History YMMV / SoldierOfFortune

* PlayerPunch: At the end of the Sudan mission (late in the game), Mullins is LateToTheTragedy and sees his accomplice Hawk [[KickTheDog get executed]] by BigBad Dekker.
* ReplacementScrappy: Taylor is considered by many to be a weak replacement for Hawk. Unlike the latter, Taylor barely shows up as an AI companion in levels, and is unceremoniously shot in the back, turning her into a FauxActionGirl.

** Some of the first game's death sounds and animations.

* NightmareFuel: The slaughterhouse in the Sudan mission in the first game and the village of Pureza in the second game.

** One of the biggest criticisms of ''Payback'' is how it replaces John Mullins with a new protagonist, Thomas Mason. While replacing a previous protagonist is one thing, it didn't help that Mason came off as a less likable character due to being A aggressive SociopathicHero compared to Mullins more professional persona.

** [[TheMole Assistant Director Aaron Wilson]] is a greedy member of The Shop and the secret head of [[WesternTerrorists Prometheus]]. Missing the old days of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, Wilson decided to [[WarForFunAndProfit bring it back]] by using his old contacts in KGB to create Prometheus and have them develop a [[SyntheticPlague deadly Romulus virus]], which he soon tested by forcing drug lord Manuel Vergara to sell it to a rebel terrorist group La Fuerza del Dios and led them to use it on a village full of innocent people, leading to many people dying a slow and agonizing death. Later on, leaking The Shop's moves to Prometheus and blowing up a secret base under the book shop, which caused several deaths, Wilson has Prometheus attack a hospital to kill the survivor of the explosion. At the end, abandoning all pretense, Wilson leads an attack on The Shop, killing countless people and openly announcing his intention to use the Romulus virus to infect world leaders and plunge the world into another Cold War.
** Ex-[[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre KGB]] agent [[TheHeavy Alexei Nachrade]] is one of the highest members of Prometheus, acting as its official leader. Eagerly joining Wilson's scheme of using the Romulus virus to plunge the world into a Cold War, Nachrade takes an equal part in trafficking the virus to US territories and delivering it into the hands of La Fuerza del Dios for testing. When [[PlayerCharacter John Mullins]] starts getting too close to discovering the identity of the mole within The Shop, Nachrade has him lured to Hong Kong to his personal prison, where he has his men torture people to death. Later on [[HostageSituation taking the airport full of people hostage]] and having his men murder several innocents along the way, Nachrade distracts Mullins enough for Wilson to attack The Shop, announcing that with The Shop destroyed nobody could stop Prometheus from doing whatever they want.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The music on the nightclub level in ''Payback''.
** Although the music in the series is mostly pretty generic, the final boss battle in the first game is accompanied by some seriously ''epic'' battle music, complete with grandiose choir.

* DisappointingLastLevel: the abrupt and insanely annoying jump in difficulty in the last few levels of ''Payback''.

* GameBreakingBug: Exceeding 100 FPS on ''Payback'' is an outright game-stopper, as it removes hit registration from any shots you fire.

* ReplacementScrappy: Taylor is considered by many to be a weak replacement for Hawk. Unlike the latter, Taylor barely shows up as an AI companion in levels, and is unceremoniously shot on the back, turning her into a FauxActionGirl.

* DifficultySpike: The Colombian jungle. Terrorists concealed by bushes that they can see through fine, assault rifles come into play, and as mentioned above in DemonicSpiders, they can magically see you and lob perfectly-timed grenades over hills that you didn't even get close to. After you're done with it, though, the difficulty (or at least the GrenadeSpam) drops back again until Kamchatka, near the end of the game.

* ReplacementScrappy: Taylor, for some. (Administrivia/ZeroContextExample)

(ZCE) * NightmareFuel: The slaughterhouse in the Sudan mission in the first game and the village of Pureza in the second game.

%%(ZCE) * NightmareFuel: The slaughterhouse in the Sudan mission in the first game and the village of Pureza in the second game.

