Soldier of Fortune: History Lesson In Video Game Violence

by Chad Lakkis on November 13, 2007 at 1:11 pm

If you’re interested in becoming a hired gun, here’s a brief history lesson about the Solider of Fortune series that we received from the PR whiz kids over at Sandbox Strategies. Get your learn on after the jump.

Soldier of Fortune: A History of Violence

Soldier of Fortune is a 3-D Action shooter. Soldier of Fortune 1 and 2 have been developed by Raven Software while utilizing id Software’s Quake II engine technology. Activision, Inc. acquired the worldwide licensing rights for the Soldier of Fortune Magazine name and logo. Under this long-term agreement, Activision gained the exclusive rights to develop and publish interactive games based on the property across all platforms including Dreamcast, PS2, XBOX, PC and now the PS3 and XBOX 360. The franchise has immersed players into a covert world of international intrigue while delivering die-hard, killer-combat action. As a mercenary for hire, players have embarked on insurgent operations in political hotspots around the world while being deployed in the most explosive battles in gaming history.

Solider of Fortune 1

Story: Life under the radar…

John Mullins is a professional consultant with a long combat record and a reputation for getting the job done, when no one else can. In the first edition of SoF, Mullins must hunt down a Neo-Nazi group based in Germany, led by Sergei Dekker. Dekker and his cronies have stolen four nuclear weapons from a storage compound in Russia, and have sold them to various Third World countries. John Mullins and his partner, Aaron “Hawk” Parsons are employed by a US-based mercenary organization known as “The Shop”. As Soldiers of Fortune they are assigned to prevent the nukes from falling into the wrong hands, and to stop the terrorists at any cost. This seemingly impossible mission spans the globe, to locations such as Japan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the US, South Africa, Russia and Siberia.

Gameplay:

A controversial video game, Soldier of Fortune was best known for its graphic depictions of firearms dismembering the human body. This graphic violence is the game’s main stylistic attraction, much like geo-mod of Red Faction or bullet-time in Max Payne. The GHOUL engine enables depiction of extreme graphic violence, in which character models are based on body parts that can each independently sustain damage (gore zones). There are 26 zones in total. A shot to the head with a powerful gun will often make the target’s head explode, leaving nothing but the bloody stump of the neck remaining; a close-range shot to the stomach with a shotgun will leave an enemy’s bowels in a bloody mess, and a shot to the nether regions will cause the victim to clutch his groin in agony for a few seconds before keeling over dead. It is possible to shoot off an enemy’s limbs (head, arms, legs) leaving nothing left but a bloody torso. Non-violence is also a possibility, if the player is a good shot it is possible to shoot an enemy’s weapon out of their hand, causing them to cower on the floor in surrender. The game came with options to disable all gore, however.

Solider of Fortune 2: Double Helix (XBOX/PC)

Story: Failure is not an option…

Ten years ago Mullins helped smuggle Dr. Piotr Ivanovich, a leading Biopreparat scientist, out of the Soviet Union and into the welcoming arms of the United States. Now, “The Shop” has a new mission for Mr. Mullins. Dr. Ivanovich has discovered multiple instances of a viral agent with properties that link directly to old experiments from his Biopreparat days. This time it seems that the ex-Biopreparat scientists are digging deeper than before, all the way into the human genome.

The Mission: take down the mysterious global terrorist organization known as Prometheus and destroy the virus before it is released upon an unsuspecting world.

Game play:

The series’ focal point, graphic depiction of human bodily dismemberment, makes another appearance in Soldier of Fortune II. GHOUL 2.0, as the new engine was called, features 36 gore zones, allowing for increasingly detailed depictions of gore and carnage. A shot to the head can now blow away a chunk of scalp and expose the dripping brain beneath, and blown-off limbs will reveal jutting bones and spurting blood. At the same time, the gore was fashioned more believably, stylistically, than in the original game. More firepower is required to dismember or inflict open wounds.

Designed as a tactical shooter, the player character is more vulnerable to enemy fire, and while he can still survive more than a dozen bullets thanks to his body armor, a single explosion can kill him instantly. Additionally, weapon recoil makes automatic firearms increasingly inaccurate as they are fired, so if the player runs around firing continuously he or she will have difficulty hitting enemies. Running into the middle of a firefight will usually get the player killed, and game play requires a lot of ducking behind cover and leaning around corners to take shots; being more realistic than Counter-Strike in allowing players to lean around corners.

The enemy A.I. has also been drastically improved, and now fires from cover and uses squad-based tactics rather than simply charging straight at the player.

Unlike the original game, there are no futuristic weapons or sci-fi elements. The most advanced weapon encountered is the OICW, which is based on a former weapon prototype of the United States military. Hit damage is also more realistic; enemies do not absorb much fire before dying.

One highly advertised feature of the game was the Random Mission Generator or RMG, a feature that allows the player to randomly create a terrain map. The RMG also allows the player to select a variety of different map factors, such as mission type (i.e. escape, infiltration, assassination, etc.), time of day, type of terrain (hills, snow, jungle, or desert), etc. In theory, this allows for an infinite number of map permutations to play. The player could also modify an option known as “Seed” to determine how the terrain was mapped.

Solider of Fortune 3 Payback (PS3/XBOX360/PC)

Story: Getting dirty in the trenches…

When a routine escort mission goes horribly wrong, freelance mercenary Thomas Mason finds himself battling an insidious enemy that knows no boundaries. Traditional armies can not handle these extremists – only underground guns for hire can fight a war this dirty and get results.

Gameplay:

Soldier of Fortune: Payback evolves the signature gameplay of its predecessors with refined controls, tension-packed warzones, and an enemy damage system that may be shocking to even experienced FPS players, complete with excessive gibs, blood spray, destructible and detachable limbs, and squeamish death animations. Boasting more weapons options than any previous Soldier of Fortune installment, Soldier of Fortune Payback’s impressive arsenal includes an array of more than 30 weapons including sub-machine guns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, projectile explosives, weapon attachments and cutting-edge tactical weapons. Soldier of Fortune Payback will satisfy online gamers with many of their favorite online multiplayer modes including Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Elimination, Team Elimination, Capture the Flag, and Demolition. Additional online options include maps tuned specifically for multiplayer action and many server settings for custom online play.