Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix

"Ambition does not a great game make"

If you're a fan of the first game, and you're expecting a fast-paced FPS, then keep on moving. While SOF 2 had great potential to be a great game, it fails miserably to acieve anything groundbreaking or even remotely enjoyable.

Why does it, in my opinion, fall so short of the mark? It seems that the developers were trying to go in too many directions at once, trying to build a FPS that integrates bits of stealth and run and gun action. The stealth bits of the game are horribly tedious, causing the player to play many parts of the game over and over to complete even the simplest of tasks. Stealthy neutralization of enemies is needlessly hard: slashing the throat of an unsuspecting enemy will cause him to scream and alert the rest of the guards in the level, causing you to start over, as he drops to the ground....with a slit throat. Not that I'm a stickler for reality in video games, but it sure is suspending my disbelief to an extreme degree to believe that someone can scream with a slit throat.

The firefights are anticlimactic, especially considering the amount of rounds you must expend in order to kill just one enemy. No matter what weapon you're using (sniper rifle excluded), it is nigh-impossible to hit anything even remotely in the area of where you're aiming. For example, I once fired fifty rounds from an M-60 into an enemy ten feet away, and not one bullet hit the mark.

These problems are not helped in the least by the horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE level design. You'll see more empty wooden crates, locked doors and undamageable cars and trucks here than you ever will in any game. Add to that the fun that is jumping when you can't see your feet, and you've got an instant headache.

The graphics are allright, but not mind-blowing. Most of the enemies are just lookalikes in tank tops, and they're not even that good looking in the first place. It looks basically like the first game with some upgrades. Nothing special here.

The sound is on par with any other game in the genre: loud gunshots, same score. Again, nothing special here.

The bottom line is that the developers made a game that follows certain real world guidelines and tried to apply them to an over-the-top FPS without any regard to how enjoyable it would be in the end.

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 01/15/03, Updated 01/15/03