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A GORE-FEST THAT DOES NOT PAY TO BE BACK

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 40 / 41
Date: November 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The original SOF was a surprise sleeper-hit, developed by RAVEN, who also designed the SOF2: DOUBLE HELIX. They both were EXCELLENT FPS games!!

Unfortunately (as it turned out) the RAVEN group had nothing to do with this release. It was developed by CAULDRON who, I guess eager to please, overshot its mark.
Now, I enjoy a good blood-bath as the next guy - and the SOF series had always been gory and graphic. Who can forget the...crotch-shots reaction in the original SOF! (there was actually a..count of them after each stage, right after the head-shots!). Playing SOF-PAYBACK, however, never had I seen more limps get torn away, more blood-spaying torsos flanged back, more heads exploding like geysers . It surely deserves the M-Rating it got. The squeamish should not worry though, one can turn all this gore off - but why then play this game?

Graphically SOF-PAYBACK is nowhere close the latest major releases. Only the torn limps make good use of the engine's physics. Urban settings look like movie-studio lots; jungles feel like made out of plastic. In CRYSIS when trees get shot at enough they, well, fall. In SOF: PAYBACK they keep accumulating bullet-holes forever.

AI? What AI? It feels artificial and it sure is NOT intelligent. Your enemies do everything but line up in front of your sights. Currently there are many FPS games with good to excellent AI. This make SOF-PAYBACK shortcomings in this area show even more: total absence of defensive tactics, unnatural reactions and absolutely no use of their environment. Likely, there is a multiplayer to save the day.

The single player includes 15 levels and 40 weapons , all of which are customizable (with sights, ammo, silencers etc). The weapons look real but they are not - just close enough not to have to pay royalties. Hence their different names.
These 15 levels should take no more than 7-8 hours to polish off, so yes, on top of everything, this is a short game. Definetely not worth the $40.

Overall, this is a game that is not shy of depicting the immediate consequences of violence (that got it the 3rd star) but fails in almost everything else.

My Advice: wait for the rebates. Should be half-price by Christmas.

NON SEQUITUR:
This got released as it is - but THE WITCHER got censored for...language and some fleeing nudity?

Horrible

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 9 / 12
Date: November 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Let me first say I am a huge fan of the Soldier of Fortune franchise. However this third installment is absolutely atrocious! The developer definitely dropped the ball. The game play is horrible, limited controls, you can't adjust the visual settings other than the resolution, and sounds are the worst I've heard in a game. For example, if an enemy is shooting at you 10 feet away there is no sound, you can't tell if you're being shot at by an enemy or listening to the background noise which is repetitive and loud! The only way you know you're getting shot at is by the screen flashing! There is no GHOUL; you can easily dismember your opponent with a BB gun or take an enemy's arm of by blowing on it hard enough if you want. Forget about an interesting storyline this is easily a competitor for worst game of the year. Multiplayer is nothing like SOF 2 its soo bad I won't even comment because it makes me nauseous! In short I have nothing good to say about this game... 30mins after I loaded it up I wanted my money back. If you feel like blowing $40 bucks on a game that will bore you to tears before you even finish the 1st level go for it, but if you're smart wait till this game hits the $5 valusoft rack where it belongs and pick up something worthwhile like CoD 4 or Crysis.

This is part 3?

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 26
Date: November 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Fans of the previous installments, especially SoF2, are very likely to be disappointed by this. RMG? Not here. Video options? Maybe, if you're only planning to change the resolution. Fun gameplay? The enemy spawn behind you and whack you across the back of your head. In short, this is a budget title and it shows. Only it isn't priced like one. At $40 this is way overpriced. If you were a fan of SoF2 you have two options. One, you can buy it knowing it is a sequel in name only, or two, you can ignore this release and find something of higher quality. Another game that has a cd key, that was developed to compete, and has the fans in mind at the development stage.

The best scenario would have been to make it multiplayer only and to mimic the settings and options of the previous game with an upgraded engine. The second installment had the Random Map Generator which was certainly unique and would have been nice to see back for this one. As it is this is just a new game that is SoF-like but is a mess. No understanding of those things that made the previous game the success that it was is to blame. For that they will find that this game will have been a waste of time to develop.

I would have given it two stars if they had better game options, such as audio and video, and if the game had better audio in-game. I'd have a hard time justifying more than one star with this overpriced, uninspired, empty game. Which is too bad, as I was really looking forward to it.

