No One Lives Forever is a game that takes the spy genre and injects it with some humor and a great story. NOLF stars Cate Archer as a fresh recruit out of UNITY, an organization that protects the freedoms of the innocent. Cate was a former cat burglar that was given the choice of going to jail or putting her talents to use for UNITY. After the untimely deaths of numerous agents due to a leak in UNITY, you are brought in to help save the day. What comes next is an adventure that will take you across the globe in a variety of missions that never get dull, repetative or boring. You are addressed with the task of finding HARM, the evil organization of the game, and what their objective is. The game plays out over about 10 locations each with 2 to 4 level in each. You play the game from a first person objective and have some unique hardware at your disposal. The normal allotment of guns are here, but the items like proximity grenades in lipstick dispensers, or a belt buckle that is a grappling hook. Infrared/camera sunglasses that can also find mines that are hidden in the ground. You even get some time on a motorcycle and a snowmobile. The missions are varied and deal with retrieval, sneaking or out and out destruction. The levels tend to be fairly linear, but not in a way that is obtrusive. The surprising part of the game is the humor that is involved. Sometimes it is so much fun to crouch outside a door and listen to two HARM agents discuss their health plan or how they shot someone out an airlock because they did not agree with his analysis of a letter. People shooting at you while they wear Fez hats. When you are shot with a poison dart, you hear and see psychadelic lambs floating in the sky. There are so many things that are sent up in humor in this game. Even some of the art decco is there to show how funny it was to think what they thought the future was suppose to bring. Graphically the game is stunning for the time frame it was released. There are no interactive environments unless the item is meant to be interacted with. Characters are well detailed, especially in the facial region, but there is a fair amount of clipping at times. Cate Archer is a stunning lead that gives Lara Croft a run for her money, except that Cate tends to be a bit more direct. The sound is good with weapons having a realistic sound. There is not a lot in the way of ambient noises, but the music is fitting and has that James Bond spy music feel to it. The game comes with a second CD that is filled with music from the game which is a nice addition to the bundle. I did not play the multiplayer part of the game so I cannot comment except to say that Fox originally did release several map packs for the game that can be found here at Gamespot. Overall gameplay is smooth. The puzzles are varied and the missions never get stale or similar. The boss fights are a bit on the easy side, but they are not pushovers. Again, the game is a bit linear. Also, the vehicles in the game did not add much to the play of the game. They were there more for getting from point A to point B, and not much else. This is a game that should be in your collection. It is fun and witty while carrying a jam packed action story that I am surprised has not been turned into a movie at this stage. Unkind sales derailed the series, but you can find the game at a bargin nowadays and it will be worth what you pay and more.
Other Helpful Reviews for The Operative: No One Lives Forever Game of the Year Edition
The Operative: No One Lives Forever is an excellent example of why story driven games always end up being the most rewarding. It's not necessarily the gameplay that makes NOLF such a great game (though it's certainly ver... Read Full Review
No One Lives Forever (NOLF) is an excellent FPS from the late lamented Sierra. My review is based on a complete play through of the single player campaign of the PC GOTY edition of NOLF. While NOLF is at heart a seriou... Read Full Review
