The lingering howls of protest haven't had much of an effect on Ravensoft, though. If anything, you can count on enhanced graphic violence this time around. Say what you will about the redeeming qualities of the content, but gamewise SOF2 is a hard-hitting bullet to the chest plate that will leave you out of breath, but begging for more.

Once again, you lace up the combat boots of real-life military "consultant" John Mullins. As one of the troubleshooters for The Shop, a secretive anti-terrorist agency, you'll travel around the world to combat terror using any means neccessary (and sometimes, just for the fun of it).

Fans of SOF1 will be happy to see that Mullins has a new partner, and background on activities and capabilities of The Shop are expanded upon in the plotline. One of the chief complaints of the previous version was the appearance of sci-fi weaponry. This has been addressed with a complete armory of real-life weapons ranging from Special Forces versions of pistols to auto-grenade launchers. If it goes BANG! in the real world, you'll find it here.

The gameplay is fast and furious, with lots of heavily armed bad guys and plenty of rounds headed your way. Graphics are equally impressive. While the Quake III engine is starting to show the first signs of age, Ravensoft revitalizes it by coupling it with the new - and gorier - Ghoul 2.0 hit system and some additional scripting. Character models move quite naturally, and you'll see some neat tricks (such as jumping one-handed over barriers). Death and dismemberment sequences - such as arteries pumping out the last drops of an opponent's blood or a stumbling headless figure - are a sight to behold. Obviously, Ravensoft didn't turn down the violence level here, but it was smart enough to include password protection and several violence settings.

The cost of this graphical carnage is a hefty one. To run SOF2 smoothly, you'll need a beefy PC. We had to drop down to 640x480 to make things palatable on a P3-800 - count on at least a high-end AMD or P3 with plenty of RAM and the latest video card to get things up to snuff at higher resolutions.

There's a good range of enemy AI settings, though some might argue the higher settings like Consultant are just plain impossible. Even at lower levels, we'd suggest mid-game saves, due to the furious pacing of the action. Expect more fire-fight scenes and fewer "boss-level" opponents this time around.

Novices might get easily frustrated at the "stealth" aspects of the missions. It's hard not to suppress the feeling that you can bull your way through a scenario by sheer firepower. Certain scenarios, however, require you get through with a minimum of muss and gunpowder.

What's surprising are the game's moments of humor. Take the time to listen to NPC conversations going on around you, especially in places like The Shop headquarters or while creeping up on enemy guards. The comments range from tongue-in-cheek to absolutely hilarious.

There are some awkward moments in the game, though, that tarnish its shine. SOF2 has some definite clipping issues, for one. You can regularly see hidden enemies when their limbs protrude through walls and doors. The pathfinding for enemy - and friendly - AI can be awful, especially in tight spots. Most frustrating, though are the scripting issues. It's possible to get ahead of certain essential game triggers, which might make you quit in frustration. This was especially true in the Columbian jungle missions as you go house-to-house looking for the enemy.

And while the firefights may be vicious, there are certain scenarios where it makes no sense to spray bullets - like the inside of an airliner at 30,000 feet. Boy, was this plane bulletproof - everything from grenades to squad machine guns were in use, but only parts of the furniture were ruined. No explosive decompression, no bad in-flight movies.

Multiplayer action is solid, with classics such as Capture the Flag and teamplay variants. The random battle generator function adds good replay value, but the maps were somewhat sparse and jarring after a while - seeing Chinese pagodas emerging from a foggy desert is a bit jarring.

SOF2 probably isn't the game you want your child or younger brother playing, but it's a hell of a lot of fun for action junkies looking for a summer fix.

Armando Heredia