No One Lives Forever: Game of the Year Edition

Assuming the role of sexy UNITY operative Cate Archer, you must complete 15 enormous and distinct missions to keep the world safe from H.A.R.M., a nefarious organization rife with colorful arch-villains. In true Hollywood style, the game is laced with cutscenes that set the stage for your missions and advance the plot by showing H.A.R.M. higher-ups boasting about their evil plans. The dialogue in both the cutscenes and the in-game action sequences is witty and genuinely funny, and the voice acting is excellent. We found ourselves hiding in dark corners just so we could eavesdrop on the bad guys.

The comic antics end abruptly when enemies catch wind of your presence. Whether they stumble across a body you carelessly left in your wake, hear you creeping about, respond to a tripped alarm, or simply see you, these foes are all business. They will stalk you, duck behind cover, and call for reinforcements. All the action is straight from a spy movie: shoot a guy on a balcony, and he'll tumble over the rail and fall to the ground. Fire a gun underwater, and you'll see the spiral trail of the bullet.

Most missions can be approached in a variety of ways, and although full-frontal assaults are possible, stealthy progression is usually better for your health. Being a superspy, you'll have plenty of gadgets to help you along the way, from a lock-pick barrette to a robotic poodle capable of turning even the most ferocious attack dog into man's best friend. Players who like to send a more direct message will enjoy playing with the game's full assortment of firearms, including Bond-worthy silencer pistols and briefcase rocket launchers.

The quality of AI and inventiveness of the single-player missions are fortunate because the multiplayer component doesn't compare to Unreal Tournament or Counter-Strike. Regardless, No One Lives Forever should be on the short list of any fan of first-person shooters looking for an unbeatable solo experience. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Multiple approaches to nearly every level add to the replay value
• Loads of atmosphere
• Contains some of the most unorthodox and enjoyable missions we've ever played
• Amazing detail
• Smart and funny

• Not the prettiest 3-D engine on the market

Anyway, that being said, I found hardly anything with this game that I didn't like. It flat out rocks.

To get the requirements out of the way, the box says a Pentium II 450 or above is fine. Perhaps it is. I have a Pentium III 800 with 256 RAM and a 3dfx voodoo3 with 16 megs. I play the game with average performance and normal detail and its just fine. I don't run a bunch of other utilities in the background, I just let the game take over. Load times are usually about 10 seconds (or so) between levels. Not too bad. I don't get any chop, and the frame rate is just fine. Now I exceed all the requirements by far, but everybody I know has at least a Pentium II and a good video card.

The Lithtech 2.5 engine is very impressive. The most impressive game I have played to date was Unreal. Even though that game was released 3 years ago, to this day, I am still VERY impressed by the killer graphics engine. Lithtech is VERY close. In my opinion, the Unreal graphics are a perfect 10. Lithtech is a 9. The sky isn't quite a good, and some of the textures for people in the game could use a little improvements, but in the big picture, they did an excellent job.

Buildings, cars, water, textiles, clothing, blood, plants, streets, and so much more are just AMAZING.

The artificial intelligence is unbelieveable. To give you an idea, on the first mission I was running through some buildings in Morocco at night (I think that's where I was). I ran through a short tunnel, came out, and someone was firing at me. It took me a few minutes to find the person. WAY in the back, on a balcony was an enemy that I could only see with my sniper rifle zoomed in on him. When I stepped back, he quit firing. It gets better. Enemies hear your foot steps, gun fire, and if you kill an enemy and another soldier sees him but not you, he will still come looking for you! I have even hidden in the darkness and been seen by enemies.

This game to me looks like a combination of Austin Powers (it has a sense of humor) and James Bond. Very 60's based. The music is 60's and the overall theme fits well with it.

I have not yet passed Germany, Caribbean, or The Alps, so I can't comment on game play there. From Morocco and what I have seen in Germany, it is VERY impressive and well thought out.

A word of caution: this game takes practice! From defending the ambassador to sneaking around the German military, you need to save often and keep practicing. It's not just run through and shoot everything. Well, you CAN, but that defeats the purpose.

In my opinion, the overall textures, layout, maps, graphics, and artificial intelligence are almost as prefect as Unreal. They could use a little spicing up, but not much!

If you like first person shooters, GET THIS! I bought the Game of the Year edition which is 2 CD's for the game including bonus levels, 1 CD of 60's music, and the hint book/walkthrough. Well worth the price.

The last game I bought that I loved this much was Unreal, and I bought that a few years ago. Monolith did a tremendous job with this game. The cut scenes are pretty cool too.

Finally, even if you have an older Pentium II and you don't quite meet the requirements, I would definitely pick this up anyway. The game does take time to get used to, but once you learn about being a spy and using stealth, you will love it. A game like this has been LONG overdue.

