Want more good news? OK. Unlike many first-person shooter games, Turok 2 provides its bad guys with decent artificial intelligence. You may have to dodge mutants working together to set up a crossfire, or run down enemies who are too smart to just step in front of your weapons. And while you're shooting all the evil monsters and tracking down cowards who flee from your big guns, you'll enjoy well-rendered scenery from five different worlds.

If this sounds great to you, and you enjoy exploring strange alien environments and shooting nearly everything that moves, you'll enjoy Turok 2.

But there are some problems that might prevent you from enjoying it completely. The biggest annoyance is that the game's excellent artificial intelligence isn't matched by intelligent-level design. This is one of those games that requires you to search every corner to find the key you need to unlock the door on the other side of the honeycomb of tunnels. You'll need to use the game's mapping tools to make sure you've looked behind each big door for the small clues and behind each small barrel for the big clues. If you're a master of the Zen of Just-Wandering-Around, Turok 2 won't bother you; but if you're the type of gamer who wants to feel a sense of urgency or a sense that your actions are meshing with a larger story, you may end up tapping your fingers and thinking about other challenges. --Rob Heinsoo

Pros:

• Diverse arsenal of powerful and original weapons
• Great monster animation and monster death-throes
• Smart monsters who run away and team up against you
• Decent multiplayer game

• Inconsistent-level design
• No sense of urgency