Soldier of Fortune 2: Double Helix Preview

I don't know what it was, but I somehow managed to convince the fine folks at Activision that my long-lasting addiction to the static shock induced by furry toy animals is all but cured, and that I'm actually capable of producing a worthwhile preview nowadays. (OK, I just had to brush that mini-giraffe through my hair one more time, but that was it!) Due to an apparent glitch in their PR system, I managed to somehow get my hands on the preview build of Soldier of Fortune 2, Raven's upcoming gory FPS built on the Quake III engine.

Just in case you're clueless as to who and what Soldier of Fortune or John Mullins is, or if you've never played the original, I would advise you to read our extensive hands-off preview of the game. I'm sure you'll find it useful, plus it has a lot of letters in it, which is an imposing quality in itself.

Damn, this lawn needs trimming.

We're deep in it now boys.

Seriously, you can find out all the gory details about SOF2 in our previous article, but for this report I'll stick to my hands-on impressions of this amazing game. Notice how I said 'amazing game.' To the less perceptive of you that might suggest that I freaking hated the game and had an awful time playing it. Luckily, most of you have your heads screwed on the right way, so you'll realize (and rightfully so) that I think this is an amazing game! I mean, we've all played Medal of Honor (unless you suck), so we know what the Quake 3 engine is capable of, but truly, nothing can prepare you for the Columbian missions in SOF2. Sure, the game starts out relatively slow, and seeing how I've played a beta build, some tinkering with the graphics was in order to make this puppy play smoothly. To my surprise, the beta looks a lot more polished than I initially expected. Raven could've easily shipped the game 'as is' without making any more changes, and I doubt that anyone would have any serious objections. But I digress...

The game starts out with a retrospective mission in Prague, in which you'll only get to see a fraction of what SOF2 has in store for you. John Mullins frees a Czech biochemist responsible for coming up with some really nasty bio-weapons from the clutches of the bad guys. Upon meeting with Mullins, the doctor suddenly develops a bona fide conscience and decides that placing his life in the hands of our pal Mullins is the only way out of his morally conflicting situation. (Either that, or he's really afraid of the size of Mullins's gun.) Consider this mission a warm-up for what's to come. Immediately, the player gets to use the AK-74 Kalashnikov rifle, and this is where the first distinctive feature of SOF2 comes into play. If you liked how the weapons recoil in Counter-Strike, or say the more realistic Operation Flashpoint, you'll just f-ing love how they kick and fire in SOF2. This is hands-down the most realistic representation of gunfire that I have ever seen in a computer game. The best way to describe the recoil would be to treat your friend to one of those 'chicks with guns' videos and tell him to closely observe how AK-47 recoils in full-auto, consequently causing the boobs on the young lady to wobble and bounce up and down. OK, that may not be the best way, but it's sure fun as hell! It's hard to put it in words really.

What also struck me as really neat is the way the bullets penetrate different surfaces -- how they ricochet off metal, etc. Materials play an important role during heavy gunfights - both offensively and defensively.

Most guns have several modes of fire and a few of them have a secondary fire option, like an underbarrel grenade launcher, or a sniper zoom. Each gun is very specific, and while I found that AK-74 works like a charm when set on burst mode in long to mid-range combat, the M4 carbine is invaluable in CQB (close quarter combat). The underbarrel grenade launcher of the M4 makes it perfect for clearing small closed in areas like the interiors of tents and cottages. But when you're in a jungle and you want to cause maximum damage, you should go with the MSG90A1 - a 7.62mm semi-automatic sniper rifle based on the G3 design by H&K. It has a rather fast rate of fire for a sniper rifle and deadly accuracy (it's a semi automatic, and not a bolt action rifle). Couple that with the fact that you can fire five shots before you need to reload, and it becomes pretty deadly at long range... but totally ineffective at close range. If you see some of those guerilla fighters rushing your position through the thick grass, I would recommend switching to either your assault rifle of choice or the M60 machinegun - it fires 550 rounds per minute, but it's highly inaccurate. So much so, that I would recommend to Raven to balance out this weapon a bit more. Hey, maybe I'm just too dumb to use it properly, but it just seems way too inaccurate to me, even in CQB. There are many more weapons available in the game, but these are all I've playtested so far.

"Shut up! This is a hold-up, not a botany lesson!" - Denis Moore.

My gun's bigger than yours.

You can easily get lost here.

