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Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix

February 22, 2024

"SOF2" redirects here. For the chemical compound, see Thionyl fluoride.

Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix is a first-person shooter video game developed by Raven Software, the sequel to Soldier of Fortune. It was developed using the id Tech 3 engine as opposed to the original's id Tech 2, and published in 2002. Once again, Raven hired John Mullins to act as a consultant on the game. Based on criticisms of the original game, Raven Software developed Soldier of Fortune II to be a more "realistic" game, with more modern tactical shooters like Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis (2001) and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (1998) serving as inspirations, rather than Quake (1996).

Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix
Developer(s)Raven Software[a]
Publisher(s)Activision
MacPlay (OS X)[6]
Director(s)Jon Zuk
Designer(s)Matt Pinkston
Programmer(s)Dan Kramer
Artist(s)Joe Koberstein
Composer(s)Zachary Quarles
Engineid Tech 3
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, OS X, Xbox
ReleaseMicrosoft Windows
  • NA: May 21, 2002[1]
  • EU: May 31, 2002
OS X
Xbox
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Like the first game in the series, Double Helix pushed the boundaries of depictions of gore and violence, and is considered more graphic and realistic than most in the first-person genre. This time around, the theme was germ warfare rather than nuclear terrorism. The multiplayer mode had five different gametypes, and playing through the single-player story, a player could choose from four different levels of difficulty.

An unrelated sequel titled Soldier of Fortune: Payback, made by Cauldron HQ, was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2007.

Story edit

The theme of the Double Helix is germ warfare, as the mercenary Mullins and his new partner Madeline Taylor travel to Colombia to investigate a viral outbreak in a small town, only to link it to a shadowy organization called Prometheus. The virus, called Romulus, is followed by a computer virus called Remus which is programmed to delete files on any computer in the world, in this case, files relating to Prometheus and Romulus, so an anti-virus cannot be formulated. Prometheus then plans to blackmail the G8 countries at a summit in Switzerland for billions of dollars. It is revealed throughout the course of the game that a mole inside The Shop may be feeding information to the terrorists.

Gameplay edit

Soldier of Fortune II is a shooter game played from the first-person perspective.[7] In the campaign, the player must complete a series of levels that encompass Soldier of Fortune II's storyline, reprising their role as special operative John Mullins from the first installment. Its campaign can be experienced through four levels of difficulty: Amateur, Gun for Hire, Consultant, and Soldier of Fortune.[8] Alternatively, players can select the Random Missions Generator to create levels with unique parameters.[9] Following the gameplay formula of its predecessor, Soldier of Fortune II primarily revolves around run and gun tactics, but also includes segments focused on stealth and vehicular combat.[9][10] The status of Mullins' health is indicated by the heads-up display (HUD). Health packs and armor can be found at different parts of the game or on downed enemies, allowing the player to sustain more damage.[8]

Gunfights are a major mechanic of Soldier of Fortune II.[7] As players progress through the story, they earn access to various new weapons and equipment, some dropped by downed enemies; these include several different rifles, machine guns, shotguns, sniper rifles, handguns, and explosives. Players may also customize most of their weapons with special firearm modifications.[11] Such modifications alter the rate of fire or add attachments like silencers, bayonets, and grenade launchers.[12] Mullins carries a toolkit and can use it to interact with the environment—disabling trip wires, picking locks, and cutting power lines among other actions.[8]

Multiplayer edit

In multiplayer mode, there are five gametypes: Capture the Flag, Infiltration, Team Deathmatch, Deathmatch and Elimination. The Gold Edition of the game adds an extra gametype: Demolition, bringing the number of gametypes in the game to six.

