Soldier of Fortune: Payback thinks it's okay to play with dolls
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Oct 9th 2007 at 3:00AM }
Ragdolls, that is. Brought to you by the creepy kids who tore the arms off their action figures, Soldier of Fortune: Payback declares war on subtlety, good taste and the important bits that keep your limbs connected to the rest of your body. The brief video above is demonstration enough of the game's absurd level of violence, don't you think? Its composition of gory decomposition should give the ESRB a grand old time and players a hearty chuckle -- proof that over-the-top, Verhoeven-esque violence is still funny... or that years of desensitization have turned us into heartless murder machines. We just don't know, Jack.
What we do know is that if Soldier of Fortune: Payback is anything like its predecessors, utterly generic gameplay won't stop it from surfing a bloody torso all the way into the spotlight. (Like it just did when we posted this video!)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
C.A. @ Oct 9th 2007 3:10AM
I'm all for violence in games, whoohoo. That's a bit overboard though. I think it's pretty bad when you question whether something is even worth playing when it's that ridiculous.
Dracard @ Oct 9th 2007 3:19AM
No way is that any more overboard than the second Soldier of Fortune game.
DWells55 @ Oct 9th 2007 4:38AM
I agree, it's completely over the top to the point where it's stupid. Sorry, but a 5.56mm round is absolutely not going to do that to a human. Gore like that is just pointless; people don't actually fall apart like that.
mfed3 @ Oct 9th 2007 3:26AM
then dont play it. if youve ever played the other sofs, they are the same way with dismemberment. gears of war is 10x worse. download the sof2 pc demo if u dont believe me. theyre really fun. stop judging games by their gore and look at it for what it is: multiplayer fun. its just a game.
Jake @ Oct 9th 2007 8:48AM
Gears isn't this gory. In Gears, you can blow an enemy to bits, take their head off, or chainsaw them in half. There is far less blood and the characters look like sci-fi aliens and inhuman wrestler dudes.
This game has a realistic art style, ridiculous amounts of blood that stay on the ground and keep spurting, and the fact that a .223 caliber bullet is somehow capable of just shedding limbs off.
Not saying this is a bad thing. I don't think it adds or takes much away from the game outside the first few hours with it. But Gears is not 10X worse.
Jake @ Oct 9th 2007 8:48AM
Gears isn't this gory. In Gears, you can blow an enemy to bits, take their head off, or chainsaw them in half. There is far less blood and the characters look like sci-fi aliens and inhuman wrestler dudes.
This game has a realistic art style, ridiculous amounts of blood that stay on the ground and keep spurting, and the fact that a .223 caliber bullet is somehow capable of just shedding limbs off.
Not saying this is a bad thing. I don't think it adds or takes much away from the game outside the first few hours with it. But Gears is not 10X worse.
ThornedVenom @ Oct 9th 2007 3:27AM
I just hope naysayers realize that ragdoll physics don't always make a game realistic enough to be believable (for "murder simulation" jimbojatka). Limbs and heads exploded all over the place, with enemies still trying to get up? WTF? If you're a noob who can't detect the difference between fantasy and reality in this game, then you fail at life.
Zarim @ Oct 9th 2007 3:30AM
I'll never leave my room again for fear of someone throwing a rock at my shoulder and knocking it off.
FPSfan @ Oct 9th 2007 3:35AM
Really looking forward to this, I loved SoF2 and I cann't wait.
Although I thought that the blood looked kinda like a powder then blood but it still looks great.
kingrottenboy @ Oct 9th 2007 3:37AM
at work we played multiplayer SOF2 all the time, its was a great multiplayer title. My only worry though, is my friend got to talk to a guy at activision at one of the video game shows, and he said raven is not doing this SOF, its actually thier VALUE SOFTWARE DEVELOPER, now I will totally give them the benefit of the doubt, and it looks good. by the way, i don't know if this is known, but when asked why RAVEN was not working on it, he said they were working on the new castle wolfenstein game. I would perfer them do SOF myself.
psyborg @ Oct 9th 2007 4:41AM
personally I'd much rather have a new Wolfenstein.
The3rdNuisance @ Oct 9th 2007 12:28PM
They have Raven making a new Wolfenstein title? The heck.
Why, Raven, why can't you stick to your own IP's!? Quake 4 is a barren landscape! same message goes out to Treyarch, and these guys.
psyborg @ Oct 9th 2007 4:38AM
DAY FUCKING 1
David @ Oct 9th 2007 4:44AM
Wow, I didn't know bullets popped your arms like that!
Papa @ Oct 9th 2007 4:53AM
Don't know why some people are going crazy over this. All SoFs were like this.
