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Excellent 3D first person shooter with a 60s theme!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 19 / 20
Date: October 10, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I only found out about this game last month. I had no idea it was released last year. Apparently I don't keep up on my games as much as I used to.

Anyway, that being said, I found hardly anything with this game that I didn't like. It flat out rocks.

To get the requirements out of the way, the box says a Pentium II 450 or above is fine. Perhaps it is. I have a Pentium III 800 with 256 RAM and a 3dfx voodoo3 with 16 megs. I play the game with average performance and normal detail and its just fine. I don't run a bunch of other utilities in the background, I just let the game take over. Load times are usually about 10 seconds (or so) between levels. Not too bad. I don't get any chop, and the frame rate is just fine. Now I exceed all the requirements by far, but everybody I know has at least a Pentium II and a good video card.

The Lithtech 2.5 engine is very impressive. The most impressive game I have played to date was Unreal. Even though that game was released 3 years ago, to this day, I am still VERY impressed by the killer graphics engine. Lithtech is VERY close. In my opinion, the Unreal graphics are a perfect 10. Lithtech is a 9. The sky isn't quite a good, and some of the textures for people in the game could use a little improvements, but in the big picture, they did an excellent job.

Buildings, cars, water, textiles, clothing, blood, plants, streets, and so much more are just AMAZING.

The artificial intelligence is unbelieveable. To give you an idea, on the first mission I was running through some buildings in Morocco at night (I think that's where I was). I ran through a short tunnel, came out, and someone was firing at me. It took me a few minutes to find the person. WAY in the back, on a balcony was an enemy that I could only see with my sniper rifle zoomed in on him. When I stepped back, he quit firing. It gets better. Enemies hear your foot steps, gun fire, and if you kill an enemy and another soldier sees him but not you, he will still come looking for you! I have even hidden in the darkness and been seen by enemies.

This game to me looks like a combination of Austin Powers (it has a sense of humor) and James Bond. Very 60's based. The music is 60's and the overall theme fits well with it.

I have not yet passed Germany, Caribbean, or The Alps, so I can't comment on game play there. From Morocco and what I have seen in Germany, it is VERY impressive and well thought out.

A word of caution: this game takes practice! From defending the ambassador to sneaking around the German military, you need to save often and keep practicing. It's not just run through and shoot everything. Well, you CAN, but that defeats the purpose.

In my opinion, the overall textures, layout, maps, graphics, and artificial intelligence are almost as prefect as Unreal. They could use a little spicing up, but not much!

If you like first person shooters, GET THIS! I bought the Game of the Year edition which is 2 CD's for the game including bonus levels, 1 CD of 60's music, and the hint book/walkthrough. Well worth the price.

The last game I bought that I loved this much was Unreal, and I bought that a few years ago. Monolith did a tremendous job with this game. The cut scenes are pretty cool too.

Finally, even if you have an older Pentium II and you don't quite meet the requirements, I would definitely pick this up anyway. The game does take time to get used to, but once you learn about being a spy and using stealth, you will love it. A game like this has been LONG overdue.

Excellent job to the programmers and designers at Monolith!

Pros - Excellent graphics, good layout, great indoor and outdoor details, smooth rendering engine, good sound, good weapons, great artificial intelligence

Cons - Some levels are rather difficult and the learning curve can be a little long

A real thinking shooter!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 14
Date: March 20, 2002
Author: Amazon User

No One Lives Forever isn't just a test of your hand-eye coordination. Even if you're a hot-shot at Quake or Unreal, this game won't be a walk in the park. At times, you'll have to be stealthy or work your way through puzzles, a la Dark Forces or Marathon. The difference between this game and, say, Jedi Knight is that it's not at all serious- and that's a good thing!

The tools of the operative's trade include some of the wackiest gizmos ever to grace a first person game. It brings back reminiscences of James Bond, except the setting is more like Austin Powers. The weapons, however, are very realistically modeled and an absolute pleasure to fire.

