Soldier of Fortune
This game has a problem: it was just work to those who made it. No-one had this as their dream project, no-one put their heart and soul into it. They just did their job well and came up with a solid game void of any innovation whatsoever.
The levels are probably the most obvious sign of this. They look pretty good, being Quake II engine and all. However, they are totally linear and feel even more so. There's hardly a closet by the side of the path, if you enter a room with three additional doors and find the first one you try opens, you don't even have to try the other two. You can just assume they'll be "locked" (trust me on this, I've tried ...). No risk of getting lost in other words, but I do wonder what Raven has against little secrets, bonus areas and such stuff? No place for it in the development cycle I suppose ... And even though there's only one single path between A and B, one which you clear thoroughly on your way, the game still likes to drop enemie behind you at times. I may be extreme, but I'm annoyed by knowing there's no possible place those enemies could have turned up from in a believable way. Levels also suffer from the general lack of creativeness, there are very few places that couldn't be straight out of Half-Life.
The weapons are pretty nice. They have the proper feeling of power, and it can be satisfying to mow through a group of enemies with the machine gun. Still, what you'll use most is the sniper rifle. It's just too good to be able to down one enemy with each bullet, no matter their armour, from a safe distance and without being detected. No wonder they had to make the sniper rifle ineffective when not zoomed in, otherwise I'd never use another weapon ...
Dialogue is totally forgettable. Luckily, there isn't much of it either. Some games fail by trying to deliver clever one-liners during the game. SoF doesn't even try, there isn't even an attempt at humour in the game by the way, and all the talk feels uninspired. The music is better though, one of the better things in the game actually. It stays in the background, is affected properly by the action and has a nice movie-like feel to it. Sound effects are nothing special, sounds good but not extraordinary.
I'm sceptic to the save system too. While miles better than set save points or so, I still think it works more toward annoyance than raising tension. What you get is a set number of saves (five on normal) for each level. I've never been a fan of replaying areas more than necessary ...
Soldier of Fortune's AI is a joke by modern standards. Heck, this game hardly even has Artificial Stupidity. Spot two enemies around a corner, facing your way. Bring out your trusty sniper rifle and put a bullet between the eyes of the front one. Does the other one even flinch? Hell no, he still doesn't know you're there! Even if you are detected you may not need to go into close combat. The enemies tend to shout a bit, shoot, run a bit towards your hideout, shoot some more, and then stop and let you get back to sniping them again. Difficult terrain, like corners and pillars, aren't exactly up the AI's alley either. Brings back fond memories of old times ...
Oh and the final battle stinks too, especially for a game which otherwise makes a claim on "realism" ... And the setting for that battle is straight out of Wolfenstein, sigh ... Not even the end sequence is any rewarding. Finished this game more to get it over with than because it was fun. Sounds silly to you? Well, I don't like having unfinished games lying around ...
All standard action, no heart. Get Half-Life instead, or MDK if it's good sniping you're after. Is this what happens when creating games becomes a nine to five job? Pity ...
