No One Lives Forever

What we said

"Despite the inclusion of a few subgames scattered about, the game is more linear than a one-way street and the AI is bordering on abysmal."

What you thought

Comment

Every now and then we give a hyped game a poor score, and the complaints start flooding In. Fortunately, just as many of you write in supporting our views. At PC , we play every game thoroughly, and judge It according to its merits. If you'd like us to review a game on reputation and hype, and tell you It's the best thing ever, even If you'd be better off using the CD It comes on as a frisbee, then you're always going to be disappointed by our reviews.

We all played No One Lives Forever, and we all felt the same way about it. OK, the graphics are good (Dave never said they weren't as good as Quake III, he said the engine isn't as good as Quake Ilfs and if you'd seen the new WoHenstein running you'd agree with us), but there's a general tedium about the gameplay and the AI Is awful. Anyway, 69 per cent is not a dreadful score - it's 19 per cent above average - and Dave made several positive points about it In his review. In the end It does come down to personal opinion, but In our view there are many far-superior FPSs around, and that's reflected in NOLPs score.

Most of the time, reviewing games is fairly straightforward. You spend a few days playing through endless levels, hitting goblins on the head, shooting grown men in the face or scoring top-corner goals from the edge of the area. Then you try to gauge how much you've enjoyed the experience, and how the game stands in relation to others in the genre. But (and you just knew there had to be a but), every now and again a game comes along and takes a dump on this carefully crafted equation.

NOLF is one such game. I had high(ish) hopes for it because: a) it comes from developer Monolith and I liked Blood 2 and Shogo even though the AI was awfully iffy; b) it's the first game to use the brand-new LithTech 2.5 engine; and c) it's built around a cool female superspy with access to the latest gadgets and missions that span the globe.

So I spent ages willing the game to be better than slightly good and kept thinking that if I gave it a fair crack it would suddenly transform itself into a classic. But no. Like all the other Monolith games I could mention, it's not dire and there's a certain amount of retro-pleasure in the 'keep finger pressed alternately between forwards and backwards while shooting at anything that moves' action. But ultimately, that's all you're going to get.

Despite the inclusion of a few sub-games scattered about, the game is more linear than a one-way street and the AI is bordering on abysmal. To try to hide this, Monolith has coded in a number of routines, so when you shoot or attract a guard's attention he might somersault or run to the nearest pillar. However, a few seconds later he's back out and standing still while you shoot him. That isn't going to fool anyone, especially when two or more guards run towards you on exactly the same path. To eliminate them you just keep shooting at the same point.

The LithTech engine looks pretty good, and the character models (they've included a bit of variety since the demo) are detailed and move around fairly realistically. A word of warning though, you're going to need a hefty system if you want all the effects and details. Monolith recommends a PIII-500, and it's not joking. We tried it out on a 450 and it chugged like a bastard.

It's also nowhere near the level of id's Quake III beauty. Remember, we've seen Return to Castle Wolfenstein running and have seen how far the stakes have been raised. In comparison, NOLF looks old.

And it is a shame because some of the ideas are really good. Struggle through the dull opening levels and you move to Germany, where the action is faintly reminiscent of Counter-Strike. Further on, the action gets a lot more varied, but why struggle for a day just to reach something worthy of your attention?

In its favour, it's a long game to play through, although you will probably feel a bit jaded before the finale. However, the notion that you can play the game as a shooter or a thinker is so far off the mark it's laughable. Sneaking around is next to impossible -after about 30 seconds on each level I was spotted and the game reverted to move and shoot, move and shoot.

To finish on a bright note, the array of weapons is excellent, and some of the gadgets you've got access to add another slight dimension to the linearity. Overall, though, I can't recommend it as a worthy buy with Gunman Chronicles on release at the same time.

Her name's Archer. Cate Archer. Or possibly Jane Bond. Anyway, you get the idea. Agent Archer is the feisty, sexy heroine of Fox Interactive's upcoming, first-person '60s-inspired, Bond-style action adventure, No One Lives Forever, and the men in suits are hoping that her name is going to become as familiar as that of a certain gun-toting, pigtailswinging lady frequently glimpsed on boxer shorts. (I hasten to add that my experience of this is derived solely from window shopping). Game companies are tuning into the fact that female cyber-icons mean big business, providing sex-symbols for male gamers and action role-models for girls: even as I write, my boyfriend (a fellow game addict) slavers over my shoulder, "will she have big tits like Lara?" Go away, you sex-obsessed moron. This is serious stuff. And, yes. I'm quite sure she will.

Developed by Seattle-based Monolith (of Blood and Shogo fame), NOLF is a story-driven adventure, set in the Cold War of the 1960s. You play Agent Cate Archer, a beautiful, but deadly ex-criminal turned spy, now an undercover operative working for the anti-crime organisation UNITY. Your goal, as per usual, is to uncover a sinister, world-threatening conspiracy and in true Bond tradition you get your manicured hands on the latest weapons (more than 30 will feature in the game), and typically daft experimental gadgets, including a Robotic Poodle, exploding lipstick and lethal acid perfume. You also get the chance to ride motorbikes and snowmobiles and visit exotic locations such as Morocco, the Caribbean and a secret Russian space-station. All up it features 15 single-player missions and ten multiplayer levels, including Deathmatch and an innovative Co-operative Assault.

Fox searched the world for a suitable subject with attitude and stunning looks on which to model Agent Archer. After interviewing hundreds of delectable beauties (tough job, eh?) they came up with Mitzi Martin, former L'Oreal girl and Elite model, and used her body and features for the Agent Archer cybermodel. Completely the reverse of Lara Croft, who started life as a pixelated character and has since been personified by a gaggle of wannabe starlets.

Developer, Monolith, also points out that, unlike Lara. Cate wasn't bom with a silver spoon in her mouth. Delivered screaming into the world after a 20 hour labour, her mother died shortly after giving birth and Cate fell into a life of crime before turning full circle and working for the good guys again. Sounds like a feisty one, and because Monolith is involved we're expecting big things for Mitzi and NOLF. Its LithTech engine looks and plays like a dream, and we reckon it's about time it was behind a huge hit. Watch this space.

Ported over from the PC, No One Lives Forever is one of those games that leaves you feeling like it could have been much better than it ended up being. I know the PC version received some strong accolades so either the gaming mentality has changed over the last couple of years or this game has lost something in the translation.

It is not that I found this game particularly bad; it just felt too routine for my tastes. Fans of FPS will be turned off by the linear and scripted nature of gameplay. In an attempt to break things up a bit, they threw in minor espionage bits that were decent but not involved enough to cover up the monotony of the rest of the game.

On a more positive note, the game was set in the 60's and they did a great job of creating the whole 60's vibe. Think Austin Powers the videogame, without all the 'shagging'? references. Sadly, the graphics looked like a last generation PSX game, not a second or third generation PS2 game. Car models were blocky and the people in the cut scenes where downright frightening looking.

In the end, you'll find a game that offers up some entertainment but not enough to warrant a purchase. Fans of FPS or Spy/Espionage games will find things too limited and casual gamers will probably be turned off by the graphics.