Soldier of Fortune (PS2)

This is a genre of game I've traditionally associated with the PC first person shoot em ups are well suited to mouse and keyboard combinations for controls as they allow for countless amounts of actions. From changing weapons, walking, crouching or jumping, though difficult to get used to at first, the PC peripherals can offer a great deal.

I had high hopes for this game, and was interested to see how the controls translated to the relatively limited offering of the PS2 pad.

Unfortunately, the controls were the second problem I faced with the game.

The first thing that struck me was the terrible graphics on the introductory sequence.

The action unfolded from a third person view, in and around a subway station.

Apart from the striking lack of detail and sheer simplicity of the surroundings, two important factors which have come to be expected from today's standard of production the animations and lip sync of the characters' voices was also poor, kind of like when you watch a subtitled foreign film late at night on BBC2.

The game itself is very fast-paced from the start, which makes getting the hang of the controls no easier.

I was surviving purely due to the huge amount of health packs around when I first began playing this game it certainly wasn't down to any skill as a player on my part.

The animations were, at best, average, and while I did have fun blasting away for a few minutes, it seemed that was as much as I would enjoy the game.

My enthusiasm died quickly, the realisation setting in that the game was to be pretty much the same throughout.

The enemy, while plotting ingenious ways to cause havoc, don't seem to be terribly intelligent when it comes to gunfights and the lack of a challenge seriously damages the gameplay.

The bad graphics certainly didn't help make this particular game enjoyable.

Overall it just seemed the game was pretty unfinished all round.

Overall: 2/5