Below are user reviews of Soldier Of Fortune: Payback and on the right are links to professionally written reviews.
The summary of review scores shows the distribution of scores given by the professional reviewers for Soldier Of Fortune: Payback.
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User Reviews (1 - 11 of 14)
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Worst Game Ever
1
Rating: 1,
Useful: 6 / 8
Date: November 28, 2007
Author: Amazon User
With all the good FPS games on the 360 there is nothing in this game to justify a 60 dollar price tag. I couldn't have been more disappointed in a title as I was in this one. The story is pointless, the AI horrible, the voice acting and level design all just as bad. You spend the majority of the game waiting for a wave of bad guys to spawn and run out in front of you. You then normally shoot those bad guys by aiming at the first one and firing a couple busts. Then you move on to the next spawn point, occasionally some bad guys will spawn behind you and usually at the end of the level you get to fight off a couple waves of bad guys.
There is a good selection of weapons when you start each level and you are allowed to customize them to a point, but since almost all your enemies throughout the game use the AK47 you almost always finish the level with it anyway. Which works out because there is very little difference between how the weapons handle and fire. It feels as though they are all the same with different skins on them. The level designs are incredibly linear. You will also spend a fair amount of time hung up on door frames, barrels and anything else you can think of. Your highly trained mercenary is unable to jump over any real obstacles. The only thing this game has going for it is the huge amount of blood and violence, but it really isn't enough to carry it through. The good thing is the single player campaign takes about four hours to make your way through. The online play is nothing at all spectacular.
If you are willing to deal with all the bad you can lose yourself in the pointless bloodshed for a couple hours. Though I would recommend a rental in that case, just so you don't feel so bad about throwing your money away.
I'm absolutly discusted...
1
Rating: 1,
Useful: 4 / 15
Date: November 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User
I don't even know where to start it is so bad.
I just wasted 60 bucks. The graphics are horrible, sound isn't any better.
I used to play SOF II on PC and it was good. This feels like an old game from early 2000. Just save your money and buy something else. pfff I went from excited to discusted.
They Proved Me Wrong
1
Rating: 1,
Useful: 2 / 3
Date: December 02, 2007
Author: Amazon User
The first thing that you should know about this SOF is that it was not made by the orignal game's developer, Ravensoft. Instead it was made by losers, who have no business making games.
Soldier Of Fortune Payback for the xbox 360 is a First Person Shooter (FPS) where you play a mercenary that belongs to a company called the "Shop" they send you trekking to countries in the middle of war or small battles against small military rogue units. The action still has the blood and gore which the series is known for, that aspect of the game is done well. You can target specific body parts on enemies and when you shoot them they will react and bleed profusely. In addition to enemies bleeding you can blow their limbs off (their heads also explode like water mellons). Sometime the enemies can be wounded and they will automatically pull out their pistols trying to get a revenge kill... *in COD4 this is called a "last stand".
So Payback sounds like a solid game no? I bought SOF on the faith that it would be a good purchase because I have been a long time fan of the series. The last two games were considered excellent multiplayer games coupled with a decent single player story mode. Payback however, is a lost cause. And I was thinking to myself there was no way that the developers can make it worse than the previouse versions because this is afterall a nextgen title. They proved me wrong.
The graphics are worse. The character designs look outdated and jagged. the animations have a few hiccups with framerate. The enemy AI whose only strategy is to run and shoot at you. They will rarely seek cover or try to flank you. There is no way the AI can employ much strategy against you because the game is very linear. And because of that very fact you don't have many options for tactics either. The worst offender for me though is that all weapons sound very much alike. from the shotguns, to sniper rifle, smgs, pistols and assult rifle. They used the same sound effects for all of the guns. Maybe the developers thought we wouldn't take notice of the identical sound effects...which is wacked!
Multiplayer is also lackluster, with only a handful of maps and even fewer game modes. The maps don't look bad but their sizes are much too big. Since there are only like four people online, You'll be hard pressed to find a full room of players and even with a full room, the maps feel much too big requiring players to search out each other for the fire fights. That spaciousness also creates moments without action and boredom. You'll also be hearing people commenting on the fact that the older Soldier of Fortune is still better than this itteration.
