Single Player

We don’t need no stinking stealth

The pace of SOF2 is completely in your hands – a big plus. I generally don’t like slow, stealthy FPS games because I like to play games where you have to make life or death split second decisions; just like multiplayer FPS games. In SOF2 there are several levels where the game suggests that you sneak around enemies, take them out with a knife or silencer, but you’re almost never forced to go quietly (there’s one short section in one mission that you have to). I really like having the option, since it allows me to run and gun through a level if I feel like it. One level requires you to get into the cargo hold of a ship – an alarm indicates if the crew knows you’re aboard. I tried a few times doing it slowly, but it annoyed me too much so I started blasting away with my shotgun. To my surprise the game didn’t fade to black; it let me blast my way through the whole ship. This was the harder approach, since the entire crew came at me guns blazing, but it was much more fun to me than sneaking. If you do like stealthy FPS games the option is always there. I could even imagine completing the entire game with just a knife (minus a few bosses).

It’s always the Russians

Bowling for gibs

Breaking glass

Soldier of Fortune 2’s weapons strive to be realistic. They do sacrifice some realism for playability, like a fully automatic MAC-10 empties a clip in less than a second, but in SOF2 you have a lot of time before you need to reload. As a whole I would have liked more variety in the weapons. You’re generally using an automatic rifle or a shotgun the entire game. All of the automatic rifles act the same (besides the secondary attack) so they can be a bit boring after a while. The shotguns are more fun than your average FPS since they’re one shot kills at close to medium range, and they tend to make very messy deaths. Grenades are good, but it’s not so easy to get kills with them since the AI will run away or throw them back at you. The “exotic” weapons like the OICW and Grenade Launcher aren’t as useful as Raven intended. Launching grenades is too hard in close quarters and it’s much easier to snipe at longer ranges. The knife is one of the best melee weapons in an FPS game because you can throw knives for quick, silent kills. In multiplayer games I would much rather fight with a knife than a handgun.

Henchmen chumps

The AI in Soldier of Fortune II is a strongpoint of the single player game. I actually found myself playing to outsmart the enemies, rather than out-aiming them like one would normally do in a single player FPS. The enemies will use cover like walls and crates (more than most FPS games already), but they will also move between locations to get closer to you. If you knock their weapon out of their hands (again, already better than most FPS games) they’ll run away knowing you have the upper hand until they can pick up another weapon. Some soldiers will reach down to their leg and unsheathe a pistol. They use grenades frequently – if they spot a grenade that’s too close they’ll run for cover or even pick it up and throw it at you. Enemies also react to the sound you create (that’s why the sound meter is so important). If you make noise walking up to a door, enemies on the other side will raise their weapons in anticipation of your arrival, or even open the door before you get to it. Enemies will also react to comrades that die next to them. No more walking on like nothing happened, they’ll freak out, search for cover, and try to figure out where the shot came from. If they know, they’ll hunt you down. All of these AI features add up to a different type of FPS than a run-of-the-mill kill everything and go shooter. Yes, you end up killing everything, but the process is far from mindless.

Shooting in the rain

Who’s your daddy?

He’s a pimp

Enemies only spawn when you get close to their spawn points. What’s the big deal with this? There’s a tendency in single player games to use “loading ESP” – when you reload a saved game and kill an enemy before you see it. Everyone does it; how did you ever beat Contra on the NES without completely memorizing most of the levels? In SOF2 this is toned down a lot – you can’t throw a grenade over a wall to an area you can’t reach for five minutes and kill the soldiers waiting for you, because they won’t spawn until you get near the area. This is a fairly minor point, but it does add to the single player experience.

In a similar vein, the scripted in-game events are done very well. On some maps you have to retrace your steps to escape or gain access to a new area. A lot of FPS games would just allow you to walk through a cleared area, but in SOF2 new enemies spawn. For example, in one level you need to destroy a lab. You clear all the enemies up to the detonation spot, but as soon as you blow up the lab more soldiers come streaming in from the area you just cleared. This is a good feature because you never know what’s coming up. You always have to be on your toes, and you’re always on edge waiting for the next bullet heading towards your skull.