Metascore
59 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 14 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 14
  2. Negative: 6 out of 14
  1. Parents should strictly heed the Mature rating on this game – everyone else, take your shot. Literally.
  2. The missions are playable, but nothing to write home about and in fact if it wasn’t for the gore there would really be nothing to recommend this at all. Oh, and it takes bloody ages to load.
  3. Action fans will have little room for complaints, however--Soldier of Fortune promises "action movie" gameplay and delivers. Each firefight is a challenge, and the detailed, though gruesome, enemy model animation enhances the realism.
  4. 70
    Your enemies look and sound like people, but the environments seem grainy and uninspired, and “atmospheric” music pipes through like an orchestra with a head cold.
  5. The carnage does fly in this game, only the problem is that it’s all done unrealistically. You won’t believe how easy it is to blow an enemy’s limb off or blow a head clean off even with something as simple as a .44 pistol. And seconds after you kill somebody, the body melts away to nothing.
  6. Another thing that really sets this game apart is its rather obscene reliance on gore. [Jan 2002, p.136]
  7. I can't help but feel that it's the same kind of rushed-out crap that gets tossed into the bargain bin at your favorite game store just weeks after its release.
  8. Framerate lag (stuttering graphics) cuts into some of the more action-packed bullet storms, potentially ruining key game moments. [Jan 2002, p.222]
  9. 45
    We have seen awesome games that do everything right, from quick load times to speedy framerates, to beautiful production values, to tight controls, to just being original games. SoF Gold is problematic in every one of these categories.
  10. If you're looking for the thinking man's shooter, then keep searching. Soldier of Fortune is all about the mindless yet blissful twitch.
  11. Apart from the controversial violence contained within, there's little of real value here. [Jan 2002, p.83]
  12. You can be quietly gnashing your teeth for almost a minute on occasion for all the loading to be completed.
  13. The framerate clicks in at a slow 30-fps, the controls are shifty, and the graphics are ordinary. [Feb 2002, p.61]
  14. The multi-player modes and maps in "Gold Edition", which are exclusive features for this PS2 port that were meant to be selling points, are sabotaged by control and graphics that are far below the standards of competing FPS titles on the system.
User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 14 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 10
  3. Negative: 1 out of 10
  1. BenH.
    10
    Best multiplayer online game ever made. Pffft at cs its **** compared to this.. too many diehard fans destryiony fps's today for crappy games.
  2. TravisP.
    8
    Shoot the guys leg off! Enough said!...Addictive too!
  3. AdamB.
    4
    I'd rather play the first edition of Duke Nukem than this title, a waste of £39.99 if you ask me. Rent it, Don't buy it!