Introduction

Alternate thread title: Visiting a sewer on (almost) every continent!



BACKGROUND INFO
Announced in 1999 and released in 2000, Soldier of Fortune is a first person shooter developed by Raven Software. Supposedly, it's based on the real-life exploits of a guy named John Mullins. Beyond the use of his likeness, I don't think the game is based on his life at all unless fighting as a mercenary is just like how it is portrayed in action movies. It was advertised as being realistic but really what this means is that you can shoot the limbs off of everybody and people die in lots of gruesome ways. This game was pretty controversial when it came out, but it's been overshadowed by stuff like Manhunt and Grand Theft Auto.

You play as a fictional version of John Mullins, a member of the United Nations anti-terrorist group called The Shop. You're sent on missions around the world with your partner, Hawk, to fight terrorists. This is a fast-paced, mostly linear first person shooter. It starts off with a bang, then kind of hits a rut before it ditches any semblance of sanity and goes hog wild. I think it's a really fun game.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE LP?
I'll be playing and recording this, and my friends TBZ and ZuljinRaynor will help me co-commentate. This is a fun, fast-paced FPS that isn't very complicated so the commentary will be more laid-back. I don't have any plans to do the multiplayer at the moment, but there are still active servers so if I change my mind it is possible to do so.

A note about the difficulty level: I'm playing on Medium because of the way enemy respawning works in this game. Respawns are dictated by the amount of noise generated by either the player or other enemies, and any setting higher than the standard one means that a few gunshots will max out the sound meter (the lowest bar on the picture below) and cause large groups of enemies to spawn directly in front of me. Having to deal with giant amounts of enemies with limited health and ammo would turn these videos into a speed run. Also there's an annoying beeping noise that will constantly play.


Please don't spoil the plot or any weapons we haven't seen yet (seeing them first hand is part of the fun!)

Videos

#1 - Hostage Rescue	YouTube	blip.tv
#2 - Nuke Retrieval & The Armory	YouTube	blip.tv
#3 - Queen Bee Part 1	YouTube	blip.tv
#4 - Queen Bee Part 2	YouTube	blip.tv
#5 - Nest Egg Part 1	YouTube	blip.tv
#6 - Nest Egg Part 2	YouTube	blip.tv
#7 - Soldier of Fortune: Payback	YouTube	blip.tv
#8 - Lightfoot Part 1	YouTube	blip.tv
#9 - Lightfoot Part 2	YouTube	blip.tv
#10 - Sabre	YouTube	blip.tv
#11 - Dragonfire Part 1	YouTube	blip.tv
#12 - Dragonfire Part 2	YouTube	blip.tv
#13 - Jessica Six Part 1	YouTube	blip.tv
#14 - Jessica Six Part 2	YouTube	blip.tv
#15 - White Rabbit Part 1	YouTube	blip.tv
#16 - White Rabbit Part 2	YouTube	blip.tv
#17 - End Game	YouTube	blip.tv
#18 - Meat Grinder	YouTube	blip.tv

Briefings

Rather than have the video run for an extended time so people can read the mission briefings, I plan to post them here.

Update 1


Update 2


Update 3


Update 4


Update 5


Update 6


Update 8


Update 9


Update 10


Update 11


Update 12


Update 13


Update 14


Update 15


Update 16


Update 17

Weapons

On the default settings, you have 7 weapon slots. Smaller weapons will take up 1 slot. The majority of weapons in the game are medium sized and will take up 2 slots. Large heavy weapons will take up 3 slots. Before each mission you can fill up 5 of your 7 weapons slots with weapons you have encountered in the game. I'll show off every weapon in the game. A lot of the later ones are quite fun to use.


"Pig Sticker" Knife
The knife is quick and quiet. A few slashes will kill most regular enemies. You also get 5 spare knives to throw. The knives take some time to learn to throw well, but a headshot will kill unarmored enemies. The knives take up 0 slots and come free on every mission.


Black Panther
Loosely based on a Glock pistol, the Black Panther shoots 9mm rounds that don't do much damage. This pistol has moderate accuracy, but if you hold down the trigger shot placement goes all over the place. Even though it makes quite a bit of noise, the Black Panther is considered a stealth weapon. This weapon takes up 1 slot.


B-42 Berserker
This shotgun is based off of the Franchi SPAS-12. It is a semi-automatic 12 gauge shotgun that can tear through unarmored foes but does 0 damage to armor. Anything that isn't killed is stunned when shot with this weapon. It takes up 2 slots.


