raptoids when you reach to top. Head downwards and you find some Compys' snacking on dead bodies that are only in the final version. There will be 5 Compys' instead of the usual 3 this time. Once all dead, activate the switch and head towards the lowered bridge. There will be a Shotgun to collect as well as 3 Raptoids and an Endtrail to kill. Continue on the path until you see the top of a ladder. The end of the level is getting near.
The demo will have its final Check Point here.
That makes a total of four Check Points.
This center part you're in will also have these extra doors that are only in the demo.
There's 7 of those doors as well! We'll find out later what's behind them.
At the very end of this area is the exit to the level, but hold off on that as there's still one more key to collect. Instead climb up top on one of the ladders. The key will be in that large building right across from you. That building is nothing but killing Endtrails, activating switches, going to a different part of the building, and doing the same thing over again. I didn't spot any differences with it so I'll be brief again.
Collect the key up top and make sure you activate every switch. If you got every switch, a path directly across from this building will open. Go for that path, but don't forget the red life force in the fountain. You'll collect more life force as you move through that new area. When you get to the top, you'll find the biggest difference of the entire demo.
A warp portal in the final version, and a house in the demo!
In the final version you'd need to activate the switch nearby. You'd then enter that portal thinking it's another talisman chamber. It's not though. It turns out to be a false portal created by Oblivion. A big battle will commence between you and the Oblivion. Defeating them unlocks a piece of the Nuke Weapon.
This is the switch to activate the portal.
There will also be 40 health right along this part in the final version and 50 in the demo.
In the demo, it's just a standard looking house with a switch inside. Absolutely nothing about Oblivion. There's 3 Shotgun shells and a Pistol clip outside the house, both of which are absent from the final version.
If playing the final version, enter the warp portal. You'll get a cutscene and then have to defeat 4 of the Oblivion. Beating them will get you piece 1 of 6 for the Nuke Weapon. You'll also get a cutscene with Adon explaining what the hell just happened.
When done, go back the way you came and drop down to the part where you fought a few Endtrails earlier. Do that as well in the demo; though activate that switch in the house first.
That switch from the house will have opened the left most door.
Inside is another switch. This will open the 6 remaining doors. An Endtrail will run out from one of them. Take him down.
Behind the 6 doors will be ammo pick-ups in groups of 3. There will be red Shotgun shells, green Shotgun shells, Pistol clips, Tek Arrows, normal arrows, and 10 health as well. In the final version you get none of that.
Time to head for this levels exit. From the spot where these demo-exclusive doors are, head west. There's one more life force difference here.
4 red in the final version, and 4 gold in the demo version. Both versions have the full health. Your final totals for life force will be 779 in the final version and 478 in the demo. One hell of a difference. The difference is so high because the developers changed lots of the life force from gold to red, just to make things easier.
That door ahead of you is closed. There's two switches that are just to the left and right for it. Get that door open and kill the one final Endtrail here. He shall die to your Shotgun. Behind him is a major change.
You'll see a warp portal straight ahead in the final version. It looks just like the one you saw in the opening cutscene. The demo just has a path going left.
In the demo, as soon as you enter that room you'll get the text "Game Demo Complete!". The warp portal inside is just going to be the standard warp portal that you saw throughout the level. Entering it takes you to an earlier point in the level, usually the very beginning.
The demo concludes here. Thank you for playing!
The last room in the final version will instead have ammo and health. There's a total of 40 health, 3 red Shotgun shells, 10 green Shotgun shells, 40 Pistol bullets, 10 arrows, and 5 Tek Arrows. This was to replace those extra rooms that were taken out. Entering the portal will take you to the part where you defend the totem, as mentioned in the cutscene. You'd then be taken to the hub.
The first level in the final version of Turok 2 concludes here. You've got one hell of an awesome game ahead of you now.
Miscellaneous Changes
We're done the level, but there's a few odds and ends left to mention.
Check Points
I'd just like to take this moment to say those Check Points are completely useless. Whenever you die, you just appear at the last teleporter. That applies to both versions. Having Check Points in Turok 1 made sense because levels weren't divided up by teleporters so much. Check Points weren't useful at all in the demo and it's likely Acclaim removed them shortly after this build was completed.
Climbing Down Ladders
Believe it or not, you can't climb down ladders in the demo! You go climb up, left, or right, just not down. The reason why Acclaim forgot this is because nobody climbs down ladders in Turok, you just jump down.
Control Stick Sensitivity
The analog stick is a lot more sensitive in the demo. It's actually too high as you'll find yourself missing targets a lot. There's options you can change for the vertical control sensitivity and horizontal control sensitivity, but only the horizontal choice actually works. No matter what level of sensitivity you put the vertical option, it won't change. The final version has lowered the sensitivity and it's much easier to aim your weapon because of it. By the way, don't take this paragraph out of context.
D-Pad Differences
In the final version of Turok 2, hitting down on the D-Pad makes Turok crouch, hitting right makes Turok snipe, hitting left switches to your secondary weapon, and hitting up will switch the type of ammo. Some of those features can only be done with some weapons such as the Tek Bow. The demo didn't have a couple of those features yet. Hitting left, up or right will all make Turok snipe. Each weapon was a primary with no secondary weapons, and switching ammo wasn't possible with that button yet.
