Soldier of Fortune

2007/12/07

Soldier of Fortune (SoF) 3 is a no-nonsense, graphically appealing ego-shooter that glorifies violence. Full stop. But hang on! Weren't parts one and two of SoF hugely successful? Yes, that's right. But these first two parts were developed by Raven Software, which is not the case with Payback (although there are rumours that Raven Software initially co-operated in SoF 3). The Slovakian company Cauldron has now taken over the SoF franchise. Not a bad decision: Shooter Chaser, released by Cauldron in March 2003, is a fantastic game that received high praise from the specialist press. But SoF 3 has gone down the pan — read on to find out why.

Where is John Mullins? The whereabouts of the generally likable soldier are unknown. His successor is called Thomas Mason. He and his colleague Miller are tasked with protecting an ambassador. As in any half-way exciting action film, however, there is a renegade in the team. We won't reveal exactly what happens, but the shallow storyline doesn't leave much room for spoilers. In contrast to its predecessors SoF 1 and SoF 2, SoF 3 has a truly dull plot. Mason's character has no depth and in any case, his exaggerated coolness means that he cannot be taken seriously.

But shallow characters and poor storylines are no reason not to like a game — you're absolutely right. There's a lot more that really bothers me about Payback. Firstly, the game-play is very linear and undemanding. Secondly, the artificial intelligence. It's been a long time since I came up against such stupid opponents. They rush forward, are shot dead and their colleagues right next to them don't even notice. There is only one real highlight: if you throw a grenade towards a gaggle of villains, they try to hide behind barrels....unfortunately they're explosive barrels. Not quite the best choice. Ah well — maybe the barrels were badly labelled. Another thing that gets on my nerves is that you can shoot opponents at close range with an entire magazine of bullets — and nothing happens. This simply shouldn't be allowed in a modern game. Quality assurance was clearly lacking here.

For many, however, the most important aspect of a SoF game is the scoring zones. Yes, they are a bit more detailed than in the predecessor versions. You can shoot your opponents in the arms, legs and heads (even with weak pistols), whereupon they fall to the ground in an excessive fountain of blood amidst screams of pain. SoF 3 is excessively brutal and should under no circumstances be allowed to get into the hands of children. To provide some kind of justification, the opponents are designed based on the currently popular issue of "terrorists from the East". But for me, this is still no reason to make a game so brutal.

Despite all this, the visual effects in Soldier of Fortune – Payback are surprisingly good. Sure, even SoF 3 doesn't match the quality of Crysis, but the models and maps look great. The background music, on the other hand, is only average. However, if you shoot a few volleys from an AK and have a good sound system, you soon get the feeling that you're really at a shooting gallery. Cauldron did a really good job here.