Excellent job to the programmers and designers at Monolith!

Pros - Excellent graphics, good layout, great indoor and outdoor details, smooth rendering engine, good sound, good weapons, great artificial intelligence

Cons - Some levels are rather difficult and the learning curve can be a little long


A real thinking shooter!   March 20, 2002
Yu-jin Chia (Cupertino, CA USA)
14 out of 14 found this review helpful

No One Lives Forever isn't just a test of your hand-eye coordination. Even if you're a hot-shot at Quake or Unreal, this game won't be a walk in the park. At times, you'll have to be stealthy or work your way through puzzles, a la Dark Forces or Marathon. The difference between this game and, say, Jedi Knight is that it's not at all serious- and that's a good thing!

The tools of the operative's trade include some of the wackiest gizmos ever to grace a first person game. It brings back reminiscences of James Bond, except the setting is more like Austin Powers. The weapons, however, are very realistically modeled and an absolute pleasure to fire.

Many times, you'll find yourself sitting quietly behind your enemies just to hear what they're chatting about before you wax them- that's how funny it is! They also make great noises when you shoot them, and it's even dynamic depending on where you hit them. The voice acting in general is top-notch, and the story is immersing. You won't have any problems taking on the role of Agent Archer.

The technical aspect of the game is superb. The LithTech engine is pushed to the limit with the highly detailed landscapes. My personal favorite was an indoor aquarium with 3-d fish swimming around in it. Some of the buildings you'll explore are absolutely eye-popping, and detailed to a fault. You'll get to explore a wide-range of world spanning locales, which is half the fun of the missions.

As for stability, there are some issues. I had some strange problems with the game destabilizing my system, but only a few times. The gameplay overall was usually quite reliable. Load times for the bigger levels were sometimes quite long, but after a while you won't notice. The game is just too much fun for such a trifle to be annoying. Don't be fooled by the number of missions, because each one has several parts to it. The game is actually quite long- about the same length as Unreal, though with less continuous carnage. Don't fret about that, though- there's plenty to be had when you want it.


Hey, these good old games are hard to find!   June 26, 2003
Richard W. Yelland (Greenville, Michigan United States)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

Not everyone can afford to upgrade the computer annually. I have to search on 2 criteria, One; is it worth the time and money? Two; will it run decently on a sub-gig system?
I loved this game. I can't think of a better 20 hours for the money. If your the "run right in and waste em all" type, it plays ok, not fantastic, but ok. After you've played it through once, it actually is more interesting to go back through and try the stealth angle. Some of the conversations that you pick up when your sneaking around are knee-slappers. If you had a conscience it might even be difficult to waste the thugs after you hear about the college money being spent on an Edsel, or the guy who's redecorating his apartment and his mother's dog has a flatulence problem. :)
I would say that it definitely deserved the Game of the Year award. Unfortunately I cannot rate the multi-player aspect of the game. I don't have the ability to play against other users.
In short, for an under-achieving system, on a budget, this game is a lot of entertainment for the dollar, and it's replayable.


NoOne Lives Forever. But youll play it till the day you die!   July 24, 2003
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

I decided to buy this game after hearing some good reviews for it, and seeing as how I could get it for 15 bucks as a game of the year edition. I played this game nonstop for about 5 days till I finally beat it. This game would only have been a 3 - 4 without its humor though... humor, not a challenge for killing the oafs of HARM makes this game great. Thats not to say that using a silenced parabellum and sneaking into an area giving large unsuspecting quantities of HARM agents head shots isnt a blast. I believe that this game wouldnt be near as fun if you just played it like Quake or Doom, getting your baddest weapon out and mowing down hoards of them. I think that my goals of maybe getting detected once made the game much more enjoyable.

Buy this game while it lasts, the Game of the Year Edition truly is worth it, the extra level was a blast and among the most humorous of levels.


Contains an extra level!   September 9, 2005
Freth (Delaware, OH United States)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

What are you doing? Stop reading and order both of the No One Lives Forever games before they're no longer in print. I'm serious. These games have a great story, great humor and awesome action.

You play a 60's era spy on the trail of evil masterminds. No One Lives Forever has it all... great music, graphics (for its time), cool weapons, stealth if you want and long hours of gaming goodness. You'll find yourself laughing at the story and dialogue and you'll catch the evildoers in some funny conversations.

This is one of the best FPS series ever made. To let it pass you buy is a crying shame. Buy both games today. They're cheap and they're well worth the bargain bin price.

The Game of the Year edition contains an extra level. Just when you thought the trouble was over, you go on vacation and find your vacation spot is a front for an evil organization!