Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix

"You come for the gore, you come back again and again for the awesome multiplayer"

It can be easy to look at Solider of Fortune II in a glance and pass it up as another generic shooter. The ultra-violent gameplay has become a staple of the series, and Double Helix does not fall short in this category, with many new breaking points of the body, and tons new ways to kill your enemies. While it may seem there is nothiong more to the game than violence and a moderate single player campaign, the multiplayer modes are a blast to play, add endless replayability and life to the game.

Graphics
The graphics and overall presentation of the environments are done very well in Soldier of Fotune II, especially compared to its predecessor. Enemy bodies are rendered well, and motion is pretty clean. Ragdoll physics would have been nice, but the all new ways to dismantle the body is a good addition. All new points means all new extra-violent slashings and cuttings of every body part, with realistic enough reactions and presentation to be close to the creepy side. The weapons in the game are all now real weapons, and there are portrayed very well. John Mullins in the game looks quite similar to his real-life counterparts, and other characters are done well.

Overall, the focus of the graphics seem to be on the way the bodies show the shots, which is a good thing considering that is the main point. The levels are designed well,a nd jungle environments look quite good, as well as the city like and indoor levels.
9/10

Sound
Again, not completely perfect, but done extremely well. The voice acting is actually not done too poorly, which is definitely a plus, as bad voice acting can really draw you out of the game. While running through the variety of levels, from jungles to houses, all sounds are done quite well to give the whole game a nice ambiance. The music is not always great, but most of the time the noise of the firefight covers this up.

Besides the overall feel the game sets up for you alreay, the gun sounds are amazing. There is a difference between all the guns, and sometimes you can tell what they are coming at yo with just by the sounds, not to mention the explosions sound very good.

Online sound becomes key in the intense matches. In most cases you will want to turn off the music, and use headphones to really get into the game and be able to hear everyhting going on. While walking you produce little noise, and those who try and run up on you will make loud footsteps, giving you the edge over the enemy. Ground types also play into this, as certain types of flooring will echo and be louder in general, adding a whole new dynamic of a stealth/overall awareness rarely seen in intense shooters such as this.
8/10

Gameplay
The gameplay of Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix is solid and consistent, and that is all it needs to be with all of its other features. The level design is varied enough, so you don't always feel as though you are tramping down the same old hallways with the same old enemies. The various locales always have you guessing of where they could be hiding and sniping you from.

The levels of difficulty add some slight replay value as you may want to try again on the harder levels. There is a good challenge on the lower levels to those not used tot he genre, but still low enough that you can thoroughly enjoy the game. With good AI, and a variety of weapons, there is alot to the Single Player modes. Between your missions you may get to stop back at the Shop headquarters, with gives a nice change of pace to the game as you get briefed on the next mission.

Along with the basic missions, there is a Random Mission Generator, which adds alot of replay value. This allows you to pick the type of game you want (Escaping from a prison, infiltrating and stealing things), and it will randomly generate a map depending on set parameters such as time of day, and general type (Snowy, desert, forest etc.)
7/10

Multiplayer
I really thought it deserved its own section because of how big of a role it plays in the overall view of the game. It would be a fairly decent game without this with the decent core gameplay, and random mission generator options, but this is really what kept me playing time and time again. What other games try and do, Soldier of Fortune II does right. Every aspect of multiplayer games you want, this has. Along with the standard modes such as deathmatch and capture the flag, Double Helix offers all new modes such as Infiltration, and Elimination.

Team play actually matters, and like most online games there are many clans popping up to play together and war with each. It is easy to have fun by just playing standard free-for-all games, but the tru fun comes in getting together with a group of teammates you may or may not have played with before, and communicating with the in game radio commands, coordinating attacks, and wrecking havoc on the enemy with other guys. The levels each have their own great places for hiding, and obvios routes, as well as other paths for you to explore, and exploit in the games.

The multiplayer experience is phenomenal, and with people continuosly creating new maps and mods for the game, it is ever changing. This is a huge point of the game, and I dont know how they did it, but it is done extremely well.
10/10

Soldier of Fortune II: Double helix is a great game that will have you coming back for the great multiplayer experience, and provides strong single player action.

Graphis ................8/10
Sound ...................8/10
Gameplay .............7/10
Multiplayer .........10/10

Overall .................9/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/04/04