Many times, you'll find yourself sitting quietly behind your enemies just to hear what they're chatting about before you wax them- that's how funny it is! They also make great noises when you shoot them, and it's even dynamic depending on where you hit them. The voice acting in general is top-notch, and the story is immersing. You won't have any problems taking on the role of Agent Archer.

The technical aspect of the game is superb. The LithTech engine is pushed to the limit with the highly detailed landscapes. My personal favorite was an indoor aquarium with 3-d fish swimming around in it. Some of the buildings you'll explore are absolutely eye-popping, and detailed to a fault. You'll get to explore a wide-range of world spanning locales, which is half the fun of the missions.

As for stability, there are some issues. I had some strange problems with the game destabilizing my system, but only a few times. The gameplay overall was usually quite reliable. Load times for the bigger levels were sometimes quite long, but after a while you won't notice. The game is just too much fun for such a trifle to be annoying. Don't be fooled by the number of missions, because each one has several parts to it. The game is actually quite long- about the same length as Unreal, though with less continuous carnage. Don't fret about that, though- there's plenty to be had when you want it.

Hey, these good old games are hard to find!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: June 26, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Not everyone can afford to upgrade the computer annually. I have to search on 2 criteria, One; is it worth the time and money? Two; will it run decently on a sub-gig system?
I loved this game. I can't think of a better 20 hours for the money. If your the "run right in and waste em all" type, it plays ok, not fantastic, but ok. After you've played it through once, it actually is more interesting to go back through and try the stealth angle. Some of the conversations that you pick up when your sneaking around are knee-slappers. If you had a conscience it might even be difficult to waste the thugs after you hear about the college money being spent on an Edsel, or the guy who's redecorating his apartment and his mother's dog has a flatulence problem. :)
I would say that it definitely deserved the Game of the Year award. Unfortunately I cannot rate the multi-player aspect of the game. I don't have the ability to play against other users.
In short, for an under-achieving system, on a budget, this game is a lot of entertainment for the dollar, and it's replayable.

NoOne Lives Forever. But youll play it till the day you die!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: July 24, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I decided to buy this game after hearing some good reviews for it, and seeing as how I could get it for 15 bucks as a game of the year edition. I played this game nonstop for about 5 days till I finally beat it. This game would only have been a 3 - 4 without its humor though... humor, not a challenge for killing the oafs of HARM makes this game great. Thats not to say that using a silenced parabellum and sneaking into an area giving large unsuspecting quantities of HARM agents head shots isnt a blast. I believe that this game wouldnt be near as fun if you just played it like Quake or Doom, getting your baddest weapon out and mowing down hoards of them. I think that my goals of maybe getting detected once made the game much more enjoyable.

Buy this game while it lasts, the Game of the Year Edition truly is worth it, the extra level was a blast and among the most humorous of levels.

Gizmos and funny dialog donýt make up for an average game:

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 11 / 15
Date: April 11, 2002
Author: Amazon User

"No One Lives Forever" is a first-person shooter/sneaker that is set in the 1960's. It has a humorous secret agent theme which combines elements of James Bond with Austin Powers. With the music, scenery, voice-acting, and a welcome dose of humor, this game does a great job of pulling this off. There are long cinematic scenes (sometimes too long) filled with wise-cracking type humor (there is just something about watching stuffy people with British accents insult each other that is funny). Kate Archer is a unique main character that you won't find in any other game. I loved the mission interludes, which is when you get your orders from HQ and learn about the new spy gadgets that your organization has come up with. The graphics, animation, and sound for this game are all very good. These were the highlights of the game.

The game does also add stealth elements, like what you find in "Deus Ex" and "Thief". Enemies will react to sounds of footsteps and gunshots, and security cameras will set off alarms if they focus in on you.

So why did I give this game only three stars? To make it simple - I found the missions themselves to be bland. Add on top of that, there aren't many of them - if you take the cinematic scenes out of this game, it is short. If you strip away the fancy elements, you have mediocre maps and average game play.

