Soldier of Fortune Review

The first scoop heard about this game apparently was - "a simulation of being a real mercenary; a soldier of fortune"... Damn, cool stuff - thought our cosmic boy, and gave Raven's title a little try.

Tested and written by Axel "Cosmo" Sjøstedt, published 30th May 2000

You are a real man now, just imagine. And you're sent to missions all around the world, just to kill. Feel your heart pumping fast while hiding behind a wall, knowing that you only have one bullet left in your 9mm. Yes, this is Soldier of Fortune. Or really, is it?

The game core runs an enhanced version of the famous Quake II engine, and it doesn't at all look bad. The details are astonishing, the controls are very smooth and easy to use. Raven has made quite a few wonders with the engine, including great charachter modelling and animation. All this does really contribute to the overall tension. I'm not lying when I claim that without the graphics, SoF would have been in the garbage bin already.

And with all the glory on walls, skies and footprints, the game sure must follow the realism trend when coming to the real action, right? Oh, yes! The way you can blow off vitally almost every part of the enemy's body, even when it's dead, is the most wonderful - but yet the most controversial aspect of the game. That means, if you are buying this game to your 10-year-old kids, you could likely find yourself a concrete wall and run your head towards it. Though you can turn on a parent-lock function, this game is designed for over-eighteens. And oh, did I mention that the game is violent?

Going over to the setting, you are John Mullins, a "freelance" military trained special operative that does most of his work for an UN. anti-terrorist force entitled "The Shop".

There are plenty of weapons in the game, all of them quite simple compared to the more advanced stock in Half-Life for instance. All weapons are following the one-shot-to-head-kills principle, which means that a shot in the head kills anyway, not depending on the weapon you are using. But of course it's easier to blow the whole body to a desert far away with the rocket launcher, than stabbing a big mutha with the poor little knife =)

As mentioned, you have a knife - which you can throw or simply stab someone with. Also available, a 9mm Black Panther pistol, a heavy machine gun - also coming in a silenced version. You also have a 12-gauge shotgun, a rocket launcher, a machine gun and a slug thrower. At the end, the excellent sniper rifle with zoomable scope - and some strange kind of experimental microwave gun also are available.

The AI is sadly below average - Raven could have worked out a couple of bugs here. A nice try, however - the bad guys does hide, scream and all that. But suddenly you see them fooling around making strange noises, until you decide to attack them. Well, almost.

There also is a multiplayer part of the game - which will give you fun for a while, even if it's quite classic and straightforward (it has quite a few gameplay modes - that's a good thing). The sad part, however, you'll probably return to your Q3A or CS sessions sooner or later. Not only will you get mad by the repeating music when playing a while on the same level, but - well - it's nothing special.

So, time to sum it all up, then. The graphics are great, it's very well designed - but is the game worth buying? Well, I'll assert a yes here. Especially if you are attracted by action-packed games with violence, violence, no thinking, shooting, and violence. This isn't a long-lasting hit of all time like Half-Life or Quake2, and thogh it's a more action-packed game that provides a few more bangs for your buck, it isn't groundbraking stuff. You all hopefully remember that Kingpin got there first with the gratuitous violence and swearing, right? This is clean, good, violent fun that should keep you going until The Next Big Thing arrives.

	+   Great graphics +   Smooth controls +   Fast-packed action		-   Occasionally repetative music -   Iffy AI some places -   Nothing really new

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