User Rating: 9 | Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix PC
This game has rather steep system requirements, but like Tribes 2 if you have a capable gaming machine then the game will play damn well and look damn fine as well. However the single player campaign has a few scripting bugs and although very enjoyable at parts it can prove tedious to others. I loved the single player campaign, although the story seemed sort of campy like Metal Gear Solid with bio rather than nuclear weapons, and it got frustrating at times. Of course my FPS playing skills have improved radically from playing SoF2 on the higher difficulty settings. I would also like to bash Activision and their marketing crew for calling SoF2 "realistic". Oh yeah... before I forget the stealth missions were painful to play... I also found that ammo was too plentiful in the game making the game on the hardest difficulty setting (Soldier of Fortune) sort of easy (lather, rinse, repeat with the M4 or OICW or USAS-12). I'm not saying the game is cakewalk on that setting, but there's no tension when you have a bunch of extra guns and ammo lying everywhere. I would have tanked the gameplay even greater if it had not been for SoF2's robust multiplayer and the great selection of MODS on the internet. Although not a CS killer by all means, it does provide a refreshing and prettier alternative to that landmark game. Hopefully Raven will do wonders with Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy and Quake 4. I purchased SoF2 last May, I guess I've been lazy in putting a review, but the game has done well this past year, although the single player is rather unforgettable (hence an 8 rather than a 9 for gameplay) and generic although f*cking intense, the multiplayer saves the day with quick, frenetic gameplay. I find the game to be tough on newbies though, they die too quick... All in all the poor scores for this game are rather unjustified since it minimum requirements are crap, you need at least a GeForce 3 or Radeon 8500 (Geforce 2 and Radeon 7500 barely cut if for higher detail). If you don't have the hardware, but have an Xbox don't miss out on this game. It's awesome decently long and with its multiplayer superb staying power.
