Good or bad fortune for "SOF"

If you thought Unreal Tournament or Quake III was a bloody game, this game is not for you. Solider of Fortune has managed to knock off Kingpin as the most violent game ever. This game is so violent that it would make satan puke. Well, here's your warning, either shut this review off or keep on reading.

It is a mix of Quake and Rainbow Six. This game plays like Quake but tries to include some features from Rainbow Six. For instance, you run around and shoot like you're in a quake game. At the same time you're killing terrorists and saving hostages (a la Rainbow Six). This game also features a realistic damage model. With victims reacting correctly when they get shot in the crotch area, and jumping around when they get shot in the leg. This is the most realistic damage model ever!

Solider of Fortune uses the Quake II engine, updated with GHOUL technology. This technology enables unbelievable detail to the damage models. You are actually able to shoot off a person's hat and not hit his/her head. You are also able to seperate the arms and legs at two different spots. For example, the arm can come off at either the shoulder or the elbow. If you're feeling a need for gore, you can keep on shooting the guy's stomach until his guts come spewing out. Also, people die according to how they get shot. If you shoot a person in the crotch area, they will grab their privates and fall to the ground. If they get shot in the throat, they will grab their necks and choke to death.

There are 12 weapons in SOF. Ranging from the .44 magnum to C4 explosives, you'll need each and every one of these weapons to blast through the game. I have only two main complaints about the weapons. When you first start the game, the weapons seem realistic, but as you progress, the weapons get wackier and wackier. Take the microwave gun for example. You can either cook the guy alive or make him swell up and explode. What I don't get is why they put a microwave gun in a semi-realistic shooter, there's just no need for fantasy weapons. The second complaint I have is the Sniper Rifle. It's just too damn effective. You can kill tens and thousands of baddies without getting noticed if you use the Sniper Rifle correctly.

SOF is not only about blasting boddies to bits. You also have to use your head a little. For instance, before going into a room, you might lean and take a look at where the guys are so when you run into the room, you know where to shoot. You also have to be careful at what you're shooting at. Sometimes when you're in a room with ten people in it, one of them is a hostage. In a shootout, you have to be careful you don't shoot the hostages. If you do, it's mission over and you fail.

Mutiplayer is a little above average with entertaining levels such as the office complex. I found the deathmatch mode entertaining mainly because if you shoot a guy in the crotch, he won't die right away. So, when I shot a guy in the crotch four times in a row, the guy repeatedly grabbed at his crotch until he finally died. There is also an assassination mode. It is played like a DM but instead of shooting anyone and everyone, you follow one person in the arena and try to kill him. The catch is other people are following you as well and you have to react quickly when people target you. If you shoot a person that is neither targeting you or is being targeted, you lose one point and you gain one more persuader.

Rsoutham