Software:Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix

Short description: 2002 video game

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

Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix
Developer(s)	Raven Software
Publisher(s)	Activision MacPlay (OS X)
Director(s)	Jon Zuk
Designer(s)	Matt Pinkston
Programmer(s)	Dan Kramer
Artist(s)	Joe Koberstein
Composer(s)	Zachary Quarles
Engine	id Tech 3
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, OS X, Xbox
Release	Microsoft Windows NA: May 21, 2002 EU: May 31, 2002 OS X WW: September 3, 2002 Xbox EU: June 20, 2003 NA: June 24, 2003 AU: July 3, 2003
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

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 Software:Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis (2001) and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (1998) serving as inspirations, rather than Quake (1996).

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

Story

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

Soldier of Fortune II is a shooter game played from the first-person perspective. 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. Alternatively, players can select the Random Missions Generator to create levels with unique parameters. 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. 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.

Gunfights are a major mechanic of Soldier of Fortune II. 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. Such modifications alter the rate of fire or add attachments like silencers, bayonets, and grenade launchers. 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.

Multiplayer

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 line with other online-enabled games on the Xbox, multiplayer on Xbox Live was available to players until April 15, 2010. Soldier of Fortune II is now playable online again on the replacement Xbox Live servers called Insignia.

• 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

Reception
Aggregate score Aggregator Score Metacritic (PC) 80/100 (XBOX) 61/100 Review scores Publication Score Eurogamer 6/10 (1P) 9/10 (MP) GameSpot 8.3/10 IGN 8.8/10

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 Software: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. The game was a nominee for GameSpot's annual "Best Multiplayer Action Game on PC" award.

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".

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

Sequels

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, Software: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.

External links

• MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers". This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months. The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing. A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school. Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information. In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount. This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign. A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art). Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel, and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million. The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager. Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface. This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue. Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.

See also

• IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions