Soldier of Fortune Gold

Published by Codemasters
Developed by Pipedream Interactive
Designed by Raven Software
Platform: Playstation 2
Price £39.99
Released: Out Now

With perhaps the exception of Kingpin, Soldier of Fortune was the goriest FPS to date when it was released on the PC. Playing the role of John Mullins you are a hired mercenary who has to put a stop to world-wide terrorist organisation who has control of four nuclear weapons. Not too bad you might think, pretty much run of the mill FPS stuff. That it might be but the way in which you blow peoples heads, legs and arms off will be distasteful to most. Thankfully the ultra gore can be turned off if you decide you want to keep that last meal in your stomach and not all over your lap.

If you've played the PC version of the game on anything above a very low end PC then you'll be sorely disappointed with the smoothness of the game. No optimisation appears to have been made for the Playstation 2. The frame rate is low and inconsistent and even calm areas where there are few enemies seems to frequently get choppy.

Soldier of Fortune is fully subtitled. I don't know whether it was my television but I found the text to be flickering and slightly uneasy on the eyes. As I only own the one television I can't say if it was the television or the game that was at fault although I would think it unlikely that flickering text was intentional. The tutorial is also fully subtitled, which is good to see.

Graphically the game looks way out of date. Everything looks way too angular and it is obvious that the game is more or less a direct port of what can be considered an old PC title (we reviewed the sequel for the PC a while back). No attempt to add more sophisticated character models has been made and the textures look pitiful when compared to some of the better Playstation 2 titles.

For all the criticisms that we've made about the game it shouldn't be considered a bad game, especially if you're a fan of FPS games. The gamepad has been used quite well, although the option to use a USB keyboard and mouse is there if you wish to use, there is a deathmatch option if you want to take on your friends and the actual gameplay isn't too bad at all. It's just that ultimately it is a straightforward rehash of an old PC title with no sign of being optimised to use the power of the Playstation 2.

Overall Game Rating: 5.3/10 An uninspired port of an old PC title.

Deaf Gamers comment: Fully subtitled and accessible to deaf gamers.