SOLDIER OF FORTUNE: GOLD EDITION (PS2)
						Graphics: 3 Sound: 7 Gameplay: 4 Replay Value: 8 Reviewer's Tilt: 8 Overall: 4.3
			My reviewer's tilt says it all. Soldier of Fortune could have been a superb first person shooter, but it simply fails to do so due to its outdated graphics and textures, poor framerate, crappy controls and extremely horrible music and sounds. However, the fun factor is really high because a) it's gory, and b) it's a first person shooter. However, SOF fails to give us all it can. The creators had an excellent idea with content, but the execution is where the game falls flat on its face. First off, the graphics look like they came out of a PSX game. The textures are all very, very horrible. The character models are exceptionally crappy, and the framerate in multiplayer is at about 10 to 30 FPS (if you're lucky). This is not a pretty sight, and makes the player feel helpless during combat when trying to control the character due to this framerate problem. Even in the single player missions, the game might have a brief pause before an enemy comes on screen. Speaking of multiplayer, this is the worst multiplayer experience I have ever had. Sure, the graphics still suck, but the AI is the worst you'll ever see. These guys will run into walls, and keep running the rest of the game. They'll also jump off buildings repeatedly, and keep killing themselves, etc. You actually have to play multiplayer at least once to experience the evil, disgusting crap that awaits. The pistol is hard to use in both forms of play, and it's really a shame that an auto-aim wasn't added. The weapons are really crappy, and it's extremely hard to select a weapon because of the setup. You have to select a gun quickly or the on-screen window will disappear. It's really hard to explain, so you should try it. Plus, one of the directional arrows makes you use your grenades and other weapons, and the other directional arrow selects guns. The setup is confusing and definately not friendly. We can only hope this, along with a glob of other problems, will be fixed in the upcoming PC sequel, Soldier of Fortune 2: Double Helix. This game is easily a love-hate game. A player must be brave enough to play through the game and ignore its amateur feel, ignore the constant glitches, graphical bugs, and crappy PSX textures throughout. You must let the game suck you in. I don't recommend spending $50 on this game; this game is only worth half that price. If you can find it for about half the price, then I'd get it. But be warned: It takes some time to get to like this game. It's not impossible like State of Emergency, yet it's not as user friendly as something such as Castlevania: SotN. What I'm trying to say is, even though this game has its major flaws, it's not all that bad. It's definately not a purchase though. In fact, the game is really huge, but you may not want to keep playing for too long.