Death Cutscenes
Well, the death cutscenes are pretty well non-existent in the demo. When dying in the demo, you just fall to the side and appear at the last teleporter. In the final version you get a cutscene of Turok falling down dead followed by him being brought back to life in the hub area. He also would then start again at the last teleporter.
Demo Cutscene
By demo cutscene, I mean the cutscene that plays when no one is playing. The final version of Turok 2 will show several exciting scenes from levels while the demo just repeats the first half of the opening cutscene.
Explosions
I really have no idea how to describe the explosions. Let's just say they look a hell of a lot better in the final version. The explosions in the demo version all look like flying dice are coming out! The final version axed the dice and went for something more realistic.
Fire Hurts
Normally you can walk through fire as much as possible. In the demo you actually take damage from walking through fire. It's only one health at a time though.
Friendly Fire
In the demo, you can actually damage yourself with your own explosions. A Tek Arrow explosion is actually enough to kill yourself. Acclaim probably removed this just to make things easier for the player.
Jumping Grunts
Pressing the R-button makes Turok jump. In the demo Turok will grunt every single time you jump. It's cool but can be annoying if you're making quick jumps across platforms, or just jumping as you walk just for the hell of it. The final version keeps these grunts, but it only happens for some jumps. It's random for which ones.
Life Force Icon
In Turok 1, the life force was triangle shaped. It was changed to diamond shaped for Turok 2. The demo still used the old icon.
Maps Tell All
In the original Turok game, hitting the L button would bring up a map. More and more of the map would be revealed to you as pushed through the level. This tradition carried on to Turok 2 as you see in the final version, but it hadn't been implemented in the demo. The demo just reveals the entire map to you at once.
PAL Gamers too!
A PAL version of the Turok 2 demo also exists. Both demos are almost the same. They have different product codes and only work on N64 consoles of that region. Otherwise they're the same.
Picking Up Life Force
This is a bit odd. When you pick up life force in the demo, the screen goes blue for a quarter of a second. It's the same colour blue you'd see when stepping into a teleporter. It does this in the final version as well, but it goes by much faster and is pretty unnoticeable.
Resetting automatically
The Turok 2 demo cartridge will automatically reset if you don't press any buttons on the controller for 60 seconds. This thankfully does not apply when you have the game paused. This demo was of course meant to be used in a store where the average person probably only played for a few minutes. Having the game reset would allow the next person to jump into the game and know what's going on. This resetting feature did make writing this article a little more difficult as there were couple times I forgot to pause the game!
Starting Points
The demo gave us several choices of starting points. The main menu listed Harbour, Shipyard, and Battlements. When you'd pick one, you'd still get the skippable cutscene, but you'd then start the game at that exact spot you picked. Harbour is the same starting spot as the final version. The spots above are where you start if you pick Shipyard or Battlements. Shipyard is only the 3rd area and Battlements is the very last. They didn't do a good job if these starting spots were supposed to be equally spaced out from each other.
Turok's Battle Cry
When you collect your 100th Life Force diamond, you'll get an extra life and Turok will shout "I AM TUROK!". This battle cry is absent from demo.
Official Website
Believe it or not, this Turok 2 demo actually had its own website. The website was made in late 1998 and stayed online until 2004 when it was shut down due to Acclaim going out of business. Luckily for us, the Web Archive preserved this website. It can be found here. Some pictures still work, and some do not. Also, some images have a dead thumbnail, but if you click the dead thumbnail you'll get taken to the working picture. The page claims that it's a walkthrough, but it's really just a hint guide.
There's one major problem with this website. It raises more questions than it answers! Have a look at these 2 particular screenshots they used:
Where's the Acclaim watermark? It's not seen in any of the screenshots they used on that website. That first screenshot also shows a dead body with blood. The demo is supposed to be censored; I saw nothing like that when I played! You can tell by the weapon selection that it's definitely the demo. In the second screenshot, I'm pretty sure I can see a key on that pedestal. Again, it's not supposed to be there!
My only guess is that Acclaim is playing the exact same version of the demo, only it's before they actually turned it into a demo. By that I mean before they had limited access to some areas and removed stuff. There's one hole in this theory. This demo has a border that looks like the final version, not the much smaller border like in the demo I played. It looks like we have yet another unsolved mystery on our hands.
Conclusion
I realize this feature was very long, but you pulled through, hopefully. If you made it this far then thanks for reading. I would like to thank Acclaim for making the Turok games as well as this demo. I love exploring beta games and I wish I could do it more often. The amount of changes in this demo did almost make me crazy while trying to document them all, but I'm still here and I haven't lost my sanity. Yet. If you're looking to purchase a copy of this demo then I wish you luck. This cartridge is very expensive and only pops up for sale once or twice a year. You'll have to keep an eye on eBay and be prepared to spend a few hundred. I spent $280 on my copy. It's a lot of money, but I love Nintendo 64 that much. While the demo may be expensive, a final version of Turok 2 is not hard to find. It's such a great game and I recommend that every N64 gamer picks up a copy. The demo only has one level and that's what I compared to the final version. The final version still has 5 exciting levels waiting for you to explore them!
Written by Kevin Ames
April 6 2013
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