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A proud successor to Half-Life

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 35 / 36
Date: November 13, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I'm not usually a fan of FPS games. I thoroughly enjoyed this game. Take the best elements of Thief, Half-Life, and old James Bond movies, mix them together, and you've got this game. Whoever designed the levels and missions for this game deserves very high praise. The story is also very engaging, with a tongue in cheek variety of humor that's not as over the top as Austin Powers.

This game is primarily a sneaker. While you're not completely incompetent in a straight-up fight, you'll do best to get through the missions using stealth. The voice acting throughout the game is excellent. Guards carry on conversations about the nature of evil, job security for being the henchman of a criminal mastermind, etc. All of these are delivered very well and are quite funny. I'd often go back after completing a mission just so I could hear things that I missed the first time around.

The AI in the game is superb. The bad guys rarely rush at you head-on, like a last-ditch bonzai charge. Frequently they'll flip over furniture to use for cover, and will even use suppressive fire. I can't say enough how much I loved the gunfights in this game. I liked them better than Half-Life's, and that's saying a lot.

While the engine that runs the game doesn't have as much eye candy as Unreal Tournament or Quake 3, it's definitely passable. Beyond that, though, the animations are perfect. If you shoot somebody while they're going down the stairs, they'll stumble for a while before tumbling down, rather than just gliding down like in most shooters.

If you're at all a fan of first person shooters, and particularly if you enjoyed Half-Life, you owe it to yourself to pick this game up. I wouldn't hesitate to call it one of the best games of the year.

Frankly Astonishing....

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 30 / 31
Date: November 20, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This is a great game. Funny, engrossing, challenging. And the details can blow you away...

For example, when was the last time you played a first person shooter where you shoot a guy at the top of some steps and he rolls down the steps seamlessly, just like in the movies. I suggest never. Or, if you shoot a guy on a balcony, he falls over the railing just like the movies. There are no games in the market that have this sort of extra character animation.

Or background music which seamlessly blends in with the action? The music can have a sort of quiet sound, but when you spot a sniper and pick him off with a rifle, the music kicks in with a single beat, like a drum shot, just like the movies. When people suddenly discover you, the music changes intensity smoothly, like the movies. Believe me, you haven't heard music transitions handled this well since the LucasArts Jedi Knight PC games.

These are only examples of what can happen during the shooting action in the game. The music, storyline, cutscenes, voice acting, missions, etc. are all just wonderful, and the main character has to be one of the most attractive woman in PC gaming history. If you play a lot of PC games, this is the sort of game which can take your breath away and make you say "Wow..." in how the game just does things better than so many of the other games out there.

The graphics engine is a bit weak, but perfectly adequate, and very satisfying when you consider games like Rune which are stunningly gorgeous but become incredibly boring after the redundant gameplay drives you to tears...

NOLF simply rocks. A must buy.

Is Cate Archer the next Lara Croft?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 22 / 22
Date: December 06, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I was pleasantly surprised by this game. It's far from the run of the mill first-person shooters that are being churned out.

What's different? First of all, there's actually a story and plenty of cutscenes between and during the missions. The locations are in the exotic locales you would expect in a 60's spy flick. The music is excellent (you'll find yourself humming the theme song), the acting is top notch (I love Cate's accent), and, as many of the other reviewers have pointed out, the characters have plenty of interesting stories you can eavesdrop on.

The AI is some of the best I've seen - the bad guys hide, duck behind corners or nearby objects and generally make it seem like they would prefer not to be shot. The developers have spent a lot of time making each locale look authentic, plus they have a great sense of humor too. Among other gags, you'll see a large sign pointing a rocket ship to the left with an equally large sign pointing out the toilet to the right.

I only have a couple problems with the game. First off, it's not really a "shooter". It's more a "sneaker", resembling Thief or Rainbow Six. Perhaps I'm just not that good at this game but there are missions that I just find impossible to complete. I'm always getting caught which sets off all the alarms and causes a quick death for me. I'll probably have to get a walkthrough or cheat codes to finish the game and I hate games where I have to do that! Maybe I'm getting old?

