Soldier of Fortune: Payback

Soldier of Fortune: Payback
Also known as: Soldier of Fortune 3 Developer: Cauldron Publisher: Activision Platforms: Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Released in US: November 13, 2007, November 20, 2007 (PS3) Released in EU: December 7, 2007, April 11, 2008 (PS3) Released in AU: March 5, 2008 (PS3), March 19, 2008 (Win), April 23, 2008 (360) This game has unused graphics. This game has unused models. This game has unused cinematics. This game has unused music. This game has unused sounds.

This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes.

Originally developed as an unrelated budget-priced FPS called "Mercenaries Wanted", Soldier of Fortune: Payback was suddenly and inexplicably promoted to being the newest full-price entry of Raven's storied FPS franchise (despite Raven's distinct lack of involvement).

It went about as well as you'd expect, but hey, they had to try, right...?

To do: This page is littered with JPGs, please replace with PNGs (unless they're JPGs to begin with, then leave them as is). Unused dialogue. Prisoner NPC. Unused weapons. Photos for console-exclusive weapons. More unused music. There are some textures in the game files used by the PS3 version. The game was censored in some countries. Any info about the Mercenaries Wanted days that could go into a prerelease page?

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Unused Voice Lines "Come on, kid. Like it or not, you're gonna see some action."

Unused Levels

Al Qa'im - Intro

Instead of directly starting at the city, you would start inside a car driven by a Shop merc, with Col. Miller accompanying you. There is unused dialogue related to this level.

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iraq_escape

The unfinished third level of the Iraq/Al Qa'im campaign. After killing Miller, Mason was to get picked up by a friendly vehicle to take him to the so-called "green zone". The unused dialog suggests this would have been an on-rails level, with the player firing from some kind of vehicle the whole mission. The map is quite big and takes a long time to traverse on foot.

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Unused Multiplayer Maps

Multiplayer iraq_escape

A multiplayer version of Iraq Escape seems to have gotten further in its development than the single-player version. It did not make the final game, but a picture of it is featured in the credits.

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  Screenshot of the map.

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  The map in the credits (bottom-right).

Industry

Industry appears totally complete despite not appearing in the final game. It features the train engine and train cars that are otherwise exclusive to the single-player version of Iraq Escape.

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Jackal

Another near-complete map. It uses a mix of assets from the game's other maps.

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Console-Exclusive Weapons

There are two assault rifles exclusive to the console versions that aren't in the PC version. However, they can be brought into the PC version via modding.

Unused Music

iraq_menu.xbw

In the game files there's a track called iraq_menu.xbw which is meant to be used for the main menu. iraq_loop1.xbw is used instead.

Unused Weapons

M2 Browning

The M2 Browning machine gun was presumably going to be in the iraq_escape level. Once again going off of unused dialog, the player was to encounter a stationary M2 while working with Miller in the first mission. Its animations are similar to the DShK's. The charging handle and ammo belt move when firing it. Note the lack of a heat shield.

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Knife

It seems at some point the knife was to be a selectable weapon. It has a selection icon which is grouped with the icons for the pistols. It has take out, put away, idle, attack, and grenade throwing animations. All of the animations have the player using the knife with their right hand except the attack animations.

It appears that when the knife was reworked to be the player's melee attack, the attack animations were just flipped from right-handed to left-handed and all the other animations were dropped.

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  The knife.

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  The knife's menu icon.

AICW

The AICW was going to be in the game at one point, but is cut. However, you can bring it into the game via modding. Something to note is that it has a unique sight, which was repurposed into the "Electro-optical sight" attachment available for rifles.

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  The AICW's menu icon.

Dual-wield AMP-9

The AMP-9 was going to have a dual-wield version of it at one point. Just like all the unused weapons here, it can be brought back via modding.

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  The dual AMP-9's menu icon.

Dual-wield SR-2007

The SR-2007 was also going to have a dual-wield version of it.

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  The dual SR-2007's menu icon.

F2000

The FN F2000 was going to be in the game, but is left unused in the game files. No modding is needed to spawn this weapon in-game. Probably cut because there's too many rifles in this game. Note the lack of a handguard.

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  The F2000's menu icon.

Crye Precision MR-C

The MR-C is somewhat unfinished, it has a different ADS and the rear sight clips through the player while firing. It also has no name in the HUD.

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  The MR-C's menu icon.

C4

The C4, seen in the Iraq level and the Demolition game mode, was going to be its own weapon. Note the trigger on the icon, something we never see.

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  The C4's menu icon.

John Mullins

Within the data of the first mission, Al Qa'im: Outskirts (known internally as "iraq_town"), there are lines of code that suggest Miller was at one point going to be John Mullins, the protagonist of the first two Soldier of Fortune games.

Here are some snippets of code where Miller talks to Mason after killing Quan Li: player.TalkCutscene("IGCS\Iraq1_IGCS02\Iraq1_IGCS02_B_Mason_1",Iraq1_IGCS02_B_Mason_1); mullins4.TalkCutscene("IGCS\Iraq1_IGCS02\Iraq1_IGCS02_B_Miller_1",Iraq1_IGCS02_B_Miller_1); player.TalkCutscene("IGCS\Iraq1_IGCS02\Iraq1_IGCS02_B_Mason_2",Iraq1_IGCS02_B_Mason_2); mullins4.TalkCutscene("IGCS\Iraq1_IGCS02\Iraq1_IGCS02_B_Miller_2",Iraq1_IGCS02_B_Miller_2); player.TalkCutscene("IGCS\Iraq1_IGCS02\Iraq1_IGCS02_B_Mason_3",Iraq1_IGCS02_B_Mason_3); mullins4.TalkCutscene("IGCS\Iraq1_IGCS02\Iraq1_IGCS02_B_Miller_3",Iraq1_IGCS02_B_Miller_3);

Notice how Miller is referred to as "mullins4". The code is commanding "mullins4" to speak Miller's dialogue.

Next are some lines setting up Miller for the boss fight: mullins4.EnableCollision(); mullins4.Bot.Enable(); wait(0.2); mullins4.Bot.CommandRun(mullins_ap); mullins_enemy.SetStrafe(AI_STRAFE_ALWAYS);

Next, the player is taken off invincibility and Miller (mullins4) is assigned to the enemy "team": player.Invincible = false; mullins4.TeamID = EnemyForce2;

Finally, these lines are just to create the newest objective for the player, which is to eliminate Miller: objectives.Add(iraq_obj6mullins).TargetObject = mullins4; objectives.SetPrimaryObjective(iraq_obj6mullins);

Based on these, it seems the idea at one point was for you to start the game working alongside the hero of the series, only to get to know what a greedy, bloodthirsty animal he has become before he betrays and attempts to kill you.

Unused NPCs

Majid

An unused NPC, probably meant to be a boss.

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Prisoner

Some NPCs that are meant to be working on the pipelines in the Mogaung levels.

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