Gameplay

Soldier of Fortune offers gameplay much like any other game of this genre. There are mission objectives and such to complete but generally it boils down to, don't get killed, find the keys/switches, open the doors, exit the level. If you're like me though you won't really mind this at all. There's a lot to see, do and you won't get bogged down with the finer points of the mission (or lack of), that's what the cut scenes are for.

Given your "real world" levels that you play in you may need to re-think your approach to how you play and thinking logically is the way to get through the game. An example of this is in a New York level where you seemingly can't progress any further. Upon (accidentally) shooting some fuel barrels near a lamppost the resulting explosion knocked over the lamppost, which in turn pulled down part of a chain link fence, allowing you to climb over it. Once you get used to these sort of puzzles further levels get that little bit easier.

While it seems that Soldier of Fortune has many elements in place to reward, or at least use a stealthy approach to the game e.g. the sound meter and silenced weapons, there never really seems to be anywhere in the game to put this to use. Using a big gun tends to result in the same consequences as a knife to the back of the head; that being the soldiers comrades come after you and try their best to kill you.

However, this "stealth" based approach takes on a rather more subtle form, Soldier of Fortune (by default) respawns enemies in an intelligent manner, obviously running around the level with a heavy machinegun will take down enemies quickly, but the resulting noise attracts a greater amount of bad guys. Using a "Custom" difficult setup you can change the way respawning works or remove it altogether.

So despite what it make look like a stealthy approach to taking on the bad guys may make things a little bit easier on you. Some of the situations you fight in are quite brilliant, such as the final Tokyo level where you face off against a giant gunship and ninjas. Soldier of Fortune is packed full of these great gameplay moments. Much like Half-Life really, there are tanks (or similar vehicles) to be defeated at times and many great combat situations arise.

If you remember the excitement involved fighting Half-Life’s marines then this will bring back some good memories and is a good idea of what you can expect from the gameplay.

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