Regardless of the controversy surrounding the game, Activision and Raven knew it would be a hit. It was, so a sequel was put into production and after a couple delays Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix was finally released – but maybe a bit too soon.

We all know that delays can kill a game’s hype or make it worse, and while some games turn out to be their weight in gold (Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time), some turn out to be pure crap (Daikatana anyone?). Activision knew this and they rushed the release of Soldier of Fortune II (SOF II) to get it out the door as soon as possible in order to bring in the money for the low summer season. While the remaining bugs and design flaws may persist they don’t detract from an overall wonderful game.

The first Soldier of Fortune relayed more towards the Quake type of first-person shooter instead of the more cerebral Medal of Honor. What I mean is the game was more run and gun with un-worldly weapons that showcased the game’s heavily modified Quake II engine and the different body parts you could dismember. A different route was taken in SOF II, where real-world locations and weapons take center stage. Sure the dismemberment remains – who would give up the biggest press-ploy of the first game? Now with added zones, you can take apart your enemies in even smaller pieces like maiming bits and pieces of their face off with a knife or decapitating their heads after you have knocked them out with a keenly placed pistol whip. What, you ask? Pistol whipping in Soldier of Fortune II?

It seems some slack-jawed yokel over at Raven got the bright idea that sneaking around behind crates and getting caught every single god-damn time would be fun for the money-paying customer, so they added in some stealth missions to keep things fresh and exciting. Only these stealth missions are about as fresh as a piece of cow carcass sitting in the Arizona sun for a week, and they are about as exciting as drilling a corkscrew into your thigh. The missions seemed like they were thrown in at the last minute and really don’t serve any purpose other than to frustrate the player beyond all means. The real kicker is, the first mission of the game is one of these, and it could detour players who are looking for a simple run-of-the-mill run and gun action game.

If you are one of those people, then Raven has also heard your call in the second flavoring added to your first-person shooter formula. Rail shooting is nothing new in video games, but it is rarely found anymore (except in Metal Gear Solid). This mode is composed of you being on the back of a vehicle of some kind while it is moving and other vehicles are chasing and shooting you. You usually have a big-ass gun so you don’t have very much to worry about.

One of the major features I was looking forward to, in addition of ripping my opponents limb from limb, was the Random Mission Generator that, well, randomly generates a mission. Usually these missions are composed of a wide open field in a valley leading to a town where a target is holed up in a building that you must infiltrate and destroy. Regardless of their repetitive nature, I found these one-mission expeditions very time consuming and fun. You can run and gun through an entire mission in under 10 minutes while dismembering and maiming everyone in your path. Plus, you start with some of the best weapons in the game, so pick up that Sniper Rifle and have some real fun.

As for the basics of the game, Solider of Fortune II is now powered by the Quake III: Arena engine that seems to still have some problems with outdoor environments, but things are getting better. The world of SOF II is neatly detailed and with the positional audio combined with the excellent graphics a vibrant, living world is created before your eyes.

As far as story goes, there isn’t much of one, but a game like SOF II won’t be affected by this too much. You are John Mullins, a Soldier of Fortune who works for “The Shop” and sells his services to the highest bidder. The government denies you exist and you are sent in to take care of things when they get out of hand, which they certainly do a lot these days. The main plot line is one to do with chemical warfare, hence “Double Helix,” and it starts nine years ago in Prague and leads you up to present day where you will enter into South American jungles and such for some heavy action.

Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix is a great game built by a great company. Raven keeps dishing out awesome games and we keep eating them up, I can’t see this changing anytime soon, unless they are taking notes from John Romero, doesn’t he deliver pizza or something? Anyway, any fan of the original game, or anyone looking for something after they are done breaking their dinner-plate Xbox controller with Halo can come over to Soldier of Fortune and find a quality first person shooter. With that said, I have some more bad guys to castrate. Hope you don’t plan on having kids...