The spy elements in this game (the stealth, the gadgets, etc) never lived up to their potential. Lots of the spy gadgets, like the robot poodle, have one or two obvious uses each mission and then become unnecessary. On each mission, it is almost impossible to remain undetected, and it is easy to mow down all of your opponents with your sub-machinegun, so what's the point of trying to sneak around all day? There are some creative levels and settings, but most of them end up as a typical "bad guy hunt" - go to room A, clear out the bad guys, then go to room B, clear out the bad guys... and so on. The maps are small and simple. There are a few good puzzles in this game, but most of the solutions are spoon-fed to you. Other than occasional "intelligence items" that you are supposed to pick up (which are simply left out in the open for you), there aren't many goodies to find, or items to interact with. Even the intelligence items have no outcome on the game -- they are just there if you want to keep score of how much stuff you can find.

I must be spoiled by games like Deus Ex and Thief, which have much richer levels, and a few different ways to solve just about every problem. It is for these reasons that I never felt compelled to play this game for more than about 30-45 minutes before moving on to something else.

If you enjoy first person shooters, then you should pick up this game. But if you haven't played Deus Ex yet, then pick that one up first. It is a much better game.

Very fun game, minor WinXP problems

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: March 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I decided to play NOLF when I finished NOLF2. I expected the graphics to be outdated (and they were) but it's not a big deal. This game is centered on the story and gameplay, which are both superb (and hilarious).

I'm running this game in WinXP, which isn't "officially" supported. And, there are problems. One, the black letterboxes during cutscenes are half-transparent. Two, every time a new area loads, my video becomes very choppy and ugly (as if video acceleration isn't being used). A quick fix is to go to the display options and change the resolution (to any value). This seems to [beat] the video-card ... until the next area-load, where you have to repeat the process.

Over-all, it is what I expected accept for the technical problems.

System:
Athlon XP 1600+
512MB RAM
Radeon 9500 Pro Video (128MB RAM)
Windows XP Pro
Sound Blaster Live! 5.1
Catalyst 3.1 drivers
DirectX 9

If you loved Half Life...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: July 20, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I call this kind of game a 'scripted first person shooter'. The gameplay is fun, but linear, leading you down a path with very little open-endedness. It's a bit like playing a character in a movie, where you must follow the script. Other good scripted FPS games are 'Half Life' and 'Medal of Honor'. No One Lives Forever is one of the best of this type game. It is a very long game, so you get your money's worth, and it never gets old, with a great variety of locations and a good story. The Game Of The Year edition also includes 4 new levels in a volcano at the end, source code and editing tools to create your own levels and mods, the 'In The Lounge' music CD (an EXCELLENT music CD on its own, but I think this also came in the original packaged version, so it's not really fair to say it's a bonus with the game of the year edition) and a free strategy guide. The only major problem I had with this game (and the reason I deducted a star) is the 'stealth' aspect. To me, the greatest stealth game ever made was 'Thief: The Dark Project', and NOLF comes nowhere near the excellent stealth missions found in 'Thief'. In NOLF, you must be stealthy in certain areas, but there is generally only one way to sneak past these areas, not allowing you to get creative with how you approach these areas. If you want the apex of stealth, try 'Thief' or 'Thief 2' instead. That said, however, all other aspects of NOLF are excellent. Visuals, sound quality, and weapons are all very well done. And the story is great (though the cut scenes tend to go on a bit too long). And you won't find a funnier FPS around. I laughed out loud at several points listening to the other characters talk, and there are several sight gags also. I wasn't expecting these, so it was a nice touch. The scenery looks great, with wonderful atmosphere and a good sense of place. Obviously, this game was made with a great attention to detail and love of the material by the designers. And since it's a couple years old, it runs nice on older computers. It ran perfectly on my Pentium II 450 with a 16 meg video card. It is definitely a classic, and a must-have for any serious game player or FPS fan. Get it while you can!

