Reviewed: November 14, 2002
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Publisher
Sierra Entertainment
Fox Interactive

Developer
Monolith Productions

Released: : October 5, 2002
Genre: FPS
Players: 4
ESRB: Mature

10
10
10
10
10

System Requirements:

Sierra recently followed up this classic with a PlayStation 2 version that tossed in several new missions and even allowed you to play as a young Cate Archer back in her cat burglar days before she became an elite secret agent. And now the moment we have all been waiting for, Cate is back in No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.’s Way.

If you have never played the original then you might not be prepared for the sheer scope of this franchise or this latest sequel. Cate travels the world to all those cool places you see in the big action spy movies. She has a collection of high-tech toys and weapons at her disposal giving you a great sense of open-ended gameplay and the freedom to do things the way you want to and not the way some game designer envisioned it.

In traditional Bond style, the first mission in NOLF2 takes place before the opening credits and is actually a prequel to the events of the main game. You begin the game in a breathtaking Japanese garden and as the story unfolds you will explore even more dangerous and exotic locations.

While knowledge of the events and characters portrayed in the original game are not required, those of you who have played the Cate’s first adventure will be pleasantly surprised to see that many of your favorite characters from UNITY and H.A.R.M. have returned for her latest mission. These characters are as charming as they are funny and often dangerous.

First and foremost is the ambitious level design. Missions now take place across large maps with multiple objectives that can be approached from a variety of angles and in an order of your choosing. A good example is in one of the earlier missions where Cate must infiltrate an enemy base. Prior to her break-in she must disable a communication tower and blow-up a power plant. These preliminary missions can be done in any order and approached from a cautious stealth mode or simply going in with guns blazing.

There is a high level of interactivity within the levels. You can open file cabinets and drawers and rifle through papers looking for documents and important clues. You can operate computers, crack safes, use your spy camera to take recon photos, or sneak up on unsuspecting guards and zap them with your mascara stun gun. The levels are huge and for the most part you are free to explore them as you see fit within the confines of the mission.

Many of the larger levels are spread across several sections or zones. These levels allow you to backtrack to previous areas to finish multi-task objectives or complete secondary goals. These secondary goals are often triggered by finding hidden objects or documents and will give you additional skill points. These are optional goals and are not required to advance the story but do offer excellent skill point rewards.

Another advancement in gameplay is the new RPG-like skills that Cate possesses. Even though she is the top agent, when you start the game all of your skills are set to Novice level. As you perform various tasks and complete mission objectives you are awarded Skill Points that you can spend to upgrade various skills such as Weapons Proficiency, Stealth, Healing, Searching, etc. The higher you take each skill the more skill points it costs you to advance further, but the better an agent you become.

The challenge of this skill system lies in the fact that there are not enough points in the game to master all of the skills, so you will need to decide early in the game which abilities you want to develop. Do you want to be a master of stealth and sniping or become proficient in gadgets and weapons combat? This system allows for some diverse gameplay and offers the potential for unique experiences each time you play and replay this title.

Another new feature (and one of your skills) is the ability to search people and items. This is implemented to perfection with a status bar that appears during the search process. As you search the bar fills just as it does when picking locks or using the decoder. The speed of this search is based on your search skill level. The best part is that the items you get from your search are based on how long you search. A quick tap of the search button gets you all the immediately available items such as their weapon, and any arrows or other recoverable items you may have used on them. But if you manage to do a complete search you will get even more useful items such as healing, keys, notes, and even some trivial and often humorous items.

Speaking of humor, NOLF2 carries over the good natured dialog of the original including the witty banter of Cate and her co-workers, plus some of the funniest idle chatter you will ever hear while eavesdropping. The game encourages you to listen in on any conversations you happen upon. While most of these are simply there for amusement, there were several instances where I obtained very useful information by listening to guards.

The AI has been enhanced to the point where you will be scrambling for the difficulty selector in the options. I always try to complete these games on at least the Normal difficulty, but the female ninjas in the first few levels were totally overwhelming. In the later levels the soldiers weren’t as difficult, mainly because there was more weapons and ammo readily available. I love a good challenge and NOLF2 delivers just that with some impressive and almost human-like AI.

Enemies won’t charge blindly into battle. They will sound alarms or retreat until reinforcements arrive. They will try to flank and surround you. They hide behind objects and if you hide for too long they will flush you out with grenades. Guards maintain regular patrol routes, and if they come across an open file cabinet, office door, or a dead body they will go into an alert/search mode. You are encouraged to hide dead or sleeping bodies so they aren’t discovered. Often, it’s best to do this before searching them for items.

Yet another enhancement to the stealth aspect of this game is your ability to move silently and hide in shadows. This is another skill that can be upgraded with skill points affecting the speed at which you can conceal yourself in shadows or move undetected over various surfaces. Hiding is indicated by a moving bar that fills up when you duck into an alcove or move into a dark area. If you are currently being chased or are in view of an enemy when you try to hide this tactic is disable.

As you travel the world exploring exotic locales such as Japan, Calcutta, Siberia, Ohio (Ohio?!?!) you will think you are watching the Discovery or Travel channels. The art designers have captured the scenery and unique architecture for each of these areas perfectly.

The levels are alive with color, shadows, and some of the best architecture and textures I have seen in any FPS game to date. This game is going to rock your world when you see the level of quality that has been placed into every aspect of every mission. In the opening movie prior to the second chapter there is a shot of your plane landing on a frozen lake. There is a brown bunny in the foreground, and even though it is composed of polygons and a furry texture you would swear to everything holy that it was a real rabbit – it’s just that real!

Cutscenes are done using game engine graphics, but the game engine graphics are so amazing that you would swear the movies are pre-rendered. Even more spectacular is that this level of detail is fully available during gameplay so everything blends together seamlessly. Characters are exquisitely detailed with mouths and eyes that move realistically in cinematic close-ups allowing for subtle expressions that approach the level of FMV actors. And just wait until you see the professor’s wiry hair in the opening movie. It looks like every follicle was individually rendered.

NOLF2 uses the new LithTech Jupiter engine, which excels in rendering huge outdoor vistas and even detailed interiors in photo-realistic detail. This new engine is fully scalable and offers a host of options allowing you to tweak the visuals to run adequately on any system within the given specifications. Naturally, the more power you can throw at this game the more rewarding the presentation will be.

The voice acting is in a class of its own. Every character is professional voiced with totally believable actors and authentic accents. Even when the script dips into the humorous and often ludicrous levels of dialog, you will find everything totally believable and equally as funny. Cate still has her trademark cynical banter based on her struggle to make it in a “man’s world”, and the side-story of the arch-villain and his overbearing mother are simply a riot.

Some of the best dialog lies not in the cutscenes but in the idle chatter you can overhear if you use your stealth abilities to sneak up on unsuspecting enemies. You will be smiling if not laughing aloud as you hear the female ninjas discussing mother problems or eavesdropping on guards as they discuss their discontent with their current job assignment.

There is support for 4-player LAN and Internet play and even an ambitious attempt at a cooperative mode. This mode allows up to four agents to tackle four missions selected from the main campaign. Despite their valiant attempt at offering a multiplayer component, NOLF2 is still a game best enjoyed alone.

FPS games are a dime-a-dozen these days, and only a few can rise above the sea of mediocrity. NOLF2 not only rises above the competition, it sets a new bar for all other games to strive towards. Don’t miss out on what is without a doubt one of the best FPS games of the year.