Reviewed: August 5, 2003
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Publisher
Activision

Developer
Gratuitous Games
Raven Software

Released: June 17, 2003
Genre: FPS
Players: 1
ESRB: Mature

7
7
7
8
7.8

Supported Features:

But Raven Software’s killer action title wasn’t all about the violence. SOF managed to incorporate a really good story and an incredible variety of levels from all over the world. Building on this proven formula, Raven is back with the much-anticipated sequel, Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix. Released on the PC last May this groundbreaking title has finally arrived on the Xbox. With more than a year between the two releases I was hoping for something a bit more than what we ultimate got.

You once again slip into the combat boots of operative, John Mullins, only this time you are working for a top-secret anti-terrorist group known as The Shop. The Shop offers you a much wider range of missions than the previous game, as you travel the globe consulting with military personnel and participating in stealth, combat, rescue, and intelligence gathering operations. Missions are based on actual political hotspots from around the world with some missions loosely based on actual missions of the real-life John Mullins, a former Green Beret and military “consultant”. Here are just a few of the exciting locations you will find yourself:

• Pre-game flashback mission in Soviet era Prague
• Terrorist strongholds in the jungles of Columbia
• A massive ocean liner en route to Tampa Bay
• A Hong Kong Prison
• Top Secret underground complex in Kamchatka

The new GHOUL II technology expands upon the detailed skeletal animation system of the original game allowing for even more lifelike animation and hit-specific damage responses. Characters will recoil and react based on where they are shot. The blood and guts damage model is not quite as over-the-top as the original, but it is still quite graphic and perhaps more realistic. The first time you see a hand, arm, leg, or head detach from the owner's body and bounce across the floor you will be shocked.

Even though the penalties are less severe you will still want to make an attempt at stealth if nothing more than to get into the spirit of the game. To avoid triggering that alarm you need to dispatch enemies with total silence. While the easiest way to do this is with a quick pistol whip, this only knocks them out and once they reawaken an alarm will sound. This forces you to kill unconscious enemies then dispose of the bodies just in case a random patrol comes wandering by.

The mission design has been tweaked to take advantage of new enhanced AI for both enemies and military personnel who may be assisting you during any given operation. You will often be required to mix both stealth and combat tactics, and the AI is programmed to act and react based on your actions. If you catch a lone soldier he will often retreat and try to recruit reinforcements, rather than putting up a one-man fight. A group of soldiers will attempt to flank you or lead you into a trap. I still recall the time I was hiding behind a crate and the enemy on the other side blew it apart with a shotgun leaving me totally exposed to the M60 mounted in the hillside bunker. You can throw grenades and they will catch them or pick them up off the ground and throw them back – sometimes losing an arm if they aren’t fast enough. I’ve even managed to shoot a soldier’s arm off as he was cocking back to toss a grenade. The grenade fell to the ground still clutched in his hand before blowing everything to bits – it’s realism at its deadliest.

Controls are very nice considering I'm not a huge fan of console FPS games. The sticks move and look and the triggers fire primary and secondary weapon modes. In a brilliant move (and one that is becoming a standard) you can toss grenades with a single button press rather than have to scroll through a lengthy weapon list. Pushing down on the D-pad will cycle the weapons in your hand while pushing up on the D-pad will bring up the arsenal overlay and let you pick the weapon from the icon menu. SOF2 even supports leaning or peeking around corners, a great stealth tactic, as well as crouching and crawling.

In an attempt to get the player more involved with the game you are allowed to select your own weapons and gear before each mission, Rainbow Six-style. If you can't be bothered with such mundane tasks you can just as easily click the default loadout which is more than adequate to get the job done. You'll pick up plenty of weapons, ammo, and other gear in the field, often better than what you start out with.

The story mode is quite massive and keeps you interested through more than 50 globe-spanning missions. There is also a random map generator that you can use to create infinite levels and missions. You pick the type, Escape, Assassination, Infiltration, or Demolition then the terrain, desert, hills, jungle, or snow then tweak other settings like day or night, inventory items, etc.

