Soldier of Fortune | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Raven Software Loki Software (Linux) Runecraft (DC) Pipe Dream Interactive (PS2) |
Publisher(s) | Activision (Windows) Loki Software (Linux) Crave Entertainment (DC) Majesco Entertainment (PS2) |
Director(s) | Brian Raffel |
Producer(s) | Marty Stratton |
Designer(s) | Jim Hughes |
Programmer(s) | Rick Johnson |
Artist(s) | Joe Koberstein Scott Rice |
Composer(s) | Chia Chin Lee |
Engine | Quake II engine |
Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Linux, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2 |
Release | WindowsLinux July 14, 2000 [4] DreamcastPlayStation 2 |
Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Soldier of Fortune is a first-person shooter video game developed by Raven Software and published by Activision in 2000 for Microsoft Windows. It was later released for the PlayStation 2 (as Soldier of Fortune: Gold Edition), as well as the Dreamcast, while Loki Software also made a port for Linux. It was digitally re-released on GOG.com on October 2, 2018, along with its two successors. [6] The player takes on the role of a U.S. mercenary as he trots around the globe hoping to halt a terrorist nuclear weapons plot.
The game, which was built with the Quake II engine, is notable for its realistic depictions of violence, made possible by the GHOUL engine, including the dismemberment of human bodies. This was the game's stylistic attraction and it caused considerable controversy, especially in Canada and Germany, where it was classified as a restricted-rated film and listed on the Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons, respectively. The technology creates 26 different zones on the bodies of enemies, allowing for vastly different reactions depending upon which one is targeted.
The game sold well initially and critical reception was positive. Two sequels were released: Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix (2002) and Soldier of Fortune: Payback (2007). Soldier of Fortune Online, a massively multiplayer online first-person shooter game, was published in Korea in 2010, but its servers were shut down shortly after its release.
Soldier of Fortune is best known for its graphic depictions of firearms dismembering the human body. This graphic violence is the game's main stylistic attraction, much like the destructible environments of Red Faction or bullet time of Max Payne . The GHOUL engine enables depiction of extreme graphic violence, in which character models are based on body parts that can each independently sustain damage (gore zones). There are 26 zones in total: a shot to the head with a powerful gun will often make the target's head explode, leaving nothing but the bloody stump of the neck remaining; a close-range shot to the stomach with a shotgun will leave an enemy's bowels in a bloody mess, and a shot to the nether regions will cause the victims to clutch their groin in agony for a few seconds before kneeling over dead. It is possible to shoot off an enemy's limbs (head, arms, legs) leaving nothing left but a bloody torso. In the last mission there is also a fictional microwave weapon, causing the enemies to fry or explode, depending on the firing mode. However, nonviolence is a possibility, if the player is a good shot it is possible to shoot an enemy's weapon out of their hand, causing them to cower on the floor to surrender. The game also came with password-protected options to disable all gore and there is even a version of the game with the extreme violence permanently locked-out, titled Soldier of Fortune: Tactical Low-Violence Version. [7]
In multiplayer mode, there are seven gametypes: Arsenal, Assassination, Capture the Flag, Conquer the Bunker, Control, Deathmatch and Realistic Deathmatch. [8] [9]
The story involves the theft of nuclear weapons, and the main enemy turns out to be an Afrikaner neo-fascist group based in Germany, led by South African exile Sergei Dekker. At the beginning of the game, terrorists steal four nuclear weapons from a storage facility in Russia, and proceed to sell them to various nations. This is a prelude to the acquisition of advanced weapons of mass destruction by this terrorist group. John Mullins, working for a U.S.-based mercenary ("soldier of fortune") organization known only as "The Shop", and his partner, Aaron "Hawk" Parsons, are assigned to prevent the nukes from falling into the wrong hands, and stop the terrorists in their plans. His missions take him to New York City, Sudan, Siberia, Tokyo, Kosovo, Iraq, Uganda and finally Germany.
Raven Software acquired a license from the mercenary magazine Soldier of Fortune to produce a video game based on the publication. [10] The game was built around a modified version of the Quake II game engine. [11] It was the first game to utilize the GHOUL damage model engine developed by Raven Software. This introduced the ability to dismember enemies in combat, adding to the realism of the game. Upgraded versions of the GHOUL system were later used in other Raven titles, such as Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix and Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast .
The game was originally supposed to be much more realistic, featuring mostly real weapons, and the players taking damage would impede their movement and dexterity, depending on where and how many times they were hit. In 1998 (prior to the Kosovo War) the game was also supposed to be partially based in Bosnia instead of Kosovo. [12]
The game is AMD Eyefinity validated. [13] The game also made use of the Aureal Semiconductor A3D and Creative Labs EAX technology.
GOG.com re-released Soldier of Fortune alongside its two successors digitally on October 1, 2018. [6]
Aggregator | Score | ||
---|---|---|---|
Dreamcast | PC | PS2 | |
GameRankings | 71% [14] | 82% [15] | 56% [16] |
Metacritic | 70/100 [17] | N/A | 59/100 [18] |
Publication | Score | ||
---|---|---|---|
Dreamcast | PC | PS2 | |
CNET Gamecenter | N/A | 8/10 [19] | N/A |
Computer Gaming World | N/A | [20] | N/A |
Electronic Gaming Monthly | 5.5/10 [21] [lower-alpha 1] | N/A | 5/10 [22] |
EP Daily | 7/10 [23] | 7/10 [24] | N/A |
Eurogamer | N/A | 9/10 [25] | N/A |
Game Informer | 7.75/10 [26] | 7.25/10 [27] | 4/10 [28] |
GameRevolution | N/A | B+ [29] | C− [30] |
GameSpot | 7.3/10 [31] | 7.7/10 [32] | 7.3/10 [33] |
GameSpy | 7/10 [34] | 80% [35] | N/A |
IGN | 8.5/10 [36] | 9/10 [11] | 4.5/10 [37] |
Next Generation | [38] | [39] | N/A |
Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine | N/A | N/A | [40] |
PC Accelerator | N/A | 9/10 [41] | N/A |
PC Gamer (US) | N/A | 87% [42] | N/A |
The PC's original release received "generally positive reviews" according to the review aggregation website GameRankings. [15] Robert Howarth of GameFan gave the PC version 91% and wrote, "for those adults looking for extreme action, Soldier of Fortune could be just what the doctor ordered." Howarth considered its story to be "on par" with many action movies; he also commented that the GHOUL damage model rendering system was "an amazing technology". [43]
Chris Kramer of NextGen 's June 2000 issue wrote of the PC original, "Sure, it's not for kids, but it's as good an FPS as you could ever ask for." [39] 15 issues later, Jim Preston called the Dreamcast version "An OK port of an OK game." [38]
Robert Mayer of Computer Games Strategy Plus gave the PC version four stars out of five, saying, "Raven Software set out to make a shooter, and they've made a damn fine one. Just be sure you're up to it before you dive in. It gets mighty bloody in there." [44] Edge gave the same PC version seven out of ten, calling it "an above-average firstperson shooter. It doesn't bring much to the genre, save for its gory depiction of violence." [45]
Cal Nguyen of AllGame gave the PC version four-and-a-half stars out of five, saying, "If you're bent on eliminating terrorist threats by skinheads, Saddam Hussein's army, Russian mafias or even New York mobsters, then take a lesson from the Soldier of Fortune[ sic ] and tear open a new one." [46] Later, J.C. Barnes gave the Dreamcast version three-and-a-half stars out of five, calling it "a solid shooter that doesn't break new ground in graphics, sound or artificial intelligence, but it's a solid shooter worth some attention. Aside from the tricky controls and lighting issues, FPS fans shouldn't be too disappointed with this single-player adventure." [47]
Nash Werner of GamePro said of the PC version, "With its well-written storyline and thought-provoking missions, SoF's singleplayer will keep you thrilled for hours, and you'll probably be playing the Assassin mode for months. Despite ridiculously long load times, Soldier of Fortune is recommended for everyone who appreciates a good FPS." [48] [lower-alpha 2] Jake the Snake said of the Dreamcast version, "If you're longing for some over-the-top shooting with real weapons, Soldier of Fortune hits its mark with extreme prejudice, but less gonzo gamers should steer clear." [49] [lower-alpha 3] However, The D-Pad Destroyer said of the PlayStation 2 version, "with all its faults, Fortune is fairly fun for hardcore soldier types, but everyone else will just want to keep their membership in Red Faction ." [50] [lower-alpha 4] Nick Valentino of GameZone gave the same console version 6 out of 10, saying that it was "just another FPS trying to jump on the bandwagon of other successful titles and sorely misses the mark. With very little to offer in terms of design or new features, it fails to capture the right FPS feel which other games have effectively achieved. In other words, look someplace else." [51]
According to PC Data, a firm that tracked sales in the U.S., the PC version sold 100,919 units by November 2000. [52] NPD Techworld, which also covered the U.S., [53] reported 298,563 units sold for said PC version by December 2002. [54]
In 2000, after receiving a complaint from a member of the public about the explicit content of the game, the British Columbia Film Classification Office (BCFCO) investigated and decided the violence, gore and acts of torture were not suitable for persons under 18 years of age. In a controversial decision, the game was labeled an "adult motion picture" and was rated as a pornographic film. [55] [56] [57] [58] In Germany, the game was placed on the Index List of the Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons.