Now if you're by any chance an eye-candy freak, just skip Prague and head straight for Columbia! I played Soldier of Fortune 2 on a GeForce 3 / AMD XP 1800+ setup. After toying around with some video options, I got this game to run with all the details maxed out: 32-bit palette, trilinear filtering... the works, at about 30-40FPS on average. I had some minor troubles with the stencil shadows, but I'm sure this problem will be all but gone by the time this game ships to stores. Medal of Honor looked great, but SOF2 manages to go a notch or two higher. The abundance of rich vegetation gently swaying on the wind in Columbia, courtesy of the TORR Terrain System, is just too much. I've heard our editor Dex say that this is the kind of map he dreamed about seeing in an outdoor shooter. And he's right mind you. The tactical advantage or disadvantage you get from the lush vegetation adds a whole new side to the game. The vegetation is not just for show, as your character will be able to crouch in the thick grass and ambush the enemy. Mullins can also use camouflage techniques, becoming damn near invisible to the surrounding Charlie (that's lingo for Bad Dudes). You cannot even imagine how well this works in multiplayer games. Just consider what I said about the arsenal and then try to picture yourself sniping away at a target from several hundred yards away while crouched in thick grass. Mmm... can you say: "bye-bye Delta Force, hello new outdoor sniping champ!" Regarding the flora, I would advise you to stop every so often and just look at the grass move on the gentle breeze. Then remember you're deep inside enemy territory, get your act together and stay sharp!

Besides the amazing terrain, one other thing that just blew me away was the incredible polygonal count of the models, as well as their natural (skeletal) animation and facial expressions. The GeForce line of cards has finally come of age, as what you see in SOF2 is the kind of visual quality that could compare to some of the early GeForce tech demos. I'm just going to take a couple of close-up shots of the faces so that you can see what I'm talking about. The gun models consisting out of 1500 polys each perfectly complement the quality of the enemy models (3500 polys per model). Overall, SOF2 left such an impression that I shudder to think what Raven will come up with in Quake 4, keeping in mind that they'll have the chance to perfect Carmack's Doom 3 engine. That shit is just scary.

Naturally, a Soldier of Fortune game wouldn't be what it is without some excessive gore and plenty of blood and guts. Raven has made a giant leap with their GHOUL 2 Rendering System, and I'm not just talking about the added per pixel hit locations. The skeletal animation works like a charm, and the accent in SOF2 is not so much on seeing the blood splatter in all possible directions, as it is on the realistic animation of a person getting shot or maneuvering in combat. Most of the time, you won't have that extra few seconds to marvel at your opponent's lifeless body, since his buddies will be on you faster than a drunken Irishman on a Britney Spears poster. The per pixel hit locations come into play when you wound somebody, as that is sure to be an important aspect of the MP game.

Granted, you could go mental and just mutilate the poor SOB who you just killed (and yes, the limbs will fly), but that's just sick! In that case, I recommend you buy 'Hannibal' on DVD or go watch 'Black Hawk Down.' Better yet, lock yourself away in a shed and throw away the key, because you're unfit to live in a civilized society, let alone save the world from a bunch of evil terrorists.

Last but not least, I should mention the unbelievable AI delivered by the LICH AI System and ICARUS2 Scripting System. The tangos are completely environmentally aware; they'll use the terrain to their advantage and constantly try to draw away your fire and flank you. If you rely heavily on the sniping, the enemy soldiers will realize that and try to move in closer for the kill, while effectively using the terrain and advanced criss-cross movement techniques. They'll drop their gun when they're wounded and take cover before they're able to grab any weapons lying around. The AI's awareness is highly convincing, as it will hear and see exactly what you would hear and see in the game. If you go prone in a thick grass, the shots will keep flying above your head and to the left and right of you. Raven didn't use cheap tricks like boosting the AI accuracy in order to compensate for the lack of more advanced AI routines. You'll see no such thing in SOF2. The Prague mission isn't completely indicative of this fact, but you just wait until you get to Columbia. On 'medium' difficulty level, the players are only allowed three save games per level, so you'll have to be extra careful against the bad guys. They're tough, and they shoot well, so be prepared for some serious combat. The team AI is just as impressive. They'll effectively use cover fire and take extra care to cover all the possible angles before they advance the area.

In the end, what can I say? I'm not an easily excitable guy. Well at least not when it comes to FPS games, but this one just blew me away. I would recommend that you go out and buy it, but it's not available yet. Oh well, a couple of more months, and you'll get to experience the things I talked about in this preview. It's worth the wait, trust me.