The load times are excruciating! Load up the game, start a mission, go make a sandwich, eat it, take a nap, wake up, get married, have kids, eliminate world hunger and hopefully by that time the mission will have started. Finally, I can see people with high-end systems complaining about the graphics. Personally, I don't think it's a big deal, it's kind of like comparing the graphics quality of Unreal Tournament verses Quake 3 - who cares as long as they're fun to play - but I want to mention it as they do look a little dated and that's a big deal for some people. By the way, the framerates are smooth on my machine which only meets the minimum listed system requirements.

So if you're a fan of the 60's, secret agent movies or you just want to play a shooter that requires brainpower then I would recommend this game to you. I hoped my review helped.

Finally something BETTER than HALF-LIFE

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 14
Date: November 12, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Anyone who played Half-Life knew why it was awesome. A company was finally able to put the needed attention into a first person epic since the original System Shock. Deus-Ex came quite close, but suffered from bad voice acting and average graphics, but still had a great story and gameplay despite the quirky AI. The AI in No One Lives Forever is frighteningly real. Enemies throw furniture in front of them and dodge fire simillar to what the Half-Life AI was able to accomplish. The Engine does lack some of the nice curves and touches of an engine like Quake 3, but this doesn't hurt the game one bit. The characters are excellently rendered, and the levels are quite orininal and very colorful. It's set in the 60s, so there are psychadelic overtones towards almost every aspect of the game. And it even has some deathmatch maps and capture the flag maps. And there's plenty of missions. 60 levels in 15 locations. This game is money well spent. Finally.

Much better than I had expected.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 12
Date: November 14, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I just got my copy and I was amazed. No One Lives Forever is long, entertaining, and funny. I would reccommend it because it is so bright and colorful for a FPS. It is like being in a couple of spy movies and TV shows like "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." or "the Avengers". Everything is exaggerated; when cars explode they fly 50 ft. in the air and neat-o gagdets like the exploding lipstick. You can drive snowmobiles and when you talk to people you can choose your own dialogue. Dialogue between henchmen is hilarious. If you had bad performence when plying the demo, no worries, the code has been much improved. The game runs great on my PII-450.

And yes, the game does have its own theme song.

WOW! this is REALLY good

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: November 30, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Wow, what a game!

Fun, funny, fast, furious, adrenaline pumping and sophisticated problem solving. A very convinvcing world.

Now it is not like Unreal Tournament in its adrenaline, nor like Aliens in its edge of seat terror - nevertheless, it is just as potent! The tension comes from caring about your character, and trying to complete the missions.

For example, you are not supposed to shoot civilians, so imagine running around in a heated gunbattle in the middle of a hotel and trying not to shoot any civilians! as they duck for cover behind desks.

There is variety too, at one time you may be sneaking around, and another time being a sniper (providing cover for someone else), or running about in gunbattles, then hiding your gun and walking about calmly to blend in. Or frantically looking for a way out, and realising you can shoot the lock off a gate and duck through.

Fox has done it again with this one.

The atmosphere is amazing. Don't worry about it being 60's, it is not at all tacky or overbearing, it is bright, entertaining and very elegant. Ordinary people are walking about doing their day to day tasks, and they react to whatever you do.

I think this will become one of the most classic games. The next Lara Croft? Possibly, Cate has a tonne of personality and cheek, AND you get to choose what she says, AND this changes the games outcome!

I highly recommend you get it, you will enjoy it immensely.