Based on its success, Raven Software and Activision later published Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix in 2002, based on the Quake III: Team Arena engine. Initially released for Windows, the sequel was later ported to the Xbox.
A third game in the series, Soldier of Fortune: Payback was made by Cauldron HQ and released on November 14, 2007.
An MMOFPS based on the series, Soldier of Fortune Online, was published in South Korea by Dragonfly and went in Closed Beta on August 12, 2010 and ended on August 16, 2010.[ citation needed ]
Half-Life: Blue Shift is an expansion pack for the first-person shooter video game Half-Life (1998). It was developed by Gearbox Software and published by Sierra On-Line. Blue Shift was the second expansion for Half-Life, originally intended as part of a Dreamcast port of Half-Life. Although the Dreamcast port was cancelled, the Windows version was released as a standalone product on June 12, 2001 for Windows. It was released on Steam on August 24, 2005.
Millennium Soldier: Expendable, known in Japan as Seitai Heiki Expendable, and in North America as just Expendable, is a run and gun video game that was released by Rage Software for Microsoft Windows in 1999. It was later ported to the Dreamcast and PlayStation consoles. A remake of the game, entitled Expendable: Rearmed, was released for Android in 2012. It is in the format of a modern arcade game. The player starts with 7 "credits" and can continue until running out of credits. A second player can join the game at any time by pressing start.
Fur Fighters is a video game developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Acclaim Entertainment for the Dreamcast in 2000, later for Microsoft Windows. The game was first announced as a Dreamcast exclusive in the January 1999 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, having started development in the summer of 1998. It was designed very much as a standard third-person shooter, but used a world populated by cute little animals as its setting. As a result, the game's depiction of violence is very cartoon-like without losing any of its intensity. In 2001, an updated version for the PlayStation 2 was released as Fur Fighters: Viggo's Revenge. On 20 July 2012, members of Muffin Games, ex-Bizarre Creations staff, announced a conversion for iPad, called Fur Fighters: Viggo on Glass.
Starlancer is a space-based science fiction flight simulator computer game, created by Erin and Chris Roberts, and developed by Warthog Games under the auspices of Digital Anvil.
Worms World Party is a 2001 artillery turn-based tactics video game developed by Team17, and is the sequel to Worms Armageddon in the Worms series. As with the previous games in the series, players take turns controlling their teams and using available projectiles, firearms, explosives, and equipment to destroy all opposing teams and manoeuvre across a specified and highly destructible map.
4x4 Evo is a video game developed by Terminal Reality for the Windows, Macintosh, Sega Dreamcast, and PlayStation 2 platforms. It is one of the first console games to have cross-platform online play where Dreamcast, Macintosh, and Windows versions of the game appear online at the same time. The game can use maps created by users to download onto a hard drive as well as a Dreamcast VMU. All versions of the game are similar in quality and gameplay although the online systems feature a mode to customize the players' own truck and use it online. The game is still online-capable on all systems except for PlayStation 2. This was Terminal Reality's only video game to be released for the Dreamcast.
Hidden & Dangerous is a 1999 tactical shooter video game, developed by Illusion Softworks. It was published by Take-Two Interactive and TalonSoft, for Windows, Dreamcast and PlayStation. The PlayStation port of the game was developed by Tarantula Studios, and it is regarded as a pioneering tactical shooter. A sequel, Hidden & Dangerous 2, was released in 2003.
