Soldier of Fortune

A version for Xbox was planned but never released. The player takes on the role of a U.S. mercenary as he trots around the globe hoping to halt a terrorist nuclear weapons plot. The game, which was built with the Quake II engine, is notable for its realistic depictions of violence, made possible by the GHOUL engine, including the dismemberment of human bodies. This was the game's stylistic attraction and it caused considerable controversy, especially in Canada and Germany, where it was classified as a restricted-rated film and listed on the Federal Agency for Media Harmful to Young People, respectively. The technology creates 26 different zones on the bodies of enemies, allowing for vastly different reactions depending upon which one is targeted. The game sold well initially and critical reception was positive. Two sequels were released: Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix (2002) and Soldier of Fortune: Payback (2007). Fortune Online, a massively multiplayer online first-person shooter, was published in Korea in 2010, but its servers were shut down shortly after its release.

• Title — Soldier of Fortune • Developer — Raven Software Loki Software (Linux) Runecraft (DC) Pipe-Dream Interactive (PS2) • Publisher — Activision (Windows) Loki Software (Linux) Crave Entertainment (DC) Majesco (PS2) • Director — Brian Raffel • Producer — Marty Stratton • Designer — Jim Hughes • Programmer — Rick Johnson • Artist — Joe Koberstein Scott Rice • Composer — Chia Chin Lee • Engine — Quake II engine • Platforms — Windows, Linux, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2 • Released — Windows'Linux July 14, 2000 DreamcastJuly 26, 2001PlayStation 2 • Genre — First-person shooter • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer

• Illustration — Exploding an enemy's head using the GHOUL engine Soldier of Fortune is best known for its graphic depictions of firearms dismembering the human body. This graphic violence is the game's main stylistic attraction, much like the destructible environments of Red Faction or bullet time of Max Payne (both 2001). 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 victims to clutch their groin in agony for a few seconds before kneeling over dead. It is possible to shoot off an enemy's limbs (head, arms, legs) leaving nothing left but a bloody torso. In the final mission, players gain access to a fictional microwave weapon that causes enemies to either fry or explode, depending on the firing mode. However, nonviolence is 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 to surrender. The game also came with password-protected options to disable all gore and there is even a version of the game with the extreme violence permanently locked-out, titled Soldier of Fortune: Tactical Low-Violence Version.

In multiplayer mode, there are seven gametypes: Arsenal, Assassination, Capture the Flag, Conquer the Bunker, Control, Deathmatch and Realistic Deathmatch.

The story involves the theft of nuclear weapons, and the main enemy turns out to be an Afrikaner neo-fascist group based in Germany, led by South African exile Sergei Dekker. At the beginning of the game, terrorists steal four nuclear weapons from a storage facility in Russia, and proceed to sell them to various nations. This is a prelude to the acquisition of advanced weapons of mass destruction by this terrorist group. John Mullins, working for a U.S.-based mercenary ("soldier of fortune") organization known only as "The Shop", and his partner, Aaron "Hawk" Parsons, are assigned to prevent the nukes from falling into the wrong hands, and stop the terrorists in their plans. His missions take him to New York City, Sudan, Siberia, Tokyo, Kosovo, Iraq, Uganda and finally Germany.

Raven Software acquired a license from the monthly U.S. periodical magazine Soldier of Fortune (SOF) to produce a video game based on the publication. The game was built around a modified version of the Quake II engine. It was the first game to utilize the GHOUL damage model engine developed by Raven Software. This introduced the ability to dismember enemies in combat, adding to the realism of the game. Upgraded versions of the GHOUL system were later used in other Raven titles, such as Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix and Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (both 2002). The game was originally supposed to be much more realistic, featuring mostly real weapons, and the players taking damage would impede their movement and dexterity, depending on where and how many times they were hit. In 1998 the game was also supposed to be partially based in Bosnia and Herzegovina instead of Kosovo. The game is AMD Eyefinity validated. The game also made use of the Aureal Semiconductor A3D and Creative Labs EAX technology.

GOG.com re-released Soldier of Fortune alongside its two successors digitally on October 1, 2018.

In 2000, after receiving a complaint from a member of the public about the explicit content of the game, the British Columbia Film Classification Office (BCFCO) investigated and decided the violence, gore and acts of torture were not suitable for persons under 18 years of age. In a controversial decision, the game was labeled an "adult motion picture" and was rated as a pornographic film. In Germany, the game was placed on the Index List of the Federal Agency for Media Harmful to Young People.

Based on its success, Raven Software and Activision later published Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix in 2002, based on the Quake III: Team Arena engine. Initially released for Windows, the sequel was later ported to the Xbox. A third game in the series, Soldier of Fortune: Payback was made by Cauldron HQ and released on November 14, 2007. An MMOFPS based on the series, Soldier of Fortune Online, was published in South Korea by Dragonfly and went in Closed Beta on August 12, 2010 and ended on August 16, 2010.