%%* ReplacementScrappy: Taylor, for some. (Administrivia/ZeroContextExample)

** Ex-[[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre KGB]] agent [[TheHeavy Alexei Nachrade]] is one of the highest members of Prometheus, acting as its official leader. Eagerly joining Wilson's scheme of using the Romulus virus to plunge the world into a Cold War, Nachrade takes an equal part in trafficking the virus to US territories and delivering it into the hands of La Fuerza del Dios for testing. When [[PlayerCharacter John Mullins]] starts getting too close to discovering the identity of the mole within The Shop, Nachrade has him lured to Japan to his personal prison, where he has his men torture people to death. Later on [[HostageSituation taking the airport full of people hostage]] and having his men murder several innocents along the way, Nachrade distracts Mullins enough for Wilson to attack The Shop, announcing that with The Shop destroyed nobody could stop Prometheus from doing whatever they want.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: One of the levels has Saddam Hussein in it (he only appears in a cutscene), through cheats however, you can spawn and kill him. Now try to play this game now that Saddam is dead for real.

** Ex-[[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre KGB]] agent [[TheHeavy Alexei Nachrade]] is one of the highest members of Prometheus, acting as its official leader. Eagerly joining Wilson's scheme of using the Romulus virus to plunge the world into a Cold War, Nachrade takes an equal part in trafficking the virus to US territories and delivering it into the hands of La Fuerza del Dios for testing. When [[PlayerCharacter John Mullins]] starts getting too close to discovering the identity of the mole within The Shop, Nachrade has him lured to Japan to his personal prison, where he has his men torture people to death. Later on taking the airport full of people hostage and having his men murder several innocents along the way, Nachrade distracts Mullins enough for Wilson to attack The Shop, announcing that with The Shop destroyed nobody could stop Prometheus from doing whatever they want.

* {{Sequelitis}}: The third game. No John Mullins, different developer, different story.

* {{Narm}}: Most of the dialogue and voice-acting in ''Payback'' is so ridiculous and over-the-top that it's almost impossible to take seriously.

* NightmareFuel: The slaughterhouse in the Sudan mission in the first game and the village of Pureza in the second game.

** The FinalBoss in the second game is an attack chopper that rip you apart in seconds and takes an INSANE amount of ammo to bring down if you don't know what you're doing[[note]]shoot the engines' outer panels and their glowy insides until both catch fire like back in the hospital, and then [[SnipingTheCockpit shoot the pilot]][[/note]]. This is the one time where the OICW's alternate launcher actually comes in handy, as if you can adjust the range properly, you can lob grenades at it safely and defeat much faster then you would with normal ammo.

* AwesomeMusic: The music on the nightclub level in ''Payback''.

** The FinalBoss in the second game is an attack chopper that rip you apart in seconds and takes an INSANE amount of ammo to bring down if you don't know what you're doing[[note]]shoot the engines' outer panels and their glowy insides until both catch fire like back in the hospital, and then [[SnipingTheCockpit shoot the pilot]][[/note]]. This is the one time where the OICW's alternate launcher actually comes in handy, as if you can adjust the range properly, you can lob grenades at it safely and defeat much faster then you would with normal ammo.

%%* ReplacementScrappy: Taylor, for some. (ZeroContextExample)

* PlayerPunch, KickTheDog: At the end of the Sudan mission (late in the game), Mullins is LateToTheTragedy and sees his accomplice Hawk get executed by BigBad Dekker.
* ReplacementScrappy: Taylor, for some.

* ThatOneBoss: The final boss of the first game is regarded as this by many, with an extremely powerful weapon, nasty turret back-up and being [[MadeOfIron absurdly resistant]] to everything with the {{Handwave}} of "he's wearing body armour".
** The Interrogator in the Hong Kong prison in the second game, with his near-instant-death machine gun. And he's MadeOfIron even though he doesn't wear armor.
** The FinalBoss in the second game is an attack chopper that rip you apart in seconds and takes an INSANE amount of ammo to bring down if you don't know what you're doing[[note]]shoot the engines' outer panels and their glowy insides until both catch fire like in the hospital, and then shoot the pilot[[/note]]. This is the one time where the OICW's alternate launcher actually comes in handy, as if you can adjust the range properly, you can lob grenades at it safely and defeat much faster then you would with normal ammo.

* DemonicSpiders: Potentially any enemy in ''[=SOF=]2'' on Consultant and Soldier of Fortune difficulties, due to the AI [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard being a cheating bastard]] with accuracy (they have pixel-perfect aim at very long range even with sustained fire, while you are screwed by the crosshair's pixels and gun recoil), [[TheAllSeeingAIvisibility ( they can see you through thick brush, smoke, and fog, and even behind hills)]], and grenade timing (sometimes they will detonate it in midair ''a la VideoGame/{{Worms}}'', so better move a few meters as soon as you hear their "grenade out!" call, which you WILL learn to recognize).