Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix

The Good
Soldier of Fortune 2 is like a cheesy action movie starring Chuck Norris. There isn't a complicated plot, there isn't a lot of good supporting characters, but there is plenty of running, gunning, and more than enough bloodshed.

In SoF 2 you play John Mullins, a soldier of fortune who works primarily for a secret agency called the Shop. He's a counter-terrorist, and he has his work cut out for him when a group of mysterious baddies steal a deadly biological weapon and plant a mole inside the Shop.

This of course leads to a chase across several countries, including Russia, China, and several other international hotspots. And it leads to a lot of shooting with an arsenal of weapons that would make most militias drool with envy.

The plot is silly, trite, and only serves to move you along from location to location, but I think that's actually a plus in this case. The cheesiness of it takes some of the sting off the gruesome violence.

And it is gruesome. You can blow limbs off, sending the severed pieces flying in fountains of gore. You can slice up enemies with your knife, sending chunks of brain and face everywhere. And yes, you can shoot people in the groin and watch them double-over in true pain.

I don't honestly think this is a plus, but it is a gimmick that works to shock you for a little while before becoming ignorable.

Overall, the Quake III graphics engine doesn't do a bad job here, although watching characters talk is sometimes painful. At least the sound and music hit home very well.

There's also a solid multiplayer mode, but unless you're playing LAN, you won't find any good servers anymore. Newer games just edge this one out in the multiplayer arena.

The Bad
Now, there are plenty of faults to SoF 2, and they aren't easily ignored.

The AI for instance is about the cheapest I've seen in years; sometimes the enemy feels very realistic, taking cover, trying to pin you down, and then you see them do some of the bone-headed things that instantly take you out of the immersion of the game. Running back and forth like ducks while you shoot them, getting stuck on corners, and charging at you blindly are all some of the things they do. They also have an uncanny ability to spot you no matter where you are, making the stealth missions hard and annoying. Especially since, once they see you, the alarm is raised automatically.

I guess the Force is with these guys, huh?

Also, though you have tons of real-world weapons to play with, none of them behave properly. Your best tactic is just to hold down the trigger and spray a wave of bullets at the bad guys. This also takes you out of the immersion the developers might have been trying for, but it only adds to the action-movie cheesiness of the whole thing.

The graphics are another weak point. Though they look good, the environments are bland, and the animation horrible. The characters jerk around like they're puppets being controlled by an insane puppet master.

The gameplay also gets repetitive. You shoot down a small army of enemies, pull a switch, open a door, and go on to the next level to do more of the same.

The Bottom Line
So, with a big list of complaints, and a lack of originality, why do I like this game?

It's like I said, this game is a cheesy action-fest filled with brain-dead enemies, generically evil villains, and a tough hero with enough firepower to make Rambo jealous. And that is why I like the game.

Of course, this isn't a recommendation to you; it is merely a note that, if you're looking for an old-school, shoot the baddies and move on, game, then this might be for you.

So long as you aren't squeamish.