Like the cross eyed sniper, can't quite hit the target. (Soldier of Fortune 2 (PC))

Member Name: Lady_Muck

Product:	Soldier of Fortune 2 (PC)
Date:	06/03/04 (222 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Amazing graphics and sound, Storyline

Disadvantages: Playability, Multiplayer problems

I've been a fan of Soldier of fortune for quite a long time, and on hearing about Raven's second outing into this title, I had looked forward to Double Helix for a good year before I finally managed to pick it up.

Now before I start the review itself, I will say that my system is a low spec system for gaming. Main specs are Celeron 600 system with 160Mb RAM, onboard graphics and sound (although up until this game I have never had any real multiplayer problems with it)

It starts off with the storyline, more of the same with different names, threats and places. Instead of tracking down Nuclear weapons, you're fighting to stop the deadly Gemini virus from being released ....... but this time they have at least woven the plots a little better instead of just interlinking them ..... and as well as your simple eliminate the enemy and get the bomb levels, you have much more to work with, protecting VIP's, even riding combat vehicles such as a helicopter and a truck.

The game itself is certainly a graphical sequel to the first, with much more realistic character, weapon and map modelling (on the first multiplayer map I played, the first time I was killed was because I was looking at the amazing backgrounds .... a mistake to be sure, as that was not where the other players were), and the sound is, again compared to the first game, superb, with improved directional cues that you could use, if you so desired, to track opponents by sound alone.

But nothing comes free, and these attractive graphics and quality sound have come at quite a high cost in this game, as gameplay has suffered to a greater extent (I'm sure that players on high end systems will not encounter most of these problems to quite the same extent, but after talking to other players I know that they still appear for them too).

Loading maps and levels on both single and multiplayer games takes ages (this can be a godsend if you want to go and make yo
urself a coffee between levels), and once in the level the game AI leaves a lot to be desired ...... enemies will walk right up to you and crouch before they open fire, giving you plenty of time to dispatch them without much effort.

Unfortunately, the place where SoF2 really falls down (in my opinion) is in the multiplayer game. If you want to reach any of the better servers for any of the main gametypes, you're going to need to upgrade your game (SoF2 Gold edition upgrade is available for download at no extra cost), and although you may think that upgrading your game would be a good thing, it seems to be a case of balancing the good points against the bad and asking yourself if it's really worth it.

Common problems that you can encounter when you have upgraded to gold can include (and for me have included) not being able to play certain maps due to nothing showing on screen ( you can still see where everyone is on the map, and you can still talk ...... but in every other sense you're blind), and the much vaunted Punkbuster anti cheating system, bundled in with the Gold upgrade and without which you cannot enter most servers, causes even more problems .... all of which result in you being automatically kicked from certain servers.

Another stumbling block in the multiplayer setup is the 'mods' system, most servers use a mod or two (mods are small game modifications which affect the behaviour of certain aspects of the game). To enter, you need to have the mod that the server is running, and while this can usually be downloaded from that specific server, it can prove problematic if the server either does not allow players to download or is running a different version of that mod (tracking a mod down is relatively easy on the net, but tracking down a specific version can be time consuming).

Even with all of these problems the game has a certain charm which will keep you coming back for more, just don't expect t
oo much if you're a big fan of the original. I would recommended the game, and have done so in the review options, but with reservations ....... my advice is to try for a while before you buy if at all possible.

Summary: