70%Xbox 360

Title: Soldier of Fortune: Payback
Platform: Xbox 360
Region release played: USA
Year of release: 2007
Developer: Cauldron Ltd.
Publisher: Activision
Graphics: 4/5
Audio: 3/5
Challenge: 4/5
Fun factor: 3/5
Quick Thoughts: Soldier of Fortune: Payback is a semi-realistic first person shooter, being the third and final entry in the Soldier of Fortune series. However this final entry was not developed by Raven, as the first two SoF games were. Like its predecessors, Payback has players act as a mercenary and offers an advanced gore system. This is a very barebones FPS that's all about shooting with little narrative exposition. Though Payback was maligned by critics for its high difficulty, as an FPS veteran I found that aspect highly enjoyable (and you might too).

+Impressive graphics for 2007.
+No nonsense gunplay for the love of gunplay.
+Considerably more challenging than most console FPS games.
+Large selection of guns to choose from.
+Sparse checkpoint system encourages player improvement.

-The plot is simultaneously confusing and inconsequential.
-OST is bland Hollywood crap (I disabled it).
-Human bosses have unrealistic bullet resistance.
-I never found any of the weapon upgrades?!
-The overall experience suffers from a lack of polish.

60%PC

This is the first PC game I finished (probably in 2017) and get the credits rolling so it is special to me despite the poor reviews and glitches. However, it is among the least favorite of all my 40+ finished games. I played it a second time with 'normal' difficulty to see how much I learned over the 4 years since I started completing PC games (I didn't learn much). It took me twice as long to finish it than expected. This game from 2007 is not recommended for anyone in 2020s even if it gets a remastered version.

30%PC

I this game back in the day and knowing nothing about it other than it being a FPS game. just absolutely horrible game even in that time's standards. it was a pain to go through it.

10%Xbox 360

The Video Game Equivalent of the Room. It's a poster child of incompetent game design, and in an odd way I actually recommend it for those who want a good laugh.

10%Xbox 360

God Awful.

10%Xbox 360

One of the worst games I have ever played. I bought this for $5 bucks and it was still not worth the pain and suffering. The Xbox 360 version has constant frame-rate drops and stuttering, long loading times even with the game installed to my hard drive, and also looking like a horrible mess with low resolution textures and models everywhere. Calling it a PS2 game would be offensive to PS2 games.

The game itself? You're talking about the worst me-too Call of Duty clone with seemingly everything that could go wrong going wrong. Weapons aren't satisfying to use. Enemy AI is beyond broken, with the only "difficulty" being that with random levels raising the health and damage enemies have and deal out to you. The final three levels have enemies that have instant-kill shotguns and also have rocket launchers in closed quarter areas. This is also a game that lasts 2-3 hours, with a bulls*** ending that is pure sequel-baiting. It's good and also sad that this game never got a sequel.

I feel bad that after Soldier of Fortune 1 & 2, which are both genuinely good games and are infinitely superior to this game, this was the game that had to kill off the franchise for good.

60%PC

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+ reichhaltiges Waffenarsenal
+ diverse Waffenaufs

60%Xbox 360

+ reichhaltiges Waffenarsenal
+ diverse Waffenaufs

60%No Platform Specified

Soldier of Fortune: Payback has one thing going for it: excessive dismemberment. Everything else is standard stuff for a shooter. Yet, I must admit, that I get a guilty pleasure playing Payback. Though it's not a good game, it's still fun to see body parts fly. If that doesn't interest you, there is an option to turn down the gore. That, however, takes away the only interesting thing Solider of Fortune: Payback has to offer. Still, Payback isn't a good game. If you are hoping for a return to the glory days of the older PC versions, you are in for a rude awakening.