First its a shame that games are being delayed for simultaneous release. This isn't just a issue with Turok. Those who game on the 360 or the PC are being punished for development difficulties with the PS3. The console is holding back game development, and more to the point is probably hindering ambitious design.
The Silicon Knights issue was with development tools and support. They probably have a valid argument. They weren't getting what they paid for, or what they expected to receive. Honestly Epic had a conflict of interest in the situation. While charging companies for their engine they were putting resources into developing their own game, and focusing efforts in that direction. Were you building a first person shooter the bread crumbs were probably sweet, but Silicon Knights weren't developing a first person shooter they were building a action role playing game. From most reports games not using the engine for shooter purposes are having issues. That does make it seem likely that the engines tools are not balanced.
Turoks reviews aren't bad they are not great either they are average, and honestly that is a major step up for the series. I hope the licensee and the licensor take note of this. The license received far too much abuse in the past, and has developed a negative reputation with gamers. That isn't going to be changed over night. However with a passable game to work off of now the franchise can start its long trek back into the sun.
I played the first two turok games on the 64, and admittedly never felt compelled to finish either. The games were poorly designed, and poorly conceived. The promise of large rich worlds made navigating the worlds more a question of wandering aimlessly then purposeful. The fog was choking, and that hurt the experience. After the first Turok upset me I gave the second a chance for its multi player component, and that was mildly entertaining for a few days.
Those games owe quite a lot to their platform positioning. They were bigger unique fish in a very small pond. Filling a empty void in the 64s lineup. Being decent and selling well is surprisingly easy in a steaming pile of garbage. Which is what the systems lineup was composed mostly of outside of Nintendo and Rare. Even then Nintendo only made a couple passably mature games. So the games did abuse a aching void in the hearts of the system owner.
