Soldier of Fortune: Platinum Edition

When Soldier of Fortune (SOF) first appeared, I gave it a complete miss – and it had nothing to do with BC putting a near ban on it. It seemed to me that SOF was a one trick pony: Raven’s GHOUL system allowed players to blow off specific limbs of the bad guys. After slaughtering wave after wave of bad guys and reaching a lame climax of the Platinum Edition of SOF, my suspicions were correct. The only thing going for SOF is its flat-out shock value, which grows tiresome and even annoying. (Read the Addition at the bottom of the review.)

It’s content also took on a decidedly darker tone as of September 11, 2001. The setup is that terrorists have grabbed some nuclear weapons and it’s up to you, as John Mullins (based on the real life soldier of fortune), to stop them. Missions take you all over the place from Tokyo to Iraq to New York’s subways. (It was unsettling to be marching through the New York levels mowing down bad guys and realizing that in real life worse events were unfolding.) But whichever level you’re currently in the over-riding goal remains the same: "Neutralize" the terrorist threat. This doesn’t prove to be much of a problem as the enemy AI is below the intelligence of slugs. Sure they’ll pop out from around corner and fire a few shots – but these actions are scripted and not programmed into the AI. Most enemies will run at you, sometimes shooting, sometimes not. If they are shooting they won’t often hit you no matter the difficulty level. If an enemy is standing still they won’t aim, instead they’ll spray bullets side to side making it very easy to get within about three feet before unloading your shot gun. Yes, you will get hit sometimes but there is so much extra 

body armor and health packs lying around that recovering is no problem. Enemies don’t vary much. There are the occasional rocket launcher toting guys or tanks or helicopters but nothing to change your tactics. However, there are many points where bad guys will suddenly appear behind you to get in a few cheap shots. (Which has nothing to do with the sound meter which can trigger surprise attacks if it hits its limit.) They attack in numbers or with force (usually just as you come around a tight corner) rather than with any kind of accuracy or strategy.

Level design doesn’t do much to help the overall score of the game. It’s linear to the extreme. You’ll always know exactly where to go. Some levels require you to push buttons and turn levers – it doesn’t get more complicated than that. Most levels can be done in one try.

The story is clichéd – direct from a bad comic book. The in-game cutscenes are pretty hokey as they rely often on shots of Mullins slowly jumping out of the way of an explosion. And even though you have a sidekick, Hawk, you never get to interact with him during missions. He goes off on his own, showing up here and there (at least until he’s killed). There’s never the chance to coordinate attacks or at least buddy up for a while. Half-Life did it with the security guards, why can’t I do it here?

The graphics are all right but they are starting to show their age with the Quake 2 engine. The animation moves at a great rate on current machines and is very good. However, on the outdoor area there is an extremely annoying fog that took me back to the classic Goldeneye for the N64. Raven GHOUL engine does a good job capturing those oh so magic moments of blowing off the head of a guy from close range, or disarming a bad guy by taking off his arm with a heavy machine gun. Which is to say nothing about the kind of havoc you can create with the flamethrower. Thrown into the mix are some really good tunes that add to the tension but I could have done without the constant wailing when a bad guy gets a leg blown off.

Something that I liked about SOF was the fact I couldn’t pick-up every weapon I came across. Picking up the rocket launcher requires you to dump some of your weapons because it’s so big. Before each mission begins you get the chance to outfit yourself with your choice of equipment and weapons. It’s a bit more "realistic" that way.

There’s also a lack of quicksave and quickload. At the start of each section you get five saves to use at your discretion. Only once did I use more than three saves on a level. Mainly, I used saves after surprise encounters with tanks.

Multiplayer is included but I found it hard to find a good multiplayer game. (Everyone must be playing Counter-Strike.) There are 5 new multiplayer maps and the multiplayer modes from the Gold Edition, which can provide some decent twitch action for those patient enough to find active servers.

So, at the end of the day, Soldier of Fortune: Platinum Edition probably isn’t worth your time (see Additional at the end of the review) unless you absolutely need the new multiplayer maps on disc and the extras including an interview with John Mullins and a clip of SOF II in action. It’s just too easy, uninspired – a one trick pony it is.

- Omni

Additional

After this review was posted, A Ravensoft employee contacted me to point out some omissions in the review.

One: This is a title aimed at the first time buyer of SOF, especially with a price of $20 (US), and not those that already own the Gold and Original versions. Plus, "Platinum is a free upgrade for anyone who bought Soldier of Fortune or Soldier of Fortune Gold Edition."

Two: SOF was originally released a year ago, so the graphics should be given a little leeway.

Three: The save system is adjustable. You can have infinite saves, or you can try playing under Nightmare mode, which can make SOF very difficult.

I stick by my assessment but I thought these points were worth making.