Rating: 
Summary: You might not live forever, so play this before you die
Review: The world of first person shooters is getting a bit played out. There's pretty much two kinds of them: the realistic military type (Counterstrike, Ghost Recon, Operation Flashpoint) and the sci-fi type (Unreal, Alien vs. Predator, System Shock). In all this, there's not much room for improvement and things are getting a bit repetitive- all you do is go in and kill everything that moves, and solve (or cheat) your way past the occasional puzzle that primarily exists to justify putting a longer gameplay figure on the box. Looking at most new titles, the only really interesting thing is even more detailed graphics and effects, which- by the way- mean you need a new PC. Enter No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in HARM's Way. This excellent shooter and sequel to an excellent shooter is the type that will save the genre. Here's why: System requirements: You don't need a new PC to run this game, but this doesn't mean it looks like the original Doom. More on that later. Gameplay: There are some puzzles, but they aren't annoying or counterintuitive. It is possible to get past some levels without killing anyone. Curiosity and inventiveness pay off here, but if you can't do that, you can usually just go in with guns blazing. Something new: The game has some nice additions from the original NOLF. Most significant of these are skills. Completing primary and secondary objectives and finding intelligence items gives you points, which you can invest in 8 different skills that all have a significant impact on gameplay. Additionally, there are new and cool gadgets to play with. Many of them auto-activate when necessary, which disposes of the annoyance of having to switch over to use them. HARM also has some new hires and allies, including French mimes (no, I didn't make that up). Do you need any other reason to play? Story: This is what really makes the game fun. The voice acting and cutscenes (all done with the game engine) are superb, and really draw you into the plot. As you might guess from the title, the usual suspects are up to no good once again. It's a tossup as to whether this is more of a James Bond or Austin Powers kind of script, but whatever it is, it's a good one. AI: The NOLF AI is smart- as good as any other game I've seen. They take cover behind objects, go prone, roll out of the way of grenades, and seek you out if you make noise. The AI characters also act like real people. If you pick one of them off with a silenced weapon, they'll be confused for a second and then load their guns and start looking around. If you can see them, they can see you, and given enough time they definitely will. Replayability: Due to the detail of the levels, it's unlikely you'll find everything there is to find on one pass. Also, the AI behaves in a random enough fashion that every time you play an area the outcome could be very different (if you don't believe me, just try reloading a save). Also, you don't have enough skill points to advance to the max in every area. Playing again with a different set of skills is quite fun. For example, try going all-out stealth and health instead of firepower and attempt to sneak your way through places you blasted by earlier. It's arguably more exciting trying this! Graphics and sound: This is the first game I've seen that models expressions believably. The Jupiter engine has the look and feel of something that would require a cutting-edge machine to run, but goes smoothly on an average computer. It is, quite simply, astonishing. There's a huge amount of interaction with the environment, and things have an almost movie-like appearance. The characters are especially a pleasure to see, due to the attention to detail. Ms. Archer in particular has had a gorgeous makeover- she is arguably the hottest woman in any game to date, even including live motion actresses. Oh, and by the way, the soundtrack is killer. Multiplayer: The version of the game that shipped did not have significant multiplay support. This has been remedied. Updating to the latest version gives you deathmatch, team deathmatch, cooperative, and assault game modes. Additionally, there are plenty of maps out now. The only thing missing here is bots, which is a bit of a pity considering how good the AI is. I'm sure someone will think to add those later. If this isn't enough to convince you, the setting is just plain cool. This is the 60's, folks, complete with President Johnson, neon colored clothing, retro-tech spygear, and even a bellicose American general. The characters that populate this world have true depth and, more often than not, are good for some great laughs. Lastly, this game is probably the best deal you'll ever see at such a low price. Don't miss out- grab NOLF 2 while you can.
