RoverPundit

Drunken Late Night Posting: Part 1

I haven't been very good at keeping this thing going, and for that I apologize. However, I'm not sure that this is going to be an improvement... So, to my regular readers (Hi, Andy!), I offer this bit of alcohol-fueled insanity - a drunk review of Soldier of Fortune II! To clarify, this was brought on by me getting my butt royally kicked in UT:Tactical Operations by Andy and assorted twelve year olds earlier this evening.

If you're like me (which I hope is not the case, for your sake), you grew up on Wolfenstein, Doom, and Quake. If you're not the type to play first-person-shooters, I will attempt to fill you in. The goal is to kill. Kill faster, better, and stronger than the other players and/or computer.

Which brings me back to SOF II. The idea behind this game; the theme, if you will, is that you are a "military consultant" named John Mullins. The goal is to complete the missions that you are given, killing the enemies that you encounter, and save the world from bio-terrorism.

This theme is not terribly original, as most of the FPS games out there use some variation of this as their basis. What sets SOF II apart is the engine, which is disturbing at best, and gross at worst.

Most FPS games use the simple "blown to pieces" model, also known as gibs. You shoot your opponent with the rocket launcher, they either fall down dead or fly apart into dog food like chunks. Nothing that would be considered disturbing to most computer game junkies.

SOF II, on the other hand, uses two technologies: per pixel damage mapping, and something like 36 damage locations. In layman's terms, this means that, when you shoot an enemy, the spot you hit shows damage. Further, if you hit a vulnerable point, you can dismember enemies. This is where the "Ewwwww!" reaction comes in.

Gameplay is smooth, running well on my Geforce3 Ti500 equipped P3 800 (512mb RAM), at 1280x1024 with all details maxed. The game uses a modified version of Id's Quake 3 Arena engine, so it performs well on older systems. I can't wait to see it on my new system (Arriving 10/15/02). More on that tomorrow.

Visually, this game is stunning, with photo-realistic textures and beautiful lighting. Expect to spend the first few missions gawking at the scenery. Very nicely done.

What really makes this game different, as I mentioned above, is the damage modeling. When playing Quake or Doom, we'd joke about blowing one anothers heads off. Well, this game, you actually do that. As well as arms, legs, jaws, and so forth. SOF II offers a whole new level of realism to the FPS genre. Nothing quite like the feeling of dropping an enemy from a distance, walking up to the body, and noticing that half the head is missing, and you can identify which half. Or using the shotgun on an enemy, and blowing an arm or leg clean off, while they whimper and groan. Disturbing is an understatement.

If you have children, I would recommend you not buy this game, as it is emphatically unsuitable for anyone under the age of 25. If you don't, I highly recommend you buy this, as it is an addictive blend of strategy and balls-to-the-wall blasting.