Soldier of Fortune: Gold Edition - PlayStation 2

You play gung ho mercenary John Mullins, a "consultant" hired by the US government to traverse the globe doing the more shady covert jobs that wouldn't look good plastered all over CNN. Over 26 levels, spanning 10 covert missions, you have to hunt down a major terrorist organisation and their four stolen nukes and then stop the terrorists before they unleash hell.

All pretty standard first-person shooter stuff, then, so what's new? Not a lot. The main selling point of the game is still the Ghoul engine, which allows you to shoot 26 different "gore zones", each of which elicit a different AI reaction when you hit them. Blow an enemy's leg off and he'll hop about before falling over, shoot him in the torso and he'll crumple to the ground in a heap. Sick and twisted it may be, but there's no denying that this is what has won SoF so many fans. As well as the single-player missions there's a multiplayer mode--basically a four-person split-screen game, which is entertaining enough--but unfortunately slow load times between levels, an iffy control system and the overriding "been there, done that" factor will keep Soldier of Fortune from becoming a PS2 classic. --Aloysius Fothersgill