  • In Capture the Flag, all players are divided into two teams: a red team and a blue team. The objective is for one team to get the flag of the other team, located in the enemies base, and bring it back to their own base. Once a team hits the number of flags captured the team win the game or once the time limit has been reached, the team with the biggest number of flags captured wins the game. Killed players will respawn after a few seconds.
  • In Infiltration, all players are divided into two teams: a red team and a blue team. A suitcase is placed in a neutral location on the map. Both teams have different objectives: the blue team has to carry the suitcase to a rendezvous point, while the red team is to protect the suitcase at all costs, and to prevent the blue team from taking the suitcase to the rendezvous point. The round ends when either the blue team successfully brings the suitcase to the rendezvous point, the blue team eliminates every member of the red team, or if the red teams eliminates every member of the blue team. Unlike Team Deathmatch and Deathmatch, killed players do not respawn, staying dead until the end of the round.
  • In Team Deathmatch, all players are divided into two teams: a red team and a blue team. The objective of Team Deathmatch is to be the first team to hit the frag limit, which can be achieved by killing opposing players, and by avoiding death from opposing players. Once a team hits the frag limit, they win the game and the round finishes. Depending on the admin/creator's choice, friendly fire may or may not be allowed. Killed players will respawn after a few seconds.
  • In Deathmatch, players play with the same rules as Team Deathmatch, except that the players will now be playing by themselves. The objective of Deathmatch is to be the first player to hit the frag limit, or to have the highest amount of kills once gametime expires. This can be achieved by killing other players while avoiding death from other players. Once a player hits the frag limit, the player wins the game and the round finishes. Killed players will respawn after a few seconds.
  • In Elimination, players play with the same rules as Team Deathmatch, except with one major difference - killed players do not respawn. To objective of the game is to hunt down and kill members of the opposing team players whilst avoiding death. The team that manages to successfully eliminate the other team wins the game. Unlike Team Deathmatch and Deathmatch, killed players do not respawn, staying dead until the end of the round.
  • In Demolition, all players are divided into two teams: a red team and a blue team. The blue team's objective is to plant a bomb, which is given to a player at random at the beginning of the round, at one of two bombsites and to ensure its detonation. The red team's objective on the other hand, is to prevent the bomb from being planted by the blue team, and to defuse the bomb before it explodes if the blue team manages to successfully plant it. The round ends when either the blue team successfully ensures the detonation of the bomb, the blue team eliminates every member of the red team, the red team defuses the bomb or the red team successfully eliminates every member of the blue team. Unlike Capture the Flag, Team Deathmatch and Deathmatch, killed players do not respawn, staying dead until the end of the round. This gametype is very similar to the Bomb Defusal gametype of Valve's Counter-Strike series.

Reception edit

The PC version of Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix received mostly positive reviews, however, Ivan Zulic of IGN remarked that the game felt rushed, possibly in order to avoid cannibalizing sales of Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, an upcoming title from the same company. He also noted that as a result of its apparent premature release, parts of the game seem unbalanced or unpolished, presumably due to a lack of extensive playtesting.[18] The game was a nominee for GameSpot's annual "Best Multiplayer Action Game on PC" award.[19]

The Xbox version was heavily criticized since it did not improve on any of the PC version's flaws despite an additional year of development time, so it did not keep pace with the advancements in competing first-person shooter games. It also had graphics far below what was expected for the Xbox, with bland textures and a low polygon count that led Hector Guzman of GameSpy to describe it as a "PC to Dreamcast to Xbox port".[20]

The game sold 152,000 units in the United States.[21]

Sequels edit

Based on its success, initially released for Windows, Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix was later ported to the Xbox. A third game in the series, Soldier of Fortune: Payback, was made by Cauldron HQ and released in 2007. A MMOFPS based on the series, Soldier of Fortune Online, was published in Korea by Dragonfly and went in closed beta on August 12, 2010, and ended on August 16, 2010.

Notes edit

  1. ^ Xbox version developed by Gratuitous Games.