Rating:
Summary: No One Lives Forever fans are NOT going to be disappointed
Review: Ok, bad stuff first.. there are some clipping issues (getting stuck in places that shouldn't be a problem), I've heard of some sound issues (all of which I have not experienced personally), and the multiplayer isn't nearly as robust as the previous game. I have three computers here that I've run the demo on, and even though I have to reduce the resolution down to a pathetic 640x480x32Bit on the GeForce 2 MX machine, the game is still a big leap forward for the graphics of the series. Now that I have my recently purchased copy, I have to say this game is beautiful. It's noticeably not as colorful as the first game, at least not thus far (I'm still in the siberia level), but the humor is intact and so is the fun. The first time I tripped a guy on a banana I had to pause the game (too funny). Then I tried to set the same trap again and I tripped on it myself, which was good for more laughs. Level design is more complex than the first one, so if you're a fan, you'll find this game's nooks and crannies every bit as fun to discover as the first, if not better. There's a new multi-tiered level feature where you have multiple goals that you must achieve by advancing to another area, and then coming back to the previous area (which requires a load screen). It makes the levels feel just a teeny bit more complex than they are, but I find it adds to the mystery and I know I'm going to want to flush out those details again and again. After playing the demo I was afraid that this game's soundtrack would be a bit too dark and brooding, but the end of the first level, combined with the opening music left me on a lighter note. It has sort of a James Bond feel where the game just starts and you play a level, and then you get the intro music/credits. A few minor gripes that I have are: I liked the original Cate Archer's voice/model, Bruno's Voice and that director guy's voice (who we see only briefly in the beginning of the game, but you'll recognize his higher poly visage). One other perennial character's voice (who shall not be named) is the same, and I haven't seen the other, but I have my fingers crossed. The new equipment system is tolerable, although the grouping of equipment hasn't greatly simplified getting through what usually turns out to be a somewhat lengthy inventory. Stealth is highly stressed in this game. If you played through the previous game on easy and enjoyed the option of being able to survive running through it guns blazing wherever possible, this will be a slight shock to your system. Like the first game I found myself luring people to me to dispatch them. The ability to move the bodies (stretching the life of your body remover spray) is a nice add on. I haven't finished the game, and I've heard of some perilous gaming ahead, but if what I've encountered so far is any indicator, I'm going to be THOROUGHLY enjoying it. I highly recommend this game to any first person shooter fan. It's not your run of the mill FPS, but then being billed as a game that 'advanced the genre,' who wants it to be? I too was skeptical of the original game and I have managed to get most of my family and friends addicted to it. It's the most fun game/game series I've ever played on any system (console, PC or otherwise).
Rating: 
Summary: No Game is Great Forever
Review: After playing the first two missions of No One Lives Forever 2 (NOLF2), I thought I'd found what I previously thought did not exist: namely, a flawless game. Everything seemed perfect, but alas, nothing is perfect in this world especially when it comes to computer games. Don't get me wrong; I find a lot to like in this game, not the least of which are the graphics. My PC features a 128 MB Radeon 9800 Pro graphics card, so I was able to turn up the graphics options. I believe NOLF2 may have the best looking rendering of people of any game I've played, and the AI is above average too. There's a lot of detail in the visuals in this game, and almost everything looks clear which is a real plus considering that many of the newer games often look indistinct especially when they try to render tree leaves. Getting back to the first level or two--not only did the levels look good, but the gameplay, AI, and everything else worked really well. You can even ride a snowmobile which I did even when it wasn't necessary. These levels showed off the graphics of NOLF2 (see above), and I was impressed with a waterfall on the first level and explosions on the next level or two. But it didn't take much longer to see some flaws in this game. Since it's a spy game, you naturally need to