Urban Chaos is the debut video game of English developer Mucky Foot Productions with its initial release in 1999 on Microsoft Windows. It was subsequently released on the PlayStation and Dreamcast. The game was published by Eidos Interactive.
Chicken Run is a platform-stealth based 3-D platform video game based on the 2000 film of the same name. Developed by Blitz Games and published by Eidos Interactive and THQ, the game was released in November 2000, prior to the movie's home media release, for the PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, Dreamcast, and Game Boy Color. The game is a loose parody of the 1963 film The Great Escape. The Game Boy Color version is a 2D isometric puzzle-solving game. The game's plot centers about a band of chickens escaping from an egg farm from their evil owners and fighting for freedom.
Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX is a 2001 BMX video game developed by Shaba Games and the first game to be published by Activision under the Activision O2 label. It is similar to the Tony Hawk's series and competed directly with Acclaim Entertainment's Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX. Despite a planned release in fall of 2000, the game was released in 2001 for the PlayStation and Game Boy Color, followed by Dreamcast, Microsoft Windows and Game Boy Advance. The PlayStation and Dreamcast versions received "favorable" reviews, while the PC and Game Boy Advance versions received "average" reviews. A sequel, Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2, was released in 2002.
Bang! Gunship Elite is a space combat simulator developed by French studio RayLand was released for Windows and Dreamcast. It allows the player to fly a combat spacecraft in a fully 3D environment and fight enemies piloting similar craft to their own.
F-1 World Grand Prix, developed by Paradigm Entertainment, is a Formula One racing game/sim first released in 1998 for the Nintendo 64 game console and to later platforms including the Sega Dreamcast, Microsoft Windows, Sony PlayStation, and Game Boy Color. The Nintendo 64 version is based on the 1997 Formula One season, featuring each of the 17 circuits from the season and all 22 drivers, with the exceptions of Jacques Villeneuve and the MasterCard Lola team.
Test Drive 6 is a racing video game developed by Pitbull Syndicate for PlayStation, Microsoft Windows and Dreamcast. In the United States the game was published by Infogrames North America, while in Europe the game was published by Cryo Interactive. The game featured 37 licensed cars, plus four police car variants. As a first for the series, cars from General Motors are not playable in this game, instead they appear as traffic cars. The soundtrack featured industrial rock and techno music from artists such as Fear Factory, Lunatic Calm and Cirrus.
Centipede is a 1998 action game developed by Leaping Lizard Software, and a remake of Atari's 1981 arcade game of the same name. It was published by Hasbro Interactive, their first under the Atari label after purchasing the brand and former assets.
Disney's Dinosaur is a 2000 video game published by Ubi Soft, and functions as a tie-in to the Disney film of the same name.
Kao the Kangaroo is a platform video game developed by X-Ray Interactive for Microsoft Windows, Dreamcast and Game Boy Advance. During development it was known as Denis the Kangaroo.
Championship Surfer is an extreme sports video game developed by Krome Studios, published by Mattel Interactive in North American and GAME Studios in Europe, and released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation and Dreamcast in 2000.
Le Mans 24 Hours is a video game released for the PlayStation, Game Boy Color, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, and Microsoft Windows. The Dreamcast version was ported and published by Sega in Japan on 15 March 2001, while the PlayStation 2 version was ported and published by the same company on 13 June. Based on the famous 24 hours of Le Mans race in France, the player is invited to race the entire 24-hour endurance course or take part in a simpler arcade mode. The game also featured tracks such as Bugatti Circuit, Brno Circuit, Road Atlanta, Suzuka Circuit, Donington Park and Circuit de Catalunya, as well as a weather and night system.
Q*bert is a remake of the 1982 arcade game of the same name with 3D graphics. It was developed by Artech Studios and released by Hasbro Interactive on the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows in 1999, on the Dreamcast and Game Boy Color in 2000, and on Mac OS in 2001.
MTV Sports: Skateboarding Featuring Andy Macdonald is a sports video game developed by Darkblack and published by THQ for Game Boy Color, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation and Dreamcast. It features skateboarder Andy Macdonald on the cover.