I like this game.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 26
Date: November 19, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is not as bad as other reviewers have said it is. It's a budget shooter and it may be just a tad bit over priced right now. I'm sure it doesn't satisfy as a third installment in the Soldier Of Fortune series and most all of the negative reviews come from people who loved the first two SOF games and were expecting something along the same lines for the third version.

But, I like this game. It's fun and the graphics are really good. The only graphic options you get in the pc version are the resolution and things like mouse sensitivity. But, that's really all you need. This game runs smooth and with the 1.11 patch seems very, very stable. The gameplay is addictive. I can't stop playing everytime I start. You get to choose any weapon from the start of each mission and it's fun to replay each mission too.

I'm glad I didn't listen to the other reviews from people who are fans of the Soldier of Fortune series. I have really enjoyed this game.

VERY Disapointed

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: November 24, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I have to say that I am very disappointed with this game. I really enjoyed the first two Soldier of Fortune games but this game did not live up to the franchise.

My first complaint, this game is broken out of the box! Yes, some of the updates help (at least I have sound now) but it lacks the polish of even mediocre FPS.

Second, the aiming in the game is terrible. You can be 30feet away with a M249 machine gun empty 100 rounds with the sight on the enemy and not hit him once!! It is extremely frustrating!

Third, even the dismemberment which Soldier of Fortune is known for, is surprisingly lame. It is hard to describe, whether it is too much blood (making it look like a cartoon) or the poor physics implementation, it just doesn't work for me.

Fourth, the options menu is pathetic! The game is extremely limited on customizable video, sounds, playability options and the options that are available and poorly done (why do I have to scroll through 30 resolutions and refresh rates to pick the one I want... what is this 1998??)

Overall, I just cannot recommend this game to all but the must fervent SoF fans and even then wait until this game is about 10 bucks.. you will thank me..

Give it a miss

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: November 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I was excited to see a new installment of the SOF series was being released...but sadly, this is not what I was hoping for.

As the other reviews have already mentioned, this is a budget release in everything but price ($40 is waaaay too high for a budget game!). The gameplay is very different to SOF and SOF2, and fans of the previous two games are highly likely to be disappointed by the poor quality of this third installment. The enemy AI is non-existent, and the game as a whole is very boring and repetitive. This probably would have been a good game if it had of been released 10 years ago...but against todays games it just doesn't stand up.

Also, if you have Windows Vista then you will need to get the 1.1 patch for this game (yes, there is a patch already). I found the game to be completely unplayable on Vista without the patch (super super slow, and crackly sound).

Will you like this game? It depends.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 16
Date: December 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I had a lot of fun with this game. And frankly, I don't understand all the hate being generated at it. I've played the first two games in the series, and this doesn't seem to be much different, and in fact, is much better in the graphics department. The graphics and set-pieces are just stunning. Also, the dismemberment engine seems to work just fine, depending upon your weapon choice. I paid full release price for this game, and was not disappointed. Apparently, the biggest mistake the publisher made was in using the SOF license with this game, thus making angry a ton of loyal SOF fans. Although, as I said, I can't understand why, seeing as that the Single-player aspect plays very similar to the first two games. Maybe it's the multiplayer that's making everybody mad. I can't say, as I don't do multiplayer. All I can say is that I really enjoyed the single-player part.

There are some problems, but none that lessened my enjoyment. For instance, the levels are linear. Not as linear as the first two games though. The first two were extremely on rails. This one has opened things up quite a bit more in areas, although there are a lot of places I would have enjoyed exploring more. You can actually do some needless exploration in the cave system area, though never enough to get yourself lost. The enemy AI is nothing to get excited about either, but it gets the job done as long as you're not looking for too much realism. Gameplay-wise, I enjoy moving ahead, stopping, blasting a few baddies away, sniping a bunch more from far away, and moving on again. Enemies do spawn, which normally bothers me (in games like COD4 for instance), but here, they do not repawn endlessly, so eventually you'll be able to clear them out.

