Game Overview

Developer: Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Soldier of Fortune II official home page: http://www.activision.com/games/soldieroffortune/

For every popular game there’s three sequels waiting

When Raven first introduced Soldier of Fortune 2, most people thought that it wouldn’t be more than another blood and guts fest. The first SOF didn’t have much in the plot or character department, and was carried by its fast and bloody gameplay. A lot has changed since then, moving from the Quake 2 engine to the Quake 3 engine, but more importantly Raven has put a few more games under its belt for experience.

Nice shot

That used to be a soldier

2 seconds of battle

Raven is really building its name up to one of the most well-known developers around. With hits like Star Trek: Elite Force and Jedi Knight II, everyone expects games with Raven on the box to be high-quality. They seem to be the masters of taking an existing story or theme and converting it into a good first-person shooter. One big exception is Soldier of Fortune, which is a home-grown Raven product. While it still uses id’s engines, SOF is Raven’s baby.

So how much has Soldier of Fortune progressed since 2000? While there’s still plenty of gore, the really the only thing left from the original SOF is John Mullins, the man with the worse mustache in the world. They’ve changed everything from the GHOUL rendering system to a story you may actually want to pay attention to.

Thermal goggles

He’s fired up

Check all the bullet holes

As good as the Godfather 2?

One marked improvement from the first Soldier of Fortune is the story. Everyone agrees that the story, especially the ending, of the first SOF was about as good as a swig from a can of paint thinner. Barely any plot, terrible characters, and an ending worse than an episode of Thundercats. Thankfully, Raven spent more than five minutes on the story of SOF2. The plot involves John Mullins saving the world from an evil organization bent on terrorism and world domination. Well maybe it’s not that different, but this time there arefar fewer plot holes. The story doesn’t get in the way of enjoying the action, but you’re still definitely not playing to move the story along like a good RPG. It does the job and little more.