A 60's Cinematic First-Person Shooter

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: August 04, 2001
Author: Amazon User

'The Operative: No One Lives Forever' is one of those rare breed of first-person shooter games (at least the ones I have come across), where there is more to the game than just shooting. There is a progressive storyline, which shows great care and detail (as well as a wink and nod to old 60's camp spy movies), and the game is divided up into scenes, just like a movie would be. The characters are all engaging (even the mindless guards who you simply need to pluck off with a bullet or what have you). The central storyline revolves around a sinister group known as H.A.R.M. I will not disclose their entire plan here, as that is part of the unfolding storyline, but suffice it to say, they are the bad guys - an evil corporation which employs uniformed thugs to do its bidding. They put the world in jeopardy, and someone needs to stop them. Enter Cate Archer (or YOU!). Cate is a reformed thief, and is recruited by UNITY (a British spy organization) to stop H.A.R.M. Cate has *quite* a personality, and it is alot of fun to play her. She is given assistance during various portions of the game, but for alot of it she is on her own. The locales encountered range from Morocco to Berlin, the turbulent seas to a secret space station. The villians (for it is mostly villians which you, as Archer, encounter, are all rendered with great personality, even down to the simpleton guards, whose AI chips were obviously programmed with care.

The graphics look really good. There is really no difference between the gameplay scenes and the "cinematic" ones. The cinematic scenes are where the major plot points of the game unfold, and they, like much of the game, are *very* tongue-in-cheek. If I do have one qualm with 'No One Lives Forever', it is that the there are almost TOO MANY cinematic sequences - especially at the end. Let me just forewarn you now - the last part of the game, to me, was a bit of a letdown. The gameplay portion, compared to other gameplay scenes, was pretty weak, and then the game actually ends with - ANOTHER cinematic sequence. I am not giving away plot points here, just letting you know my misgivings.

Other than the aforementioned, I can see no reason not to run out and get this wonderful game. It is a lot of fun, especially to re-play. As the "official" title is 'The Operative: No One Lives Forever', I smell a sequel - 'The Operative: something something something'.

We should be that lucky.

My wife bought it for herself but I can't stop playing.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: November 28, 2000
Author: Amazon User

While out shopping one night my wife spotted this game and bought it for herself. I installed it for her and started playing, I haven't stopped long enough for her to get on the computer. As a big fan of shootem up types like Quake and Unreal, I was pleasantly surprised by this game. The graphics, scenarios and humor make it an enjoyable purchase. I highly recommend it.

An excellent game all-around

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: March 27, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I can't understand some of these 2 and 3 star reviews people are giving this game. It truly is one of the best, if not the best, FPS games available. It's a shame that it never really caught on, meaning there probably wont be a sequel.

This game combines the elements of Half-Life, Thief, James Bond, and Austin Powers into a hilarious, intense, and satisfying FPS. There are TONS of different areas to work your way through and every single one of them is followed by hilarious cut-scenes which weave a very interesting story. Many times you'll creep up to a room with 2 guards in it and they will be having a very funny conversation, some are so funny that you will wait until they are finished before storming the room and blowing their skullcaps off. And the voice acting throughout the game is top-notch, along with the music.

There are so many different scenarios in so many different atmospheres that you will never grow tired of the same old tilesets and surroundings. Areas include the Alps, sunken submarines, spacestations, jungles, fortresses, Morocco, and MANY MANY more.

And the AI is superb...you'll never see a guy running around in a circle or into a closed door (like Deus Ex). And like real life they can be fooled as well...need to sneak past that guard? Throw a coin behind him and while hes distracted slip past him or just send a silenced slug into the back of his head.

I could go on and on about this game but you just have to try it for yourself. Trust me, this is one of the best games available to date, don't miss it!

Awesome

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: November 14, 2000
Author: Amazon User

First let me tell you that this game is excellent. The first time I played this game was when I downloaded the technology demo about a month ago. At first the game seemed sort of stupid with its bright colors and goofy 60's theme, but then I played the first mission and couldn't stop laughing. You start the mission behind (and out of sight) of a guard that is in the process of being sold a monkey by an old street merchant (who gets upset when the guard won't buy the thing). Hey I almost died because I wanted to hear them argue. The fact that I could shoot the guard at any time made it even more fun. (Note: if you shoot the monkey you lose) All the levels are fun and creative with excellent level design and some serious game play. The game ran like greased lightning on my P3 500 with a voodoo 3 card. Any thing less and you might want to download the demo to see how it runs. But, if you've got the horsepower I seriously recommend you pick this game up.

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