If I can convince just one of you people to save your money and not buy this junky game, then my mission is accomplished and I have fulfilled my new years resolution. Let's just hope that the original developers make a comeback and show us how it's done.
Pros:
+blood and gore
+ragdoll physics
Cons:
-stupid A.I.
-ugly graphics
-boring single player
-boring multiplayer
-bad controls
-dumb story
-dumber voice acting
-dumbest sound effects
-badly designed maps
-weapons don't feel right
RENT do not BUY
1
Rating: 1,
Useful: 1 / 1
Date: December 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User
I hate to say this about a game, but DO NOT buy it, rent it if you want an easy game you can beat over the course of a few nights. There is no reason to buy this game unless you plan on trying to find someone online to play, but there are so many other games out there that are so much better for that.
It's a pretty straight forward shoot 'em up with 'bosses' that are ridiculously hard to kill and a far from stellar payoff.
One of the worst games of 2007
1
Rating: 1,
Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 03, 2008
Author: Amazon User
Subpar graphics, dumb robotic AI. The level design is rather poor and the achievements aren't worth the time.
SOLDIER OF OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE
1
Rating: 1,
Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 13, 2008
Author: Amazon User
Outrageous price for a mediorce game.Old style play,old style graphics.rubbish storyline.It relys on its gory graphics to sell it,and apart fom the spraying blood even these are dated and not great. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!,you will get this game for nothing in a couple of weeks once everyone knows about it.I finished it on normal in one night and i did not die once.When you look at outstanding games like bioshock you have to ask if microsoft care about their reputation or their customers when they have the nerve to put such rubbish as this on the market for the same price.I sold it the next day before anyone heard about it and got a decent price for it,future buyers will not be so lucky.Buyers beware!!!.Soldier Of Fortune: Payback
really really dumb AI
2
Rating: 2,
Useful: 1 / 2
Date: December 02, 2007
Author: Amazon User
Pros:
- the gibs and copious amounts of blood are fun.
(yes that's right, that's the end of the pros)
Neutral:
- reasonable soundtrack
- straight forward shooter (aim, shoot, reload)
Cons:
- No save anywhere; checkpoints spread too wide
- Bad AI. Enemies either charge right at you (often not firing) right into the barrel of your gun, or they charge out into the open and sit there waiting for you to kill them; very few use duck & cover. Dumb friendly AI (a prisoner you're supposed to protect that runs out and sits there waiting to be shot)
- Ah yes, Middle Eastern terrorists. that ole chestnut. I half-expected nazis to show up. dumb story.
- minor page tearing (aka screen tearing aka v-sync problem).
- some occasional frame rate drops which even screwed up the sound.
- one scenario in this game uses infinite enemies; I hate that.
- goofy cut-scenes in which you have the bosses dead to rights at the end of your barrel multiple times but you don't shoot them for some reason again and again (even though that is your solitary objective).
- minor glitch with the soundtrack. at one point there were 2 overlapping soundtracks.
- glitch with helicopter boss? you shoot it, beat it, scene ends, but they were too cheap to show it blowing up or crash??
- you are supposed to be able to modify your weapons? it has placeholders for this, but I couldn't figure out how.
- short. 10 hours or less...
- easy. even on the most difficult setting you can still beat the game in 10 hours because the AI is so dumb.
I expected a lazy shooter with this title. that's what I got. but hitting the mark of lowered expectations doesn't mean you get high marks. of course you don't.
Uninspiring, Ugly...Avoid Like the Plauge
2
Rating: 2,
Useful: 1 / 2
Date: December 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User
Thank god I played this game with a free Blockbuster rental. The original Soldier of Fortune series broke new ground with it's visceral display of carnage...unseen to that time on PC's and the gaming public. Needless to say, I was quite interested in playing a new edition of the Soldier of Fortune franchise. Knowing that Raven software had no involvement with this title had me worried, however I figured I would give it a shot none the less.
Soldier of Fortune: Payback still holds true to the gore and carnage from previous installments. And that's about it...and this "awe" factor lasts for roughly 10 minutes. The rest of the game is composed of mediocre run and gun game play, choppy texturing, incredibly corny dialog, and visual effects that should have been native to an original Xbox...not an Xbox360.