References edit

  1. ^ "Soldier of Fortune II goes gold". GameSpot. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  2. ^ Sanchez, Rick (September 4, 2002). "Soldier of Fortune II Ships". IGN. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  3. ^ "Soldier of Fortune II Now Playing on GameRanger". www.gameranger.com. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  4. ^ Marshall, Maclean (June 24, 2003). "Soldier Of Fortune® II: Double Helix For The Xbox Infiltrates Retail Outlets Nationwide". Activision Blizzard. p. 1. Retrieved March 24, 2003.
  5. ^ "What's New?". Eurogamer.net. June 20, 2003. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  6. ^ "MacPlay to publish Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix". Macworld. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  7. ^ a b Sulic, Ivan (May 22, 2002). "Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix". IGN. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  8. ^ a b c "Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix [booklet]" (PDF). Activision. May 20, 2002. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  9. ^ a b Wolpaw, Eric (May 29, 2002). "Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix Review". GameSpot. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  10. ^ "Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix". Eurogamer. June 17, 2002. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  11. ^ "Soldier of Fortune 2 Preview". IGN. April 24, 2001. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  12. ^ Ajami, Amer (May 17, 2006). "Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix Updated Preview". GameSpot. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  13. ^ "Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  14. ^ "Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  15. ^ Sulic, Ivan (May 2, 2002). "Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix". IGN. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  16. ^ Wolpaw, Erik (May 29, 2002). "Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix Review". GameSpot. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  17. ^ a b Gestalt, Eurogamer (June 17, 2002). "Soldier Of Fortune II : Double Helix". Eurogamer. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  18. ^ Sulic, Ivan (May 20, 2002). . IGN Entertainment. p. 1. Archived from the original on May 26, 2002. Retrieved August 2, 2011. …this sequel comes plagued with a lot of annoying, but minor bugs and questionable design decisions that could have benefited greatly from further balance, testing, and development.
  19. ^ GameSpot Staff (December 30, 2002). . GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 7, 2003.
  20. ^ Guzman, Hector (July 2, 2003). . GameSpy. Archived from the original on February 14, 2008. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  21. ^ Oldenburg, Don (December 10, 2002). "Couch-Potato Commandos". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 26, 2021.

