Soldiers of Fortune. A triumph of structure and design...
Written: Feb 08 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Superb structure and A.I.; great challenge and replay value; good graphics and sound.
Cons: A little on the short side.
The Bottom Line: This brilliantly constructed overhead shooter has never received its due.
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| platonism's Full Review: Soldiers of Fortune for Super Nintendo |
Much like their compatriots from Rare, the UK-based Bitmap Brothers reinvented a slew of genres throughout the course of their career. Soldiers of Fortune, which is a port of the Amiga game Chaos Engine, takes part in the rich tradition of overhead action-shooters; key titles in this tradition include Robotron 2084, Gauntlet and Smash TV. While Soldiers of Fortune/Chaos Engine was very popular in the UK and drew glowing reviews at the time of its release, it didn't seem to make a big impression in North America. I rented it once in 1994, but it is only in 2004 that I've been able to measure its greatness.
A post-apocalyptic world
The storyline takes place in 1887 England. Baron Fortesque has invented a machine called the Chaos Engine, and his creation triggers a chain of disastrous events: a Tyrannosaurus rex appears in a rock quarry; the Statue of Liberty suddenly becomes dangerous; humans are transformed into mutated monsters of all kinds. Six soldiers of fortune are summoned to find and destroy the Chaos Engine and its insane inventor before it's too late. The player has to choose between these six characters – the Gentleman, the Thug, the Scientist (interestingly, he was known as the Preacher in Chaos Engine), the Navvie, the Mercenary and the Brigand. Each character has its own strengths and weaknesses. There is a two-player option, but if you play alone, you'll have a CPU-controlled teammate by your side.
The game has four worlds consisting of four levels apiece. After each level, a screen informs you of your success in finding the items of that stage. The performance of each player is detailed on the right side of the screen. Every two levels, you can use your gold to add to your character's skill, speed or wisdom, to buy health or an extra life, or to upgrade your weapon. In the one-player game, you get to make decisions both for yourself and for your CPU-controlled partner. Make sure to buy him extra lives whenever you can, because you can only “resurrect” him for 5000 gold and the later levels are extremely hard for a single player.
Solid production values
The overhead action is nicely captured by the solid graphics. The heroes and enemies are well-sized and smoothly animated; each world has distinct scenery and unique creatures. The various menu screens all have a stylish, Victorian feel to them. As for the music, it is essentially rooted in techno: the relentless beats fit in very well with the apocalyptic tone of the storyline, and add a lot of intensity to the game. The clean digitized voices comment on the action ('level complete', 'extra life', 'exit open', etc.) and enrich the atmosphere.
The play control is simple and precise, mainly using two buttons: one for shooting your weapon (in eight possible directions), the other for special attacks that must be found in levels beforehand. Moving around is easy, and slowdown is kept to a minimum (this is fortunate, because in later levels the screen is sometimes filled with enemies). You can use the top L and R buttons to rotate your character as he fires his weapon.
Brilliant structure and A.I.
The Bitmap Brothers are famous for the excellent artificial intelligence in their games, and the A.I. of Soldiers of Fortune is no different. The enemies are unpredictable and do not have many set patterns. What's more, if you choose to play alone, it's fascinating to see how your teammate reacts. Some of the game's fun and lasting interest lies there: should you let your teammate move ahead of you and act as a shield? Then again, this would give him a head start towards the power-ups scattered in the levels (this was a crucial element of Gauntlet's legacy). The A.I. is remarkable because your CPU partner is neither 1) a killing machine doing everything for you, nor 2) a hindrance to your progress.
The sixteen levels are superbly designed. All but the very first one have more than one path. As in other Bitmap Brothers games, which road you take has a lot to do with what items you found – and in which order you found them. In one level for example, four silver keys are aligned; the following section depends on which one you take first. Since the levels are usually maze-like, finding the exit can be difficult. Some levels have more than one exit; some of the exits give a shortcut in the following level, while others force you to backtrack a little. To open a level's exit(s), you have to shoot Nodes scattered in every stage. Secret areas can also be reached in several levels; some walls can be destroyed and reveal hidden items or pathways.
Soldiers of Fortune's replay value is tremendous because the game can be played in so many ways: in addition to the two-player option, there are thirty possible teams with the six characters (and passwords for each); the multiple paths/exits (and the percentages awarded after each level) ensure repeated tries; the password option saves your number of lives and the gold you have, so you can either try to stock up as many lives as possible or challenge yourself to beat the last few worlds on one or two lives; the difficulty level is just perfect, as the later levels are extremely challenging but reward patience and practice. Even though you can't choose among difficulty settings, there are many ways to alter the degree of challenge: for instance, you can choose the big and slow characters (Navvie and Thug) if you want a tougher experience; the remaining four are easier to control for beginners. You can also choose not to spend gold at all for your partner, so that he will quickly lose all of his lives - trying to beat the last two worlds alone might be the ultimate challenge Soldiers of Fortune has to offer.
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While 3-D first-person shooters draw larger crowds nowadays, the 2-D overhead genre has many treasures in its ranks. Fans of this type of games should definitely check out Soldiers of Fortune if they haven't already - it achieves a perfect mix of action and exploration, and offers massive challenge and replay value.
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Here are my other video game reviews:
NES -- Battletoads, Dragon's Lair, Marble Madness, The Rocketeer, Swamp Thing.
Genesis -- Boogerman, Earthworm Jim, Garfield: Caught in the Act, Mickey Mania, The Pagemaster, Ristar, Wiz 'n' Liz.
Recommended:
Yes
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platonism
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