Flat out, this game is awful and a poor addition to the Xbox360 FPS library. Even with a free rental coupon, I still felt ripped off. Is this the worst game ever? No. But it's certainly a contender to the worst of 2007.
Playability is all over the map. The control scheme seemed a bit awkward to me for an FPS. Some will argue this but I'm only speaking from my experience. Auto targeting seemed off and there were many times where I made a shot...multiple shots point blank...and they never connected. In addition, I expected more options available to me...perhaps better gun, enemy, vehicle and building interactivity. Maybe I've been too spoiled with games like Call of Duty 4, Bioshock, and Gears of War.
Graphically, this game would merit an original Xbox display. It felt flat and uninspiring on the 360 for a title like this. I expected more and felt dissapointed in the lackluster package. The gore looks good...but like I said, the wow factor on this goes away real quick.
I can't even recommend this to those who just enjoy run and gun titles. I feel sorry for you all who have paid MSRP price for this as it truly deserves as spot in the bargain bin of your local gamestop. Take this review for what it's worth but if you chose to make the mistake to play this like I did, make sure it's a cheap rental.
wait till price drops
2
Rating: 2,
Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 24, 2007
Author: Amazon User
DO NOT buy this game right now. wait until it drops down to like $20-30 and then get it. like other reviewers said there are alot of other great fps games out already
A Fun Shooter
3
Rating: 3,
Useful: 6 / 7
Date: November 18, 2007
Author: Amazon User
This game was a fun rental.I beat it in one night (about 4-5 hours) and found myself playing again on the hardest difficulty. Soldier Of Fortune brings back FPS to its fundamental roots,which is good ol' fashioned no-frills shooter ,that to my surprise was actually a satisfying game. Although the premium price tag for a game this short is a stretch, I can't see paying the full retail for such a short game,but its definitley worth renting for a playthrough. The graphics are decent ,although they might look better on my high-end HDTV than other HDTV's .The overall ambiance of the game is nice. In one level you walk on wooden ramps all along side a mountain in the jungle with waterfalls in the distance, its actually moderately scenic. And the explosions look pretty good in the very first level you encounter. The game isn't too hard either ,even on the hardest difficulty Im finding a rather enjoyable time of it,and the bosses aren't very challenging,but some have there times when there tough. But the overall difficulty of the game is satisfyingly good as you will encounter some flanking .I love the ability to put a scope on just about any weapon , this makes for a great advantage over the enemies you encounter. Go into just about any mission with an AK47 scoped and you'll have plenty of ammo to scavage,since thats the weapon of choice of your foes. The guns handle very well,almost too well too the disliking of your foes. I also like that there's no medpac scavaging & hoarding ,you simply regain health by taking cover ala halo & gears. Also I don't think I've dismembered so many body parts since playing the first Bloodrayne; and Solider of Fortune:Payback even makes FEAR look like sesame street in the 'loss of limbs dept'. Shoot an enemies leg and arm off and you'll see him crawl away with the remaining 2 limbs , all the while still trying to shoot you,and some even manage to pop off a last round or too at you before they bleed out. This game is very high on the 'dismemberment' list of games as every foe will manage to lose a head,arm,or torso from your Assault rifle of choice. Another great thing is right from the get-go can customize your rifle before going into a mission. I highly suggest equipping an AK47 with a scope as you'll find plenty of ammo,and you never have to lose your scoped-weapon mid-mission because of ammo supply being out,with exception to the last level.Overall this game is a no-frills FPS that just has the right amount of equal parts ,gameplay,graphics,and overall fun that makes a solid FPS. The levels shading through the trees reminds me of some of the GRAW2 multiplayer maps and RSV maps, although much less open and more linear,but equally decent eye candy. Is there any slo-mo effect ,or timeshifting powers ,or team managment,or some thrown in vehicle on rails level..No Not at all ..Soldier Of Fortune is just a solid no-frills shooter that's just satisfying enough that you won't care its a basic shooter. Its just pure simple shooter fun,and sometimes that's all you need after a day's hard work. Rent this one .PEACE
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