Soldier of Fortune (VG)

Soldier of Fortune is a 2000 first-person shooter game developed by Raven Software and published by Activision originally for Microsoft Windows. It was later ported to Linux, the Sega Dreamcast and PlayStation 2. The game follows mercenary John Mullins, an operative for "The Shop", who is tasked with taking down a terrorist threat. Soldier of Fortune was highly regarded for its "GHOUL" engine damage modelling, allowing for an in-depth level of body dismemberment when killing enemies, which is rarely matched even nowadays.
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=Overview=
Soldier of Fortune uses a somewhat odd "weapon slot" system; there is a limited number of slots, and each weapon takes up a certain number of them. Weapons such as handguns only occupy one slot, while heavier weapons use up to three. Grenades are stored in a separate inventory that is shared with other utility items like medkits. All types of items can be carried at once, and how many of them can be carried is dictated on a per-item basis. There is also a knife that is always equipped and not counted within the inventory system.
At the start of each mission, the player chooses a loadout to deploy with, which is limited to five weapon slots and three item slots.
Most weapons have a "weapon special" function that is bound to the mousewheel by default. These usually consist of actions such as Mullins changing the position of the weapon (which Mullins sometimes does on his own, and doesn't actually affect their performance in any way) or performing some sort of animation with his gun.
=Handguns=
==Glock 17C==
The Glock 17C serves as one of two starting weapons in the singleplayer campaign (before players can equip their own loadout) and is also the starting weapon in multiplayer. In-game it is referred to as the "Black Panther 9mm" and its description attributes its origin to England (unlike the real Glock which was designed in Austria). Despite being loaded with what appears to be an extended 33-round magazine, it actually only holds 18 shots. The Glock appears to be John Mullins' weapon of choice, as he carries it in all of the game's cutscenes. The pistol has two "stances" that can be switched between using the "weapon special" function; these are a standard one-handed position, and a more centered two-handed grip.
Early footage and screenshots shows that originally the Glock held more rounds (at least 28 as seen in one screenshot) and fired in fully automatic before this was changed in the final game; some cutscenes still show Mullins firing his weapon in full-auto. Some promotional renders also appear to show Mullins with a suppressed Glock that was seemingly removed from the final game.
==Desert Eagle Mark VII==
The Desert Eagle Mark VII appears in the game as the "Silver Talon .44"; despite this .44 chambering, it holds 9 rounds like .357 Magnum version. It is the strongest handgun in the game, if not one of the more powerful hitscan weapons, easily killing most human enemies with a single well placed shot. It is also very accurate, making it perfect for scoring headshots. In some early levels, the few enemies who hold handguns will have their weapon determined by the handgun the player uses - for example, if the player chooses the Talon, enemies will carry the Talon and not the 9mm. The "special" function is switching between the left and right hand, as John Mullins is apparently ambidextrous with this weapon.
==Unknown Pistol==
An unknown pistol (resembing a subcompact Glock like the Glock 26) appears next to an issue of Soldier of Fortune magazine in the game's ending screen.
=Submahine Guns=
==FAMAE Mini-SAF==
The FAMAE Mini-SAF appears as the "Raptor SMG" and is rather oddly chambered in 5.56mm (but still ejects pistol-caliber casings). It is a decent all-around weapon, sporting moderate damage and accuracy with a high rate of fire, and is one of the more common weapons in the game, being carried by a large number of enemies. Like the handguns, John occasionally shifts the weapon's position, affecting the fire and reload animations.
In the game files, the Mini-SAF is referred to as an "assault rifle"; this is likely the reason for its 5.56mm chambering.
==MAC-11==
A MAC-11 with a suppressor is called the "Suppressed SMG". It incorrrectly fires from a closed bolt and also has a slower RPM than the real M-11's 1200. In-game, this weapon is commonly found in the hands of smarter AI generally. The MAC-11 is also Hawk's weapon of choice, carrying it in all of the game's cutscenes. The MAC fires a 2-round burst when tap-fired, despite the sound effect being a 3-round burst. It uses the same "9mm" ammunition as the Glock.
=Shotguns=
==Franchi SPAS-12==
A SPAS-12 with a green jungle camouflage is the only shotgun in the game, and is named the "B-42 (Berserker) 12-gauge shotgun". Unlike many of its videogame depictions, it fires in semi-auto mode, although John still pumps the weapon when equipping or reloading. It holds 8 shells, despite being modelled with a short barrel and magazine tube that should only hold 6. It is one of the two weapons given at the start of the introductory mission, and remains very common throughout most missions. The game's description of the weapon mentions the SPAS-12's folding stock and its hook, although neither are present on the in-game gun. The weapon's special function involves John tossing the weapon up and catching it.
