Soldier of Fortune brings realism to shoot-'em-ups

From...

	GALLERY

April 19, 2000
Web posted at: 10:56 a.m. EDT (1456 GMT)

by Nash Werner

(IDG) -- Action games today aren't usually known for their realism, but Raven intends to change all that with its latest entry, Soldier of Fortune, which mixes Quake-like action with Rainbow Six's "bullets really hurt" philosophy. The result is a delightful blend of two completely different styles of play, held together by interesting missions, rewarding gameplay, and over-the-top gore.

You play the role of John Mullins, a retired Army war veteran gone freelance. Together with a couple of your army buddies, you take a gig with an anti-terrorist organization known as The Shop. Your first assignment is to rescue hostages being held in a New York City subway station. Piece of cake, right?

Gameplay is similar to Quake II, only far more realistic. For example, knock somebody in body armor over with your shotgun and he'll most likely climb back up to his feet. Shoot him in the arm and he'll drop his weapon. Shoot him in the head, and·well, you get the picture. Also adding to the realism is the fact that one or two shots are often enough to kill a person -- you won't have to unload three or four clips just to take one terrorist out of commission. There is even a noise meter under your health to show you how much noise you're making, thus helping you sneak around undetected.

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Using a heavily modified Quake II engine, SoF has a highly detailed look to it. The textures are all very clean, the 3D models are rendered nicely, and the new GHOUL rendering system is amazing, providing better lighting, animations and location-based damage. GHOUL also allowed Raven to use better Bolt-on Model programming, which allows for extras like hats, guns, and in SoF's case, bloody entrails, exit wounds, and dismembered limbs. Thanks to GHOUL, SoF looks better than Quake II ever did.

Game control, however, isn't all that spectacular. You can lean around corners to sneak around or pop an unsuspecting guard, but your own 3D model often gets stuck or stalled on sloped terrain, terrorists, or even other players in multiplayer. Also annoying is the way your character falls off ladders. Seeing as how Raven went for a more realistic tip, it's highly irritating to watch an expert killer fall off the ladder because he moved too far sideways.

Adding to the realism are powerful weapons like the 12-gauge shotgun, the sub-machine gun, and of course the rocket launcher, as well as great secondary weapons like grenades, packs of C4 and the extremely useful Flash Pak for blinding your enemies. But these weapons would mean nothing if it weren't for SoF's well-written missions. Whether you're hunting down terrorist faction leaders, disabling massive enemy artillery, or dressing up like a terrorist and going undercover, the missions are very entertaining.

In terms of multiplayer, Raven delivers with three new modes: Arsenal, Assassin, and Realistic. Arsenal is a game where you must kill people with a randomly assigned weapon -- it's fun, but nowhere near as fun as the other two modes. Realistic is a match where everyone has a fatigue bar and you'll actually move slower or faster depending on your fatigue. But the best multiplayer mode would have to be Assassin; a hunt-down where you're assigned a player's name and get big points for killing that player.

With its well-written storyline and thought-provoking missions, SoF's singleplayer will keep you thrilled for hours, and you'll probably be playing the Assassin mode for months. Despite ridiculously long load times, Soldier of Fortune is recommended for everyone who appreciates a good first-person shooter.

Soldier of Fortune tips

• Stock up on Flash Paks. They blind your enemies so well -- single or multiplayer -- that you may want to even rebind the "Use" key to a mouse button. They're that good.
• Armor is the key to winning multiplayer matches. Make sure you memorize where all the armor is on each map.
• Pick off enemies with the knife when possible as it makes very little noise and will help you avoid being detected.

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Activision's Soldier of Fortune page

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