Difficulty:

Easy

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Guilty pleasure"

So...I actually love this game. Sue me.

It's not great. It's not even good. But I love it. It actually lacks flash AND substance. But I love it.

I'm a sucker for a solid shooter, and this is a solid shooter. It's straightforward gunplay and mayhem with manageable weapon selection. I can live with that in a gaming experience.

Now, the graphics aren't up to snuff as far as some new releases are concerned-that's true. But they are enough to get you into the realm that the creators want you to be in. Which is to say that they want you to develop an odd affinity towards your bloodlust.

And speaking of bloodlust, let's talk about the violence in this game. It's not pretty in two ways: video game graphic standards of today & for the human mind to engage.

When I shoot an enemy's leg off, I really don't think that that severed limb is going to spin around on it's heel for two minutes until it magically disappears.

And, not to be morbid, but I enjoy realism. When I kill about 30 angry fellas throughout a level-I want bodies. I want proof of my domination.

And therein lies the largest fault with this game. There's a lack of satisfaction. It's such mundane FPS territory that I feel like I've beaten the same game already. It's got an early 90's feel to it (which isn't an insult) that leaves you wanting for some greater glory. The previous SOF installment, DOUBLE HELIX, granted the player a kind of success & the sort of appropriately bloody engagements a hardcore shooter fan deserves (especially within the multiplayer aspects).

In conclusion, SOLDIER OF FORTUNE: PAYBACK isn't horrible, but it isn't amazing either. It is what it is. And I enjoy it's no holds barred approach to gameplay-no matter how quickly it may have been thrown together. You want a shooter? You want gore? You got it.