External links edit

  • Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix at MobyGames

February 22, 2024
soldier, fortune, double, helix, sof2, redirects, here, chemical, compound, thionyl, fluoride, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenge. SOF2 redirects here For the chemical compound see Thionyl fluoride This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Soldier of Fortune II Double Helix news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2011 Learn how and when to remove this template message Soldier of Fortune II Double Helix is a first person shooter video game developed by Raven Software the sequel to Soldier of Fortune It was developed using the id Tech 3 engine as opposed to the original s id Tech 2 and published in 2002 Once again Raven hired John Mullins to act as a consultant on the game Based on criticisms of the original game Raven Software developed Soldier of Fortune II to be a more realistic game with more modern tactical shooters like Operation Flashpoint Cold War Crisis 2001 and Tom Clancy s Rainbow Six 1998 serving as inspirations rather than Quake 1996 Soldier of Fortune II Double HelixDeveloper s Raven Software a Publisher s ActivisionMacPlay OS X 6 Director s Jon ZukDesigner s Matt PinkstonProgrammer s Dan KramerArtist s Joe KobersteinComposer s Zachary QuarlesEngineid Tech 3Platform s Microsoft Windows OS X XboxReleaseMicrosoft WindowsNA May 21 2002 1 EU May 31 2002OS XWW September 3 2002 2 3 XboxEU June 20 2003 5 NA June 24 2003 4 AU July 3 2003Genre s First person shooterMode s Single player multiplayerLike the first game in the series Double Helix pushed the boundaries of depictions of gore and violence and is considered more graphic and realistic than most in the first person genre This time around the theme was germ warfare rather than nuclear terrorism The multiplayer mode had five different gametypes and playing through the single player story a player could choose from four different levels of difficulty An unrelated sequel titled Soldier of Fortune Payback made by Cauldron HQ was released for Microsoft Windows PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2007 Contents 1 Story 2 Gameplay 2 1 Multiplayer 3 Reception 4 Sequels 5 Notes 6 References 7 External linksStory editThe theme of the Double Helix is germ warfare as the mercenary Mullins and his new partner Madeline Taylor travel to Colombia to investigate a viral outbreak in a small town only to link it to a shadowy organization called Prometheus The virus called Romulus is followed by a computer virus called Remus which is programmed to delete files on any computer in the world in this case files relating to Prometheus and Romulus so an anti virus cannot be formulated Prometheus then plans to blackmail the G8 countries at a summit in Switzerland for billions of dollars It is revealed throughout the course of the game that a mole inside The Shop may be feeding information to the terrorists Gameplay editSoldier of Fortune II is a shooter game played from the first person perspective 7 In the campaign the player must complete a series of levels that encompass Soldier of Fortune II s storyline reprising their role as special operative John Mullins from the first installment Its campaign can be experienced through four levels of difficulty Amateur Gun for Hire Consultant and Soldier of Fortune 8 Alternatively players can select the Random Missions Generator to create levels with unique parameters 9 Following the gameplay formula of its predecessor Soldier of Fortune II primarily revolves around run and gun tactics but also includes segments focused on stealth and vehicular combat 9 10 The status of Mullins health is indicated by the heads up display HUD Health packs and armor can be found at different parts of the game or on downed enemies allowing the player to sustain more damage 8 Gunfights are a major mechanic of Soldier of Fortune II 7 As players progress through the story they earn access to various new weapons and equipment some dropped by downed enemies these include several different rifles machine guns shotguns sniper rifles handguns and explosives Players may also customize most of their weapons with special firearm modifications 11 Such modifications alter the rate of fire or add attachments like silencers bayonets and grenade launchers 12 Mullins carries a toolkit and can use it to interact with the environment disabling trip wires picking locks and cutting power lines among other actions 8 Multiplayer edit In multiplayer mode there are five gametypes Capture the Flag Infiltration Team Deathmatch Deathmatch and Elimination The Gold Edition of the game adds an extra gametype Demolition bringing the number of gametypes in the game to six In Capture the Flag all players are divided into two teams a red team and a blue team The objective is for one team to get the flag of the other team located in the enemies base and bring it back to their own base Once a team hits the number of flags captured the team win the game or once the time limit has been reached the team with the biggest number of flags captured wins the game Killed players will respawn after a few seconds In Infiltration all players are divided into two teams a red team and a blue team A suitcase is placed in a neutral location on the map Both teams have different objectives the blue team has to carry the suitcase to a rendezvous point while the red team is to protect the suitcase at all costs and to prevent the blue team from taking the suitcase to the rendezvous point The round ends when either the blue team successfully brings the suitcase to the rendezvous point the blue team eliminates every member of the red team or if the red teams eliminates every member of the blue team Unlike Team Deathmatch and Deathmatch killed players do not respawn staying dead until the end of the round In Team Deathmatch all players are divided into two teams a red team and a blue team The objective of Team Deathmatch is to be the first team to hit the frag limit which can be achieved by killing opposing players and by avoiding death from opposing players Once a team hits the frag limit they