My favorite weapon to use in any single-player FPS has always been the sniper rifle. And here is where the game really shines. At the outset of every mission (consisting of a few levels each), you can choose your primary and secondary weapons. I always choose an assault rifle equipped with a scope (and silencer if you choose) for a primary, and a dedicated sniper rifle for secondary. There's a bit of tension in choosing this setup. Your primary scoped weapon will normally come with 200 to 300 rounds, and that's it. You won't find any more ammo for your weapons lying around the levels. When you run out of that ammo, you'll have to trade that weapon for an enemy weapon for the remainder of that mission. Ammo for the lesser enemy weapons is plentiful, though ammo for that weapon is exclusive to that weapon. So it's very important to make every shot count if you want to keep a primary weapon scoped. Conservation is important. However, I normally run out of my own ammo after a single level, and end up with an enemy weapon for the remainder of the mission, and that's fun too. I still had my secondary dedicated sniper rifle with 50 rounds for those emergency sniping situations. I just had to adjust to having no scope on the primary. I plan on replaying this game, this time trying to make it through with my original weapons.

As I mentioned earlier, the graphics are amazing. True, there are no advanced settings to adjust these graphics much, but it looks amazing the way it is. I'm playing it at 1440 x 900 on an Athlon64 3700+ with 2 gigs of ram and a geForce 7900GS/256, and I'm averaging 25 to 30 frames per second. My monitoring software shows only 50% of my ram is being used, so you should be good to go with one gig. I'm also using WinXp w/ SP2, so that may help too.

Continuing with the graphics, the set-pieces are incredible. Each level has a different setting and look, and are very memorable. Thus, I would have liked to explore more. Again, in this area, this game far surpasses its predecessors.

To sum up, each to his own. Gameplay-wise this game plays more like a budget shooter, while looking like a triple-A title. It's a little simplistic, but sometimes that's all I'm looking for. Did the job for me.

Underrated

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 8
Date: December 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is fun to play, sure it has a few bugs but as far as fun factor, its just that Fun. I would reccommend to anyone, it has pretty good graphics. There is a few downsides tho, like no chat button is a pretty big one. O well i like it and there is allways someone online to play with. Dont let the bad reviews fool you, this game is fun bottom line!

A little outdated but a good follow up

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 12
Date: December 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I played the original game and was astounded by the gruesome effects such as blowing off someone's arm, leg or even head! It was awesome in the 90's. But with this new installment, the graphics seem a bit outdated and it's pretty linear.

I agree that it is definately overpriced.

It needs to give you a prebrief of each mission before you go in so you can select the proper weapons for that mission. You just get dropped into a mission and then the girl explains what you're up against. But..Somewhere in the map, you usually find a cool weapon that will be needed to do well in the mission.

Enemy AI is spotty. You sneak up on a 3 man team and peek around a corner. They see you immediately from far away. They see you very easily but they blend in pretty good to the landscape so you take damage from far away and can't see their location. Good thing it takes a lot to kill you.

The saving points for this game is the return of gore! Crouch down behind a truck and take out their ankles. They jump around and then you can pick them off. Also, a crotch shot is hilarious.

Once you finish a mission, new weapons are available in the next mission setup. You can also upgrade/modify your weapons.

PLEASE PLEASE stop putting escort missions in these games where you have to protect a moron who walks right into enemy fire!! This was one negative point.

Also Vista has issues with this game that makes it crash hard and fast. The support at the website has a working patch and it runs much smoother after the patch is installed. It's also a very easy to istall patch.

So I give it 3 ot of 5. Better than average but has a few issues.

Enjoy!

Activision BUDGET says it all

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: December 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

What the heck is this crap? This is NOT even worth of soldier of fortune branding, but thats what you get when you have BUDGET in the production company. Maybe if they'd have stayed with Raven it would have been half decent.
But I still tried it anyway, thankfully I got it in the new/used section for $19 bucks instead of $40, and I STRONGLY suggest you do the same, IF you ABSOLUTELY MUST try this waste of code.
Yeah its fun to see the blood, but it gets old after the same baddie model shows up every third enemy. at least the rag doll physics were updated, but the dismemberment seems to have been toned down. Its too easy to blow off a leg, and in double helix, at least you still shoot of the foot or hand of the dismembered appendange, and remeber shooting the head bit by bit till the brain was out then, pop, it exploded on the next round? Nope, no more, a head shot turns the next into a crater from the chin up, no brain. which is about what I can say for the idiot who approved this game for release.
Two thumbs down and a third if I had another hand.
Save the cash and buy Crysis or maybe COD 4.

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