The Nintendo 64 era dinosaur-hunting shooter Turok 2 has made its way to the Switch this week, but it comes without one of its most defining features: multiplayer. Turok 2 developer Night Dive Studios addressed the issue with a very non-committal answer.
The N64, the first major system with four controller ports, showed in the 90s that multiplayer shooters could be fun on a console. Turok 2: Seeds of Evil also had multiplayer at the time, and players praised the game for having quick combat and interesting maps. While the remastered version on Xbox has the online multiplayer, it doesn’t exist on the Switch port for some reason.
YouTube channel GameXplain asked the developer why the Switch version lacked this feature and if it would make its way to the console in the future. Its response doesn’t do much to clear up the situation:
Multiplayer is not in at this time. While we can't address specific features or issues, we are planning on continuing to support and update this title as we do with all Nightdive games.
As GameXplain points out, Turok 2 costs the same on Switch as it does on Xbox, so it seems strange it would lack such a crucial feature. The Switch certainly has the capability for online multiplayer, and it might even help Nintendo pick up a few more online subscriptions. As for the rest of Turok 2, the gunplay holds up, and the levels, while sometimes confusing, feature a lot of interesting design. Plus, the portability is handy, too.
Having said that, the Switch has seen a few notable remasters recently of classic shooters from the 90s. Just a few weeks ago, the first three Doom games found their way to the platform. Once players got past the weird Bethesda account requirement to play the first Doom, they found that the games play well and feature online multiplayer.
On top of that, Doom and Doom 2 both cost $5 and the much newer Doom 3 costs $10. Turok 2: Seeds of Evil retails for $20, despite lacking a crucial feature. Time will tell if the missing multiplayer impacts sales enough for Night Dive Studios to make it a priority.
Turok 2: Seeds of Evil is out now on Switch and Xbox One.
Source: GameXplain
