Well, today is Christmas eve. My brother is still hanging out with his psychotic I-don't-know-what-I-want-out-of-life on-again-off-again girlfriend. Mom is still running errands and starting preps on tomorrow's feast. My nephews are all in church. I should be gaming. Instead, I'm at the bookstore on my work laptop trying to get a couple of hours of off-site office time in.

Despite the fact that I brought Company of Heroes with me on this trip, as well as my Nintendo DS and two games, I am so close to finishing it that I have resolved to try and complete Soldier of Fortune II. I'm on the last mission, which only has about 4 levels to it. Despite the veritable arsenal I now have at my disposal, I am consistently driven back to using the M16 with M209 grenade launcher attachment. The long range shotty is still not long range enough, the AK lacks the M16s punch, the shotgun is for CQB only, as are the dual pistols. The OICW, while cool in concept is really just an overhyped assault rifle, as it is so ridiculously difficult to get off a grenade round (you have to scope in to the telescopic site, lase the target, adjust the range, then finally fire the grenade). Why they designed the weapon implementation like this when the M16/M209 is in the game and incredibly more efficient to use, I am not sure.

At any rate, despite the fact that the game was not revolutionary for its time, it is still entertaining , which is the foremost requirement of a game. The jungle levels were frustrating, but in the mission I just played, the lab levels were fun, as was the level inside the plane.