Archer,
Cate Archer.
Introduction
Chalked
full of action packed sequences and the classic cheesy one liners,
the Bond movies (although biased towards male as much as video games
are) have attracted the attention of millions for decades. From the
suave Connery to the debonair Brosnan we watch the movies sometimes
wishing "we" were actually there, stuck in the middle of political
intrigue and spies. Well, thanks to the hard working team at Monolith,
they just happened to make that all possible through the means of
a game called No One Lives Forever (NOLF). Monolith known for a few
previous failures and missed promises has come back into the gaming
scene, and hit hard. Proving there worth in the gaming industry with
one of the best first person shooters since Valve's Half-Life.
Storyline
NOLF
pit's you in the 60's with a female protagonist that you get to guide
through the game. You happen to be a member of UNITY whose purpose
is to protect the free world from terrorism and crime. Your name is
Cate Archer, a former professional thief turned do-gooder spy. As
you begin the game you learn that operatives in Harm are systematically
being assassinated. You are put on assignment and forced into action
almost immediately. NOLF's story is rich in narrative and thrusts
you through twists and turns throughout its entire plot. The characters
all have distinctive personalities that you grow to love. The villains
Monolith created are so spectacular they will live on in my memory
as some movie villains do. They range from a Scottish brute, to a
cold calculated Russian killer! I played through the story and grew
so fond of the Scot that I feared having to come up against him and
having to kill him (as not only did I know he would be hard, but he
is quite a riot during the cut scenes that I just liked him too much
to do away with him). As the story came to a close there were enough
twist's to throw off some of the suspicions you get about the story
while playing the game. The ending not only is terrific, but gives
enough to provide you with the possibility of a sequel!
Gameplay
The
gameplay in NOLF is what really shines in this shooter. Diverse enough
for you to sneak around using coins and sprays to distract the guards,
as well as run through the level with the guns blazing for a kill
fest. NOLF boasts multiple ways to go about finishing the level (although
some are easier than others). Not only that, NOLF isn't just a "find
key, unlock door" shooter. It is more of a sneak around use lock pick,
kill guard, remove body, listen to conversation, get past camera,
get on motorcycle, get past blockade, take picture of secret documents
time of shooter. To top all of that they pit you in exotic locales
such as Northern England, scuba diving in a sunken ship, shooting
your way around a space station, jungles, forests, desert. You name
it and Monolith probably included it. They also made a plethora of
functions for Cate to do other than open doors and shoot. You can
talk to people, pick up documents and letters, change types of ammunition,
use a blowtorch, ride a snowmobile, use lipstick grenades, stun spray,
the list goes on. Not only that but there are specific "secret" documents
strewn about the 60 different levels in NOLF. Some you can get right
away, others you will have to come back and play after you have gotten
a specific item to reach areas where the document is hidden which
offers a bit of replay during the single player
missions.
Multiplayer
The
multiplayer aspects of the game have its high and low points both.
On one hand you have a game with great potential and if the community
embraces its technology, will actually provide us with some very interesting
mods and games for the NOLF engine. The net code seems somewhat stable
(although I don't notice much because I have a fat pipe). There are
some concerns with crashes that occasionally occur while trying to
join a server as well as when playing in game. The multiplay provided
with the game includes the normal deathmatch as well as a team-based
game called UNITY vs. HARM. What the team based play does, is pit
you against an opposing team of foes each bent on taking snapshots
of each other's private documents! The maps they chose for the multiplayer
levels in deathmatch are somewhat drab, but the UvsH levels really
shine. They are innovative and ellaborate offering a multitude of
fun. I was especially impressed with the open space provided in quite
a few of the maps as well. Needless to say it can provide endless
hours of fun online!
Graphics
The
graphics are great in NOLF, most notably are the textures. By changing
the settings within the game you can get some amazingly detailed textures
with added bump maps that provide a real quality look to the area.
The texture detail is also quite high and makes good use of 64MB video
cards on the market. Make no mistake, you need a beefy system to be
able to turn some of the most notable features all the way up. When
the detail is full the quality from model texture to sky texture is
nothing but top notch. The lighting effects are also something to
be noted. Even the flashlights and spotlights show a light trail directly
from their source. Although I do miss the curved surfaces and unsurpassed
FPS that you get from the Quake III engine, it should still be noticed
that the Lithtech engine has raised the bar in terms of the quality
of graphics in FPS.
Sound
The
sound is also some of NOLF's most defining qualities. The weapons
provide some realistic sound effects. When you are around the corner
from a conversation occurring you can sense that it is not in front
of you but being drowned out by the wall that happens to be in the
way of the sound waves. As you approach the sound gets higher which
dictates that you are closer to the source of the noise. Although
I do wish I was able to hear bullets whizzing past my ears as I did
in Unreal, there are still only a few games that take advantage of
4 speaker setups to their fullest. NOLF also has some of the best
voice over acting I have ever seen in a game. The voices have perfect
accents be it German, Russian, English or Scottish. The script is
well written and can be best described as perfect. The in game music
is top notch as well, providing the groovy sounds of the sixties.
If you are sneaking around the music will stay at a certain pace and
change depending on what is happening in the level. If you kill a
guard a certain clip will play. If someone hears you kill the guard,
a separate clip will follow, and if you are in a full out gunfight
a different clip plays for that as well. Fox Interactive was also
gracious enough to include over 10 tracks of songs inspired by the
60's to make up for some empty space on the second CD that comes with
the game.
Bugs
The
bugs are few that I encountered while playing the single player game.
Most of the bugs I saw were actually stemming from the multiplayer
section. Currently there is a patch to fix a few of these bugs but
not all of them. From time to time I would still find problems connecting
to some servers and at times getting kicked back to my desktop. If
Monolith is quick to fix these bugs as well as improve upon the net
code for the game then it has the potential to be quite a good game
to create a mod for as Monolith is in the works to release tools for
map and mod creation.
Conclusion
Overall
the game has provided the most fun I have had since I first played
Half-Life. Through an incredible acting job and in game cut scenes,
NOLF propels you through the 60's in hopes to stop an international
terrorist act that could cripple the world. Great guns, great graphics,
great gameplay, and the potential to be an awesome multiplayer game,
NOLF is a must have for anyone. You can hide in the shadows or whip
out the big guns for a slaughter. Kudos to Monolith for making a truly
wonderful and enjoyable game that is now becoming a classic in the
PC arena, and has literally stunned the gaming community by coming
out with a truly immersive and awesome game to play.
