Soldier of Fortune Preview

Gimmicks are a deceit; a distraction to hide glaring flaws in an otherwise undeserving product from the eyes of the consumer. Nowhere is this more evident than in Soldier of Fortune, a game that attempted to make a name for itself on the PC by promising a gratuitous amount of blood and gore behind its "been there, done that" gameplay. Released on the PC a few months ago, the game proved a moderate success with gamers and critics alike. The gameplay proved to be arcade fun, despite the clichés. Now Pipe Dream Interactive is bringing the game to the PlayStation 2, courtesy of Majesco, with both its trademark violence and multiplayer abilities fully intact.

Soldier of Fortune's plot is a hackneyed excuse for copious bloodshed. In this poor man's Tom Clancy meets Rambo, you're cast in the role of John Mullins, a professional mercenary and Vietnam vet. Long story short, Mullins is the top name on a short list of who to call when terrorists do bad things that threaten national security. In this case, a motley collection of extreme Arab terrorists and Nazi skinheads have confiscated four nuclear warheads, and they're promising to start World War III if their excessive demands aren't met. Naturally, you're ordered to use any means to stop them before it's too late. Sanctioned by the government as the ultimate one-man army, you have an excuse to blast your way Rambo-style through 26 levels spread across ten missions, decimating the anarchists and terrorists alike in order to maintain peace in the free world.

One of Soldier of Fortune's most talked about aspects is the involvement of John Mullins, who is a real-life professional mercenary. The developers originally approached the hired killer hoping that his expertise would allow them to create a more authentic experience than what's found in other similarly themed games. Apparently, Mullins didn't explain his trade very well or the developers didn't listen very closely, because Soldier of Fortune is hardly realistic. You're almost always outnumbered in your encounters, and the firefights are Hollywood-style, trading stealth for hyperquick movement and overpowered weaponry. You can also take an excessive amount of damage, only to completely heal yourself by grabbing one of the stereotypical health packs strewn haphazardly across the levels - an FPS cliché as old as Doom.

Soldier of Fortune's entire approach to violence is similarly superficial. The game utilizes 26 target-specific damage areas on each bad guy; however, this innovation is most often used for gruesome graphic effect rather than as a significant enhancement to the gameplay. If you shoot enemies in the neck, blood will spray from the wound, and they'll futilely grasp their throat; if you shoot their leg, they'll limp around. With more powerful weapons, you can blow entire limbs off in one shot or decapitate your victims. Admittedly, immobilizing your enemies may be useful in some situations, but Soldier of Fortune's target-specific damage system seems to serve mostly as a gory reward for your aiming skills.

Other interesting gameplay enhancements include a sound meter that spawns additional bad guys depending on how loud you are and a unique method of tracking your game progress. Instead of being able to save every moment along the way or only at specific save points, Soldier of Fortune uses a unique system that gives you a limited number of saves per level. While this allows you to record your game as you please, the limited quantity of saves ensures that you can't abuse the system.

On the PlayStation 2, you can expect the PC version's trademark violence to remain intact. Additionally, Majesco's promising that Soldier of Fortune will ship for the PS2 with four-player split-screen deathmatch capabilities and broadband Internet play. There are still flaws in the AI that need to be improved in the gameplay, though. Often on the PC, you could snipe a bad guy from a distance, and characters just a few feet away would take no notice. Hopefully, Pipe Dream Interactive will take the time to improve the poor enemy AI before the game's release.

Featuring the ubiquitous Quake II engine, the game won't push the most polygons or dazzle you with the best lighting effects on the PS2, but its graphics are quite passable. The game makes use of some great environments, like the seamy urban battlegrounds of New York and the inspired architecture found in Japan. The game spans five continents, so you can expect a good variety in the level design. Also, the 26 gore zones feature unique damage animations that, while repetitive, provide the tired graphics engine with a bit of an invigorating punch.

While Soldier of Fortune's promise of extreme violence and realism may be somewhat legitimized by the presence of a real mercenary consultant on the design team, the gimmick should be taken with a grain of salt. Underneath the marketing hype, Soldier of Fortune looks like your typical FPS shooter with arcade-like thrills and spills. Still, the game's success on the PC is a good indicator that there's more to Soldier of Fortune than superficial bloodletting. Also, the promise of Internet play gives this one an edge over the other first-person shooters out there.

Soldier of Fortune is scheduled for release on PlayStation 2 consoles this September.