THE OPERATIVE: NO ONE LIVES FOREVER
Developer: Monolith Productions
Publisher: Fox Interactive
Game Type: First Person Shooter
Similar To: Half-Life

Date: 12/16/2000
By: Rice

    Once every so often, the collective gaming review community would congregate around a game and call it the next Half-Life. What I don't quite understand is, what's so good about Half-Life? Okay, okay, it made my personal hall of fame, but in retrospect, its impact was as much as it being in the right place at the right time as it was anything else. Much like how the Beatles were... or Nirvana, or Beck, or the Sixth Sense, even.

    Back then, the FPS genre was suffering from stagnant clones like Blood 2 and Shogo: Mobile Armor Division (both of which, coincidentally was also developed by Monolith). It was the Quake 2-fatigue era, when we were starting to get tired of brain-less shooters. Enter Half-Life, the first true story-driven FPS. It was exactly what the community needed, and THAT'S why I think it's gotten all the laud.

Try sneaking into that club without being seen.

    Enter Monolith and Fox's No One Lives Forever, latest candidate for Half-Life killer this year. Ridiculous, isn't it? NOLF has absolutely nothing in common with Half-Life, yet everyone is throwing accolades like, "Best game since Half-Life!" around. Shoot, games like Unreal Tournament and Deus Ex have already far surpassed Half-Life. Ah well, onto the review.

    Imagine James Bond... in the 60's... as a woman. You have the basic premise of NOLF right there. What drives this game is (surprise!) the detailed storyline. Not particularly creative (save the world), and quite linear (complete clearly listed objectives), but very detailed. The cutscenes that glue the gameplay together are absolutely golden, thanks to the witty and humorous dialouge. Watch for the verbal bantering between Magnus and Wagner. I got a nice belly laugh out of that.

    The gameplay is likewise excellent. It reminds me of Metal Gear Solid in the sense that the mission objectives are extremely varied and entertaining. No looking for keys or switches here. In one scene, you'll be commanded to camp as a sniper. In another, you're falling out of an airplane sans parachute, and you gotta steal one from the guy below you while fighting off other skydiving baddies. Or try sneaking undetected through a populated office space packed with security camera. All these unique gameplay experiences keep you glued to the game, because you know you'll never be doing the same thing twice.

Gotta snipe 'em all before they get to the ambassador!

    Props go to the NOLF sound and music team as well. The aforementioned dialogue was persistant not only in cutscenes, but also during the game itself! Sometimes while you're sneaking around, you'll hear bored guards talk philosophy... usually twisted and quite funny. For example, it pokes fun of mother-in-laws, or criminals in general. Music wise, You could tell it was heavily influenced by Austin Powers. Also, whenever the action picked up, so would the tempo. I used it to gauge whether I've tripped an alarm or not.

    It's a shame that this game utilizes the LithTech engine, though. Of course, it didn't have much of a choice, since Monolith is the developer of LithTech. You see, there are three commercial engines that are marketed and sold. id's Quake engine, Epic's Unreal engine, and finally, Monolith's LithTech. The latter sticks out like a sore thumb. Not that it's bad in any way, but the former two are just so much more advanced, you can't help but wonder how much more engaging NOLF would've been with either one.

Now entering the Asian penthouse.

    Other than that gripe, LithTech can most certainly hold its own. Expansive levels such as one involving a motorcycle and a snowmobile really look sweet. Lip-syncing is also there and right on cue. It looks like my pet peeve will soon be extinct, because all the games that have been coming out all feature well-done lipsyncing. Character animations are realistic as well. For example, when you skill someone near a balcony or on the stairs, the dead body will tumble down.

    Another beef I have with LithTech is that it's so slow! I can't believe it started to chug and lag on my P3 700 MHz... at 640x480! At that resolution, it doesn't matter that I have a relatively ancient TNT2 Ultra, because the game ain't fill-rate limited. Then I would proceed to hear my ATA-66 connected hard drive thrash occasionally. On such an excellent game like NOLF, it only makes the glitches more disappointing as it detracts from the would-be near perfect overall experience.

Oh my, what large teeth you have...

    As you may have gathered, No One Lives Forever is a sweet little FPS that'll top anybody's list. Other than the incomparable Deus Ex, I haven't played a more entertaining shooter all year. There's action, there's intrigue, and there's witty humor. Is it the godsend that everyone's making it out to be? Not quite. There are sections of the game which are sort of boring and frustrating. Is is, however, overall very fun, and very worth your time.

*Rat tat tat tat tat!!*

Final Grade: A-
Summary: Overrated by most reviewers. Then again, so was Half-Life. Regardless, it's still a quality title.

Gratuitous Screenshots:

Wonder what these two are yakking about.

Looks like I broke into someone's secret office.

In NOLF you play the incomparable Cate Archer.

*Vroom Vroom*... Better run, suckah.