"Yeah, baby, yeah!"

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: January 04, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Love this. Seperate ratings AHOY:
Gameplay: Lotsa fun! The levels are professional-looking and pretty realistic. There's plenty of things to interact with. 5/5
Engine: Perfect. I love the drivable vehicles (Though, after Tribes 2, I wish they went a little faster) and the elevators DONT bounce you up and down or splat you like in Half-Life. 4/5
Humor: WOOHOO! I LOVE the conversations. "Do you like my monkey?" "I SPIT on your monkey!" "I think the monkey's kinda cute..." "Oh shut up, you." And gotta love the HARM guys o nthe plane: "This food is terrible!" "Oh, try the potato salad." "That's not potato salad! IT'S COTTAGE CHEESE!" 5/5
Graphics: Fairly good. They could be a little better, but i don't care. Nice and colorful: i'm a little sick of the commonplace industrial textures. 4/5
Music: RIGHT ON! 5/5
Ok, this might be a little incomplete but i'm being distracted trying to fix Empire Earth which is flipping out and roffleownzing me so I'm gonna wrap this up.
Great game, multiplayer could use a teeny bit more balance i think, because sometimes I can unload 3 clips into a guy's back and he's still standing, and I think they need to fix the camping problem on H.A.R.M vs UNITY levels. I mean, people crouch in the corner of the intelligence item room with the sunglasses out and photograph it whenever it spawns. Over and over again...
I LOVE the gadgets. Here's a summary of what I have so far: The barette can be used to pick locks or stab enemies, the sunglasses can photograph itnelligence items, (they can be used as infra-red and mine detectors, too, but i havent gotten that yet) a lighter, which can be used to chop doors open, light ciggarettes, and set things on fire. The lipstick bombs are funny. There's perfume sleeping gas, and...let's see, that seems to be all i have.
I'm hooked.
kthxbye

Innovative and great

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: December 18, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Well, I have been fan of FPS game since Doom. I've played Doom, Doom II, Quake, Heretic, Quake II and that's all. Always single player. Then id Software launches Return to Castle Wolfenstein. I immediately bought the game (RtCW) and started having fun with it. I found it innovative, with some situations I have never seen before in other id Games. Then, I started searching the Web for comments about the game; I like to know what other persons think about a subject. Then I found a thread, in a forum, telling that RtCW had taken many ideas from a game I've never heard of: No One Lives Forever! So I get curious: what is this NOLF? I downloaded the demo and played it and got instantly addicted. (...) I can assure you: it is fantastic, it is funny and tense at the same time (id Games are only tense); its graphics are not as detailed as RtCW (and Quake III) but they are good. The sound is terrific, I love the background musics and the way music changes accordingly to the situation. There is a storyline, there are many interesting cutscenes, there is more interaction and indeed this game is innovative, not RtCW! I am liking RtCW but this is better, more inteligent, really original for me. If you like FPS game, if you have plenty of time to spend in front of your computer, this is a game for you. Cate Archer is sort of delicate (she is a woman, after all!), she cannot stand too much damage, but this is no problem for my way of playing because I almost always go for the stealthy solution, not face to face to the enemies. Andre.

Contains an extra level!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: September 09, 2005
Author: Amazon User

What are you doing? Stop reading and order both of the No One Lives Forever games before they're no longer in print. I'm serious. These games have a great story, great humor and awesome action.

You play a 60's era spy on the trail of evil masterminds. No One Lives Forever has it all... great music, graphics (for its time), cool weapons, stealth if you want and long hours of gaming goodness. You'll find yourself laughing at the story and dialogue and you'll catch the evildoers in some funny conversations.

This is one of the best FPS series ever made. To let it pass you buy is a crying shame. Buy both games today. They're cheap and they're well worth the bargain bin price.

The Game of the Year edition contains an extra level. Just when you thought the trouble was over, you go on vacation and find your vacation spot is a front for an evil organization!

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