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Platform Filters:   All Platforms  Xbox   GameCube   PlayStation 2   PC   Game Boy Advance   Site Sections:   Updates  News   Games   Publishers   Developers   Reviews   Previews   Release Dates   Editorials   Glossary   Contact Us		Review:       28th July 2002: Soldier of Fortune Gold  The PS2 finally gets its share of Soldier of Fortune in this updated PC conversion, but was it worth the wait? Posted by Marc Hull - PlayStation 2 - UK and Europe When the first Soldier of Fortune game appeared on the PC back in 2000 it offered intense action, a certain degree of realism, and incredible amounts of gore which secured it a place as one of the better games of the year. So, as with most successful PC games these days, it wouldn't be long before the inevitable console conversions would start creeping out of the woodwork, and sure enough a successful Dreamcast version appeared shortly after. However, it's taken a whole two years for the game to appear on the PS2, and since then it's gained the 'Gold Edition' subtitle. So, has the game undergone a massive overhaul, bringing it up to present-day standards so that it can compete with the likes of Red Faction and Timesplitters in the graphical stakes? Unfortunately, the answer seems to be 'no'. The storyline revolves around you, John Mullins, and the group of mercenaries you work for known as 'The Shop'. Throughout the game's 26 levels you'll be asked to participate in sabotage, assassinations and full frontal assaults as you dig deeper and deeper into a terrorist plot involving four stolen nuclear warheads. The plot thickens through realtime cut-scenes that will chip-in throughout the levels, although a lot of the action is lost through lengthy loading times which occur both at the start of the missions and in-between areas. As for the environments themselves, while depicting locations from around the world and being quite varied, they lack fine detail and seem riddled with blurry textures. Even recurring objects such as tanks, helicopters and jeeps look quite blocky and basic by modern standards, with the only impressive models being the enemy soldiers, although they are pretty poorly animated. However, with a relatively small number of polygons being asked of the PS2, it wouldn't be too much to ask for a decent frame-rate, but even with just a couple of characters on-screen at once the game quickly reverts to a jittery state. Accompanying the graphical hic-ups are some problems translating the old PC controls to work on the PS2's controller. The main problem seems to lie in recreating the same accuracy of aiming that the mouse provided on the PC version, but with the loose analogue sticks of the Dual Shock pad. While the game tries to simplify things by automatically locking-on to an enemy when the crosshair gets close to one, this often seems to do more harm than good. Not only does the lock-on sometimes miss the enemy anyway, defeating the whole purpose of it, but it also seems to prevent you from making the minor aiming adjustments needed to move back onto the target. However, sometimes even when the crosshair is over an enemy and you fire off an entire clip, the enemy will stand there unfazed, suggesting some decidedly dodgy collision detection. Despite these problems, though, you will probably not find the game as difficult as you may think. It seems that your enemies are forced to use the same dodgy controls that you are, since sometimes they can be standing right next to you, but still not hit you with a single shot. Artificial Intelligence also seems to have been forgotten too, with some soldiers simply standing looking at you, only firing every three seconds giving you plenty of time to run up to them and cap them with a head-shot. Add to this an abundance of medical kits and body armour to make sure that your health stays permanently replenished and you'll soon realise that even the toughest enemy ambushes are a complete pushover. However, having slated the game for some glaring technical faults, I must also point out that it does have some merits. First of all, the game stays action-packed, with some nice set-pieces such as the helicopter ambush on the train level, or the tanks that fire at you in the Siberia level to keep you on your toes at all times. The levels are also quite large, and although contain many winding tunnels and unusual routes are never too bewildering so you won't often get lost or not know where to go. There's even a multiplayer deathmatch mode, where four players (with a Multitap) can battle it out on specially-created levels, but unfortunately this seems to drop the framerate even further than the main game does. Finally, there's the controversial Ghoul system, whereby each enemy has 26 different hit areas that cause different death animations, along with the extreme levels of blood and gore that characterised the game on PC and has secured the title an 18 certificate. Despite the good intentions, though, there simply hasn't been enough time or money spent on this title bringing it up-to-date, which is ironic considering how long we've had to wait for it. The overall presentation is basic, the graphics would only have just been passable at the console's launch, and the gameplay problems put down any fun the developers might have promised. There are much better titles from the genre on the PS2, so unless you've already picked up Red Faction, Timesplitters and Deus Ex you shouldn't even consider buying this one. Marc Hull             Latest Images:		Review Scores:    Graphics:   Sound:   Gameplay:   Length:   Overall: Click here for our Review Score Guidelines.  Review Summary:  Anti-terrorism games are becoming as common as muck now, and unfortunately the PS2 is getting its fair share of both good and bad ones. Despite some nice ideas and some incredibly over-the-top gore, Soldier of Fortune falls into the latter category thanks to a poor, jerky graphics engine and some very dodgy gameplay. You've been warned.  Related Games:  Soldier of Fortune Gold for PlayStation 2  13  Screenshots  1  Review Click here for All Game Information.
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