do a lot of snooping. What I didn't like about the searching is that you need to point your cross hair all over the place to find text that tells you that you need to press the use key to do something like activate a switch. It's very easy to miss these text prompts, and I spent a lot of time wandering a level or even going back and forth between levels only to realize that I'd missed a prompt when I was very near it a half-hour earlier! Very frustrating. Another problem with the game is the stealth missions. Most of the time NOLF2 is rather forgiving in that you can blast your way through trouble if you are spotted, but on at least one level you must either go back to the beginning of the level if you are seen or load your last save. It must have taken me the better part of an hour and numerous reloads until I finally found the room I needed to search for without getting caught. Nevertheless, the stealth missions in this game are better than what you find in most games, and you learn tricks to get through them. Just be prepared to get frustrated until you learn the best stealth techniques. Although No One Lives Forever 2 is a good game, it's not the flawless game I thought it might be. Those first two missions were a tease, I suppose. So if anybody finds a perfect game, preferably a shooter, then please let me know! Pros:
Great graphics
Virtually perfect at the beginning Cons:
Frustrating searches due to a text-prompt interface
Less than perfect as one progresses through the game
Rating:
Summary: Awesome Sequel to the 2000 action game of the year!!:D
Review: I didn't think NOLF 2 would be so good, but it is awesome. Much better engine, great multiplayer, and more. And Cate is back, tautin' enemies, bein' her normal super spy self, you even get to find super ninja assasins with swords!!! It's so fun!!! It requires pretty heavy systems though, not as heavy as ut2003. And the gameplay is great, much better lightning quality and texture/environment detail plus shadow quality, better sound effects, music effects, only by alittle. Very Realistic Shadows, though I think they need to work on casting the shadows on to the models. Besides that, it's great!! Awesome!! On my computer, as I believe it's an P4 1.7ghz, 256 mb ram, GeForce 2 mx, WinXP, and more, It ran pretty fast and pretty slow. Yet the graphics are incredible, and so is the AI. Much better more realistic ingame cinematics, it requires an Pentium III 500mhz, 128mb of ram, 1.4 GB of HARD DRIVE SPACE, DirectX 8.1, 32MB 3-D Graphics Accelerator modern completeley compatible and supporting DirectX8.1 with Hardware T & L, it also requires an Windows Compatible 16-Bit DirectX compatible and certified sound card, 56kModem connection, and the OS is Windows 98/98SE/ME/2000 with latest service pack/XP. They recommed P3 1ghz, 64 MB vid card same, same sound card just with EAX 2.0 support, 1.67 GB of Hard Drive space, cable connection, And that's all I remember. And the water is much better. All I can say is this may end up being the 2002 action game of the year!!! I recommend this for any action/adventure gamer that meets or exceeds the minimum system requirements of NOLF2!!:) I recommend GeForce 3, but GeForce 1 is required....
Rating:
Summary: What fun You'll Have
Review: What a wonderful time I had with this game. It was captivating while still being laugh out loud funny. Anyone who thinks they've seen it all will have to admit to being amazed and delighted by the scret of the Mime King. That one still gets me going...as does the ensuing chase. Sometimes all the reviews are true and in this case, they are.
Rating:
Summary: Move Over, Austin Powers...
Review: Superspy Cate Archer is back, but since I've never played the first NOLF, this has no signifigance for me. The reason I bought it is because I liked the idea of a female spy, and because I'd read nothing but great reviews in gaming magazines. Plus, I had played a teaser demo of the Ohio level, and I thought that any game that has you chasing ninjas during a tornado is worth owning. The graphics are great, as are the cut-scenes and all of the evil characters that are running around. (I was hiding behind a building and I overheard two unsuspecting ninjas talking about poisoning their husbands!) Overall, the game is worth the money. The only complaint that I have is the loading between levels seems to take for-ev-er, which gets annoying when you keep on dying and you want to load your last saved game. But other than that, I'm having a great time sneaking up on the enemies, using crucial weapons, such as banana peels and killer kitty robots. This is a must-have for any first-person-shooter fan.