=Rifles=
==Beretta Sniper==
The Beretta Sniper appears as the "Eagle Eye Sniper Rifle". The in-game model is too generic and low-detail to accurately make out as a Beretta Sniper, though the game's strategy guide has a detailed render depicting it as such. Whether this is simply a technical limitation, the game model being a low-detail placeholder that never got changed, or was remodelled to look more generic to avoid licensing issues is unknown. It somehow fires semi-automatically; more bizarrely, Mullins does rack the bolt action but only during the rifle's equip animation and at the end of a reload. It holds 6 rounds which is only possible if both the chamber was loaded and the magazine was full, though this isn't possible with the in-game method of reloading the Beretta, as Mullins will always insert rounds into the magazine through the ejection port (as if the rifle has a fixed magazine) but before illogically racking the previously shut bolt. Presumably to avoid introducing a new ammo type into the game, the Beretta Sniper here is incorrectly chambered for 5.56x45mm; despite this, it does far more damage-per-shot than both the FAMAE and FN Minimi which all use the same the same ammo in-game, with a single sniper shot on Challenging mode taking out the entirety of Mullins' armor or health bars. The weapon has a hi-tech scope that has an adjustable zoom level, which is controlled by using the weapon special function when scoped in.
=Machine Guns=
==FN Minimi==
The FN Minimi appears as the "M-75 Guardian heavy machinegun" and is the only "5.56" weapon to actually be chambered in 5.56mm in reality. The weapon is not only highly-damaging, but also incredibly accurate, though it has a somewhat slow rate of fire compared to the Mini-SAF and still only holds 40 rounds. It also posses a fictional grenade launcher built into the handguard that can be used to fire white phosphorous grenades (which is counted as 10 5.56mm bullets when fired).
==Browning M2HB==
What appear to be low detail Browning M2HB machine guns appear on quad mount turrets (which are all static aside from the final boss having some that attack Mullins) and also appear to be mounted on the game's tanks.
=Launchers=
=="M202A2 FLASH"==
The in-game "M202A2 FLASH" is a fictional rocket launcher clearly inspired by the M202 FLASH, and seemingly appears as some sort of fictional successor. The front of the weapon has a similar 4-barrel setup to the M202 but a more traditional "tube" design for the rest of the launcher. Instead of rockets being loaded into the rear of the weapon, this M202 is fed near the front by a detachable 4-round cylinder that drops out for reloading. Why exactly a quad-barrel launcher requires a cylinder that rotates after firing rockets is unclear. As is common in other game depictions of the M202 FLASH, it is depicted as firing explosive rockets. Primary fire attacks launch one rocket at a time, while the secondary fire rapidly launches all 4 rockets consecutively; this is a feature that the real-world M202 is often incorrectly stated to have.
Oddly, the launcher's name isn't consistent: the in-game description just refers to it as the "M202A2", the strategy guide calls it the "M202A2 "FLASH" Rocket Launcher", while the actual in-game text when picking up or dropping the launcher calls it the "M-1943 rocket launcher", and the ammo is called "NN-22" rockets when picked up and "66mm explosive rocket" in the inventory menu.
thumb|none|450px|M202 FLASH - 66mm
=="Slugthrower"==
The "Slugthrower", or its full in-game designation of "Heavy Hitter H-24 Slugthrower", is a fictional cylinder-fed gun apparently chambered for Gyrojet rocket rounds which themselves are named as "Gyrojet Minirockets". Visually, this weapon is a grey/black longarm with a skeletal stock and bears features from the Pancor Jackhammer such as the grip/trigger assembly, 90-degree bracket behind said grip, and (albeit shrunken) carry handle. It is however, not bullpup and the cylinder is not grooved. This gun's mechanics are odd as its cylinder is replaceable about as easily as a box magazine, and its barrel reciprocates backwards when fired. In handling animations, Mullins has a frequent habit of slap-spinning the cylinder and appears to only hold the weapon with one hand.
Functionally, there are two "fire modes" for the Slugthrower; primary attack fires (in full-auto) low-explosive projectiles for anti personnel purposes, while secondary fire launches a slower-moving arcing projectile (which suspiciously behaves like a ballistic grenade) with a higher explosion radius and the ability to stun targets caught in the blast. Using the secondary attack will inexplicably consume two rounds of the Gyrojet ammo, and emits a muzzle flash at the front end of the handguard (!) as if the weapon was fitted with an underbarrel grenade launcher. The Slugthrower's primary fire mode is very deadly against armored targets and becomes as much of a threat against the player as enemies in the final level are equipped with them.
=="M343D Flamegun"==
A seemingly fictional model of flamethrower is available as the "M343D Flamegun". Primary fire works as expected for a flamethrower, while secondary fire consumes 8 units of ammo and launches fireballs that arc into the air then explode upon landing.
=Explosives=
==C4==
C4 charges are referred to as "Plastique" in-game and are used as a "heavy grenade", having a longer timer than normal grenades and not being thrown as far but with a larger blast radius.
==M67 Hand Grenade==
The M67 hand grenade appears as the "HE-36 Fragmentation Grenade". The model is also used for the grenades launched by the FN Minimi. 
==Mk 2 Hand Grenade==
During a cutscene, Mullins tosses what appears to be a Mk 2 hand grenade at Sabre fleeing into the sewers.
=Armory=
The armory present in the New York front for the Shop has two textures of unusable weapons applied to the various shelves and sometimes mirrored. This includes what appears to be a Heckler & Koch P7, a Heckler & Koch CAWS, an AK-47-type rifle, a FAMAS, an early MP5, a Remington 870 with a pistol grip, a Heckler & Koch HK69A1, a suppressed MAC-10, an oversized Walther MPL and Uzi, a Carl Gustaf M2, and 2 generic swing-out revolvers.
Category:First-Person Shooter
Category:Video Game
Category:War