Eagle Eye
This fictional bolt-action sniper rifle shoots really fast for some reason and fires armor piercing 5.56 shots. It is also silenced and considered a stealth weapon. The Eagle Eye takes up 2 slots.


Raptor
The Raptor is a compact SMG that fires 5.56 armor piercing rounds. Visually it resembles an MP5K and its mix of SMG and assault rifle traits is like real-life guns such as the AKS74U. In-game, it is a very effective early weapon that takes up 2 slots.


Silver Talon
Basically a renamed Desert Eagle, the Silver Talon fires .44 Magnum rounds. It's as powerful as it sounds and can kill anything in a handful of shots. The Silver Talon takes up 1 slot.


Bulldog T-31
The Bulldog is a suppressed, compact SMG resembling the MAC-10. It shoots 9mm bullets really fast, but it is very inaccurate and does little damage. It also takes up 2 slots, even though the official strategy guide says it uses up 1. There's no reason to use it unless you want to roleplay as Snake Plissken.


M202A2 'FLASH'
If you watched the movie Commando you should be familiar with this weapon. Inspired by the real-life M202, the M202A2 has a loaded magazine of 4 rockets and can either fire them individually or unload all 4 at the press of a button. The rockets have fairly light splash damage so you'll have to get them close to their targets to make them count. It is the first heavy weapon we get, weighing a hefty 3 slots.


M-75 Guardian
Loosely based on the M249, the Guardian heavy machinegun is by far the most versatile firearm. It does a lot of damage and has near pinpoint accuracy, and uses the very common 5.56 round. The Guardian's main weakness is that it makes a ton of noise, but it can chew up anything the game throws at you short of a tank. Its alt-fire turns 10 5.56 rounds into a lethal white phosphorus grenade. The M-75 takes up 2 slots.


M343D Flamegun
The M343D is your bog-standard videogame flamethrower. It does damage over time, and you have to hold down the trigger to burn people to death. The alt-fire launches a napalm bomb that consumes 6 units of ammo. You only get 60 "shots" with none to spare. The M343D takes up 3 slots.


R-22 Microwave Pulse Gun
By far the most "sci-fi" gun in the whole game, the Microwave Pulse Gun is also the most fun to use. The primary fire laser is pretty useful for sweeping rooms or medium distance shooting and the alt-fire sends a blast that consumes 10 ammo and makes people explode into gibs. The R-22 takes up 3 slots.


H-24 "Heavy Hitter" Slugthrower
At long last, we can use this weapon. The Slugthrower is modelled after the real-life Pancor Jackhammer, and unlike many other weapons in this game, fires projectiles instead of being a hitscan weapon. It's pinpoint accurate and does a lot of damage. It's more damaging to armor than the regular shotgun, but the rocket troops still shrug off any damage the Slugthrower can give. Its alt-fire uses up 2 slugs to fire off a flashbang grenade that is very effective.

Characters

John Mullins
Born in Southwest Oklahoma, Mullins signed up for three tours in Vietnam. After his tours, which included some time in the PHOENIX assassination program, Mullins came home a hardened killer and signed up to work at The Shop, a top secret United Nations anti-terrorist group. Mullins and his partners are sent to do sensitive missions that can't be tied to any government and get paid for it. Even though this is supposed to be a realistic game, as Mullins you have a full range of movement and run and jump and lightning fast speeds that don't affect your ability to shoot.


Aaron "Hawk" Parsons
Hawk grew up in inner city Detroit and then later fought in Desert Storm. On missions for The Shop, he is often paired with Mullins. Hawk is your constant NPC companion, but he's mostly around to move the story along or give you hints as to what to do. He's voiced by Michael Duncan Clarke.


Sabre
Leader of the mysterious gang attacking the New York Subway system. His real name is unknown. His motives are not clear, but it appears to be that he wants to set off bombs underground to destroy unknown buildings above.


Sam Gladstone
Sam served as a Captain in the Vietnam War and later worked for the CIA. Now he works for the Shop, running a front business for them called Lasky's Books. Sam along with Hawk will brief you on your missions.


Sergei Dekker
Sergei is the leader of a terrorist group called the Order. His group was behind the theft of the nukes. He was also providing materiel to his brother Sabre's gang for their attack on the New York subway. Dekker used to be a colonel in the South African military before he was exiled.


General Amu
Amu has been mentioned a few times in the mission briefings already and gets his own character page in the strategy guide so I get the feeling he was supposed to be more prominent than he ended up being. He's described as a mad-man in charge of Iraq's weapons program but when we get to deal with him he's basically a coward.