The mutliplayer mode for SOF2 is easily the one feature that saves this game from a direct-to-budget-bin destiny, but even so, fans of deathmatch or any of the other online or system-link modes will probably have a more enjoyable time with Return to Wolfenstein: Tides of War. For your mercs who want to take the hunt online you can engage up to 11 other John Mullin clones on any of 20 multiplayer maps in any of 6 game modes such as Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Elimination, Demolition, and Infiltration. This is all standard multiplayer stuff and works great either online or with a link cable. It was definitley harder to find people playing SOF2 online, especially compared to Tides of War that is still going strong.

Each of the games massive levels are some of the most wondrous environments created for a FPS title. Jungles are alive with a variety of vegetation and trees that sway in the breeze. Tall grass appears to be rendered down to each individual blade that moves aside as you crawl through it, although these textures get a bit blocky on the Xbox. Buildings are based on architecturally sound and logical design principles. There are no rooms or areas that seem out of place, and everything flows together for a realistic indoor experience - something uncommon to most titles in the FPS genre.

Special effects are pretty nice. Fire and smoke are plentiful and there is an excellent shattering glass effect where the pane will crack and segments will drop away in realistic patterns. There are some nice weather effects but the real-time lighting and shadows have been drastically cutback and sometimes removed entirely. Character models are a less sophisticated as if at least a third of their polygons have been removed. This makes them look a bit stiff when they move around. There also isn't a huge variety of character designs, so you will see a lot of repeating character models in each level.

One cannot review SOF2 without mentioning the trademark violence of the franchise. The bloody mayhem of the first title is back, although the gore seems to be targeted more towards realism than pure shock. Shotgun blasts will blow off targeted limbs (or heads), and you can carve a variety of designs into a corpse with your knife. You can even slice the cranium off a skull and watch the brain spill out onto the ground. Like anything taboo, the “forbidden charm” of this violence is quickly lost, and the gore slips into a nice supporting role to the action.

Missions are tied together with excellent cutscenes rendered with the game’s graphic engine. This creates a seamless blend between the action and the narrative, so you are never taken out of the game for a single moment. Movies actually end in the same scene where you take control over your character. The effect is so seamless that you have to watch for visual cues so you know when you can finally move John around.

There are over a dozen military issue weapons and each one has their own very distinct and very real sound effect. These effects are also enhanced based on the environment and the range at which you hear them. Shots, footsteps, and voices will echo in large empty areas or vary in volume according to the range at which you are listening.

In a surprising and disturbing turn of events, SOF2 doesn't have any Dolby Digital support. The PC offered some of the best EAX surround of any FPS game released in 2002 but things are definitley more confined and often dull and unclear on the Xbox. Some of the dialog is hard to hear, thankfully it's all subtitled, and using sound to locate enemies sneaking around your peripheral range is no longer an option.

Dialog is very well written and performed by some excellent voice actors (Mark Hamill and Alan Oppenheimer to name just two) creating a cinematic experience from start to finish. John and all the main characters have voices and attitudes that match the visual style of the characters. Supporting roles and enemy soldiers have authentic accents or speak in the appropriate sub-titled foreign language.

Of course, you can only have so much fun playing by yourself so you will want to check out the amazing multiplayer modes of SOF2. While you can use the random map generator to create simple outdoor levels for online play, they are nothing compared to the amazing multiplayer levels that Raven meticulously crafted for your online gaming pleasure. The added features of voice support and friends filtering makes hooking up and chatting with your favorite squad members that much easier and enjoyable.

If you are desperate for another FPS game and you have played everything else the Xbox has to offer in the genre then by all means, take SOF2 for a ride, but I would recommend waiting for this title to come down in price or perhaps test the waters with a rental. I simply can't recommend this game at full price.