Rating: 
Summary: Somewhat disappointing
Review: Pros:
-good graphics (especially if you your card features vertex shading)
-you can interact more with the environment than before (open drawers, move dead bodies)
-you can upgrade your stats in various categories like stamina or stealth with skill points you earn for finishing mission objectives.
-gameplay is mostly identical to the first NOLF, so if you've played through that, you'll feel right at home here. Cons:
-Very few new weapons or gadgets
-You can't select your own equipment before every mission
-Cutscenes are extremely short. You just seem to jump from one location to the next with little explanation as to what your main objective is. The first game had a detailed briefings in between missions which made the story more interesting. Also you never find out about the background of the new characters like the HARM Director.
-Level design is very dull compared to the first game. Most missions just boil down to scavenger hunts (i.e. find the secret enemy documents, find your hidden contact, find equipment dropped by Unity, and so on...) Remember the parachuting mission from the first game? NOLF2 lack that kind of experience. Bottomline: Monolith has missed the mark in surpassing the excellent NOLF. If you haven't played that game yet I suggest you buy that, since its quite cheap right now, and hold off on buying NOLF2 until its hits bargain value. That way you'll feel you'll get your money's worth.
Rating:
Summary: It's Archer, Cate Archer!
Review: No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way continues the story of British agent Cate Archer, and her quest to save mankind. She's like a female Austin Powers, set in the 60s but a bit more witty and intelligent. Cate Archer isn't Rambo. Her missions aren't about shooting everyone in sight. Instead, you lurk in the shadows, use your ultra-cool weapons like the Angry Kitty, and distract your enemies by throwing coins or hitting wind chimes. The levels are very well done. The graphics are great and quite realistic, making you really feel like you're in different areas of the world in the 60s. The computer characters chat with each other and the ambient noise fits in well. The music is great! There are all sorts of types of missions, with a wide selection of weapons to find and funny scenes to keep you entertained. The game really pulls you along and the ride is quite enjoyable. The characters are very well done and seem quite real. Add on to all of this a quite-fun on line game experience and you can easily play this for months. Highly recommended for any spy-game-fan!
Rating: 
Summary: The NOLF Franchise Has Died In The Second Act
Review: A huge disappointment. NOLF 1 is one of my favorite video games of all time. Possibly the greatest marriage of story & interface in a title ever. I can't believe people can hold this sequel up to the original and think it even remotely compares. The graphics & AI are better. I'll give them that. Gone is the interesting storyline, clever, lol dialog, witty interface and 1960's zeitgeist. What we have in NOLF 2 is a a better looking game with jokes that don't work, levels that are either frustratingly difficult (ninjas/tornado level), monotonous or too easy. Don't get me started on the lack of character development. Or even intros. That would be nice for people who never played NOLF 1. Shoddy marketing. I know it's difficult not to follow-the-James-Bond-leader when you do a spy project, but at least TRY to be a little creative. Don't waste your hard earned money on this blatant excercise in corporate digital greed & lack of artistry. So disappointing. I'm going to take my chances on Contract J.A.C.K..
Rating:
Summary: Best Game I have Played So Far
Review: I have just completed the game. This is the best game I have played so far. Pros:
1. Good story. There is enough content to be made into a short movie.
2. Strong character development. You will get to know and like Cate Archer the heroine of the story.
3. Good voice acting. This is exceedingly important. Good voice acting is required to draw you into the game.
4. Some humor.
5. Almost photo realistic graphics. I have the Radeon 9600. You will probably need something comparable. 6. Value priced. It is now under ten dollars. Cons:
1. About 3 missions involve pixel hunting. I have to use a cheat code to end one mission. Having to search for a unique item in a large level slows down the game. What is more frustrating is the some of these items are randomly place, probably to give this game some replay value. This means that a walkthrough is only of limited use in locating these items. Apart from some frustrating pixel hunting, this game succeed in drawing me into it. It provided several days of pleasant distraction which is why I played video games. The low price and entertainment value make this game a must-have for anyone who plays video games.
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