Brian Fantana @ Oct 9th 2007 6:07AM
A little over the top. Almost to the point of ridiculous. But it atually looks like it'll be pretty good.
mfed3 @ Oct 9th 2007 10:47AM
yea definitely too over the top, limbs shouldnt be severed unless its with a high calibur rifle or shotty up close. that just looks stupid knocking limbs right off with weapon spray.
WiNG @ Oct 9th 2007 7:19AM
Eventually they will make a game in which you shoot someone, and he falls over as blood and bile spill out of him, and he starts pissing himself and crying and screaming out his son's name while coughing out more blood, and wrenching around in spasms making inhuman screams.
And somewhere there will be a sicko writing "DAY FUCKING ONE" about that game.
society = fail
Lord Chako @ Oct 9th 2007 3:49PM
Why? Because some people are capable of distinguishing between fantasy and real life? Pointing a cursor at a computer animated character is not the same as shooting someone in real life. All civilized members of "society" know this.
You don't give people enough credit.
Freelance @ Oct 9th 2007 8:12AM
Wow, look like just what the mature 13 year old gamer wants!
zero @ Oct 9th 2007 8:28AM
It doesn't look that bad to me honestly...
Julius Laitila @ Oct 9th 2007 8:41AM
Don't know about you guys but i much prefer this over the fall over and die thing. I hate it when i get a headshot and the guy just falls backwards and nothing else. It may be overdone but does it really matter? I'm 19 btw, so im not some immature kid.
TRUTH @ Oct 9th 2007 9:07AM
WOW That Looks F-in SWEEEET!!!!
*Didn't like that redicle looked really big*
All the people that thought it was to gory, go back & play your T Rated Game, This game is for ADULTS!
If you ARE an Adult, MAN-UP-WIMP!!
Phranctoast @ Oct 9th 2007 9:12AM
I enjoyed sof2, except for the stealth missions. They kind of dragged down that game.
Dan @ Oct 9th 2007 11:20AM
looks crap :)
Predatorian234 @ Oct 9th 2007 10:02AM
Lol everyone that is complaining must not have played SOF games.
The whole POINT of the game, since its very first release, was about OVER the top violence and gore. The ability to shoot limbs off, heads off, hell in SOF2 you could actually carve out chunks of the guys face with your knife.
This game was made with over the top violence in mind. If you don't like it, don't buy it. I'm not going to. Not because of the violence...but because SOF games have the knack for being a generic shooter that only keeps you interested for about an hour.
Or however long it takes for you to become bored with blowing off a dead bodies limbs.
Although, if this is a value budget title, and is only released for 20 bucks or so. Then yeah I can see myself picking it up.
Player1 @ Oct 9th 2007 10:33AM
OMG! People liking over the top violence! Society = Fail! Because there's never been a slasher movie or anything like that.
Get over yourself. It's a game, it's not like we are out torturing small animals. Society != fail because people play stupidly violent games. Society = fail because there are people in the world that really do this to other people. Try googling "Saddam torture".
blooh (CDF - Ass Ring) @ Oct 9th 2007 10:40AM
what's worse in manhunt 2 than this?
this game looks fun :)
alu @ Oct 9th 2007 10:51AM
i'll check it out. sof2 was pretty popular multiplayer.. that crosshair has to go though.
Sean @ Oct 9th 2007 12:04PM
lolwhut
harveypekar @ Oct 9th 2007 12:13PM
why is everyone talking about the gore when we should be talking about the fact that this budget title is going to be $60.
Maylon @ Oct 9th 2007 12:17PM
Good god blooh, do you ever sleep?
blooh (CDF - Ass Ring) @ Oct 9th 2007 12:19PM
yeah, from midnight to 8
exit stencil @ Oct 9th 2007 12:21PM
I can dig it.
I actually find myself wishing it were MORE realistic, though.
The3rdNuisance @ Oct 9th 2007 12:23PM
I really want to see a multiplayer video of this. The fact its got a new developer, who seems to be focusing on the gore more than the gameplay. Heres hoping that the infiltration/elimination servers will be aplenty, and that it doesn't devolve into (team)deathmatch only like FEAR.
Either way, even if it does suck horribly, chances are the brand name alone is gonna get me to buy it. Good job Activision, you pulled a "Hemi..."
Wisam Al-Rawi @ Nov 23rd 2007 9:21PM
I wanna play UnrealTournament 3
Asim Fareed @ Dec 1st 2007 9:26PM
Actually SoF2 had GREAT gameplay! I didn't think it was generic at all, the AI especially was very very smart (if a little, err, disconnected) and the movement and guns just felt... natural, when you fired a shotgun there was a sense of feedback and depth, in most games it just feels like clicking a mouse.