win the game and the round finishes Depending on the admin creator s choice friendly fire may or may not be allowed Killed players will respawn after a few seconds In Deathmatch players play with the same rules as Team Deathmatch except that the players will now be playing by themselves The objective of Deathmatch is to be the first player to hit the frag limit or to have the highest amount of kills once gametime expires This can be achieved by killing other players while avoiding death from other players Once a player hits the frag limit the player wins the game and the round finishes Killed players will respawn after a few seconds In Elimination players play with the same rules as Team Deathmatch except with one major difference killed players do not respawn To objective of the game is to hunt down and kill members of the opposing team players whilst avoiding death The team that manages to successfully eliminate the other team wins the game Unlike Team Deathmatch and Deathmatch killed players do not respawn staying dead until the end of the round In Demolition all players are divided into two teams a red team and a blue team The blue team s objective is to plant a bomb which is given to a player at random at the beginning of the round at one of two bombsites and to ensure its detonation The red team s objective on the other hand is to prevent the bomb from being planted by the blue team and to defuse the bomb before it explodes if the blue team manages to successfully plant it The round ends when either the blue team successfully ensures the detonation of the bomb the blue team eliminates every member of the red team the red team defuses the bomb or the red team successfully eliminates every member of the blue team Unlike Capture the Flag Team Deathmatch and Deathmatch killed players do not respawn staying dead until the end of the round This gametype is very similar to the Bomb Defusal gametype of Valve s Counter Strike series Reception editReceptionAggregate scoreAggregatorScoreMetacritic PC 80 100 13 XBOX 61 100 14 Review scoresPublicationScoreEurogamer6 10 1P 17 9 10 2P 17 GameSpot8 3 10 16 IGN8 8 10 15 The PC version of Soldier of Fortune II Double Helix received mostly positive reviews however Ivan Zulic of IGN remarked that the game felt rushed possibly in order to avoid cannibalizing sales of Star Wars Jedi Knight II Jedi Outcast an upcoming title from the same company He also noted that as a result of its apparent premature release parts of the game seem unbalanced or unpolished presumably due to a lack of extensive playtesting 18 The game was a nominee for GameSpot s annual Best Multiplayer Action Game on PC award 19 The Xbox version was heavily criticized since it did not improve on any of the PC version s flaws despite an additional year of development time so it did not keep pace with the advancements in competing first person shooter games It also had graphics far below what was expected for the Xbox with bland textures and a low polygon count that led Hector Guzman of GameSpy to describe it as a PC to Dreamcast to Xbox port 20 The game sold 152 000 units in the United States 21 Sequels editBased on its success initially released for Windows Soldier of Fortune II Double Helix was later ported to the Xbox A third game in the series Soldier of Fortune Payback was made by Cauldron HQ and released in 2007 A MMOFPS based on the series Soldier of Fortune Online was published in Korea by Dragonfly and went in closed beta on August 12 2010 and ended on August 16 2010 Notes edit Xbox version developed by Gratuitous Games References edit Soldier of Fortune II goes gold GameSpot Retrieved January 24 2024 Sanchez Rick September 4 2002 Soldier of Fortune II Ships IGN Retrieved March 25 2023 Soldier of Fortune II Now Playing on GameRanger www gameranger com Retrieved March 25 2023 Marshall Maclean June 24 2003 Soldier Of Fortune II Double Helix For The Xbox Infiltrates Retail Outlets Nationwide Activision Blizzard p 1 Retrieved March 24 2003 What s New Eurogamer net June 20 2003 Retrieved March 25 2023 MacPlay to publish Soldier of Fortune II Double Helix Macworld Retrieved March 25 2023 a b Sulic Ivan May 22 2002 Soldier of Fortune II Double Helix IGN Retrieved March 2 2019 a b c Soldier of Fortune II Double Helix booklet PDF Activision May 20 2002 Retrieved March 2 2019 a b Wolpaw Eric May 29 2002 Soldier of Fortune II Double Helix Review GameSpot Retrieved March 2 2019 Soldier of Fortune II Double Helix Eurogamer June 17 2002 Retrieved March 2 2019 Soldier of Fortune 2 Preview IGN April 24 2001 Retrieved March 2 2019 Ajami Amer May 17 2006 Soldier of Fortune II Double Helix Updated Preview GameSpot Retrieved March 2 2019 Soldier of Fortune II Double Helix for PC Reviews Metacritic CBS Interactive Retrieved October 5 2019 Soldier of Fortune II Double Helix for Xbox Reviews Metacritic CBS Interactive Retrieved October 5 2019 Sulic Ivan May 2 2002 Soldier of Fortune II Double Helix IGN Retrieved October 4 2021 Wolpaw Erik May 29 2002 Soldier of Fortune II Double Helix Review GameSpot Retrieved October 4 2021 a b Gestalt Eurogamer June 17 2002 Soldier Of Fortune II Double Helix Eurogamer Retrieved October 4 2021 Sulic Ivan May 20 2002 Soldier of Fortune II Double Helix IGN Entertainment p 1 Archived from the original on May 26 2002 Retrieved August 2 2011 this sequel comes plagued with a lot of annoying but minor bugs and questionable design decisions that could have benefited greatly from further balance testing and development GameSpot Staff December 30 2002 GameSpot s Best and Worst of 2002 GameSpot Archived from the original on February 7 2003 Guzman Hector July 2 2003 Soldier of Fortune II Double Helix Xbox GameSpy Archived from the original on February 14 2008 Retrieved March 6 2019 Oldenburg Don December 10 2002 Couch Potato Commandos The Washington Post Retrieved November 26 2021 External links editSoldier of Fortune II Double Helix at MobyGames Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Soldier of Fortune II Double Helix amp oldid 1198465152, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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