Review
Activision's Soldier of Fortune sounds like a movie or television drama title; in fact, maybe they should make it one! The idea that the U.S. government's regulations and code of conduct put restrictions on undercover operations, whereby allowing a group such as paramilitary soldiers to take care of domestic and international terrorism, makes for a great story-driven plot. Complete with wonderful voice acting and a plethora of cut-scenes, what more could an action game fan want?
This first-person shooter isn't really linear; it involves undercover stealth missions, in-between briefings, and all-out frag fests and multi-player mayhem. Though not exactly a very long game, each mission is at least somewhat unique. Going to different countries is one of the best aspects of the game. The other is the "rest period" where you learn about your next mission, beef up on ammo, armor and weapons, and basically take a breather. Unfortunately, talking to some of your staff is pointless as they give no clues, and thus the only folks you need to deal with are the main characters (Hawk and Gladstone).
No other game up to this point -- not even Quake III Arena -- has the bloodiest and goriest decapitations. The realistic way of shooting off a hand, leg, arm, head, foot... you name it, this game's got it! Even when they're on the ground twitching, you can still take out a piece of them; it's that real. Remember not to shoot any innocent people that you have to rescue (remember Virtua Cop and Die Hard Trilogy?) or even your own teammates; too many friendly frags will end your game rather abruptly. As well, you can even shoot up everything in sight, affecting just about any object in the background such as mirrors, garbage cans, phones, windows, thin walls, tables, chairs, etc. Holes form all over the place!
The landscape and textures in the game are superb, as is the animation. Obviously some of it may be considered gross, but of course this is rated for mature audiences. Everything else is pure eye candy, and sure, not everything is rounded and not every color in existence is here but you get a pretty good idea of the realism involved. The only "problem" is that the faces of the characters are somewhat flat, but at least their lips move when they talk, their eyes blink and their heads turn. You also get a good sense of realistic physics where ricocheting bullets and earthquake trembles are concerned.
Speaking of moving lips, the voice acting is done very well in fact. The synching is okay but the quality you get is emotionally driven dialogue and none of the fluff from other games. Sound effects are supreme and would best be heard on a good theatrical system set-up. Guards are heard in the distance just like in Medal of Honor for the PlayStation, so be careful of your surroundings. Some of them even talk about nonsense stuff, like in Thief. The music is also an intricate part of the game, setting the mood and tone for a war-like environment: sometimes soft, sometimes loud.
If you're bent on eliminating terrorist threats by skinheads, Saddam Hussein's army, Russian mafias or even New York mobsters, then take a lesson from the Soldier of Fortune and tear open a new one.
Graphics 
This game is one of the better ones in terms of visual realism. It might not have the biggest palette but all of the 3D objects can be altered in some way and everything is based physically on the real thing. The frame rate is also pretty good.
Sound
Music is appropriate and the sound effects are top-notch with plenty of ambience depending on where you're located. The best part of the sound is the voiceovers, with some pretty good acting for an action game of this kind.
Enjoyment
SOF takes you into the game and doesn't let you go. You want to make it pass the levels just to see a cut-scene even. It's a challenge and a great way to kill some stress by blowing up terrorists.
Replay Value 
Once you're done with the game in single player mode, the only thing left to do is to play multi-player, which is pretty good but nothing like Unreal Tournament.
Documentation 
The 38-page black and white manual is very detailed and includes pictures from the game. It explains everything with easy-to-read terms.
