No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way

"The best female spy is back... but..."

No One Lives Forever 2 is a FPS developed by Monolith Productions and released by Sierra Entertainment. While being a sequel to the very good No One Lives Forever game it isn't the same, some major changes have been made, some for the good and some, unfortunately some for the bad…

Story: 6.5/10

NOLF2 is very similar to the first game in terms of plotline and remains a great parody of spy movies of the 70's. Cate Archer, UNITY's best superspy is again against the evil organization called H.A.R.M., which once again plans to dominate the world. Many characters from the previous game have returned along with some new ones that are spoofs of typical spy movie characters. There aren't so many plot twists as the previous game but still the story is very good and probably even funnier.

Graphics: 10/10

Major changes here!!! The first game was good looking, but this is absolutely beautiful. First of all the main characters look almost real with great textures and body\facial animation. Cate Archer looks even sexier but beware that she now looks veeery different from the previous game, something that some people might not like. Excellent level design and variety with lots of details. Most stages look very 70's-ish and once again make fun of old spy and action movies. We have underground lairs with fake artificial lava, undersea stations that look as if they where design by Austin Power's decorator and many more. Special effects are very good too, from weapons to water and weather effects everything is great. In general No One Lives Forever 2 looks very, very, very good!!!

Sound: 9/10

Get ready to laugh! Remember the funny conversations between guards or main characters, well now they are even better both in terms of humor and quality and that because there has been excellent work in the voice acting. Guards once again say funny stuff when they see you or when you are attacking them, for example an enemy guard upon finding the body of his dead comrade said, “I'm not filling up the papaerwork!!!”. Weapons still sound very good and ambient sounds are a bit better from the first game but still nothing special. The great disappointment is once again the music and that because apart from the main theme, which is EXCELLENT, the in-game music tracks are actually very simple and repetitive themes that give the right atmosphere to each stage but are pretty boring.

Gameplay: 7/10

No One Lives Forever is mainly a stealth FPS that means that you should forget about running like crazy while using your guns. Unfortunately unlike the first game NOLF2 isn't s good at it. The first chapter makes you say, “WOW! This game is perfect, much better from the first one!!!”, but there are some disadvantages that totally ruin the gameplay. First the good stuff… When you run enemies can hear you so you'll have to move into sneak mode that makes you slower but decreases the noise you make by moving. Also where you step is important too, walk silently on grass or make a lot of noise by moving in metal surfaces. Also never leave dead enemies lying around, instead carry them in a place where they won't be found. Weapons can make a lot of noise too so use the silenced ones to kill enemies without alerting the whole gang. If an enemy turns on the alarm enemies come running towards your position and you can do 2 things, kill them or hide which is one of the game's new features. You see there are some areas, (like rooms with the light turned off or narrow paths between buildings), that when you enter them a small eye icon appears in your screen indicating that you are now in a hiding place. Now if you hold still a bar start filling and if it fills you are now hidden and cannot be seen, but you are not completely invisible so beware. You'll have to spot surveillance cameras and try to avoid been seen by them or destroy them, doing so will result in setting of the alarm. Something that the first game lacked but this game has is the side leaning that greatly helps in seeing what's around the corner. Finally even your aim is affected by the way you move, if you run the crosshair changes meaning that bullets have a wider spread range, so its better to stand still or move in stealth mode when killing bad guys. And now the bad stuff… well after 10 minutes of careful planning, you avoid cameras, kill enemies while they sleep or eat or just patrolling, you hide or vanquish the bodies and start searching the area to find… that other soldiers have taken the place of the dead ones. Yes ladies and gentlemen… enemies respawn… and that's a very bad thing for a stealth game because is totally unnatural and no fun at all.

The main new addition is spy skill points which are gained by finding intelligence data, (documents, tapes and many more), or completing main and side quests. You can use this skill points in order to improve some of your abilities. For example you can improve your Marksmanship which increases your accuracy, give points to Stamina and increase the damage you can endure or use points in order to hide faster and move silently. You' won't be able to max all your abilities so you'll have to use the available points in the way is suits your needs.

Gadgets are still here and are even better. First of all the utility launcher is one great little thing that has many types of ammo. The most usual ones are the tranquilizer darts that put enemies to sleep but apart from these we have tracking darts that can be used in an enemy in order to create a dot in your compass that shows up his movement. There are also camera disablers and robot destroying electrical darts. Other gadgets are the lipstick\camera, briefcase\rocket launcher, (although this isn't actually a gadget), hair spray\lock welder, mirror\decoder and many more that greatly enhance gameplay.

In general NOLF2 apart from the spawning enemies problem mentioned above is a very good game, but… the feeling of it being much better than the first game fades away in about an hour… why??? Well apart from being very easy it needs less stealth play compared to the first NOLF. Well at least it still is a good game…

Positives:
-Beautiful graphics
-Improve your skills by using points gained by gathering info or completing quests
-Even funnier than the first game

Negatives:
-Enemies respawn most of the time
-Easier than the first game and with less stealth tactics required
-Boring music
-Different Cate Archer model and vocals, (only for those who where fans of the original)

Also Play:
-No One Lives Forever (PC)
-Project IGI (PC)

Overall: 8.1/10

I'm very disappointed by this game… no, no, no, it's not bad… in fact it is almost perfect and because I am such a big NOLF fan, that's exactly my problem, I wanted this game to be absolutely perfect! It had the potential to be perfect but unfortunately it isn't. Now if you'll excuse me… I just want to be left alone and cry. :(

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/08/07

Game Release: No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way (EU, 10/18/02)