No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way

aka: NOLF2, No One Lives Forever 2: Agentin in geheimer Mission, No One Lives Forever 2: Le C.R.I.M.E est éternel, No One Lives Forever 2: Szpieg na tropie ugrupowania H.A.R.M., Wu Ren Yong Sheng 2
Moby ID: 7391
Windows Specs
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Description official descriptions

A year has passed since Cate Archer foiled the plans of the terrorist organization known as H.A.R.M. The tension between USA and the Soviet Union has increased, and the two powers quarrel over a tiny, but strategically important island of Khios. Cate is once again recruited by the secret British organization UNITY, whose goal is to avert international conflicts and preserve the world peace. As Cate is sent to investigate a secret meeting, she meets new and old villains who, once again, won't stop until she is out of their way to world domination.

No One Lives Forever 2 is the sequel to The Operative: No One Lives Forever, casting the player as the super-spy Cate Archer in the 1960's. As in the first game, many different weapons and items are available to Cate, from pistols to automatic weapons, as well as her trusty lipstick bomb and other gadgets. The sequel introduces new weapons and gadgets, such as eye shadow that doubles as a tazer, a robotic bomb disguised as a kitten, and others. The game enhances the light role-playing angle from the original, as the player is now able to gather intelligence and upgrade Cate's sneaking and shooting abilities as well as equipment.

The sequel retains the humorous tone of its predecessor and takes the player to various exotic locations such as Japan, India, and a trailer park in Ohio during a tornado. Players may also go online and engage in deathmatch or cooperative mode, teaming up against the enemy.

Spellings

  • Никто не живет вечно 2: С.Т.Р.А.Х. ВОЗВРАЩАЕТСЯ - Russian spelling
  • 无人永生2 - Simplified Chinese spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

188 People (100 developers, 88 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 89% (based on 56 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 108 ratings with 7 reviews)

Rewarding, but not as good as the original.

The Good
The graphics and the sound get a great update. Especially noticeable is the music, that has a much fuller sound that doesn't as canned like the original. (I'm a musician, I notice these weird little things.) Kate looks better than ever. The cut scenes show more nuanced and articulated models, with more lifelike features. Gone are the bricklike hands.

The return of the original baddies from Nolf make for some great scenes. I love the overheard dialog between bad guys. Its pretty much what you'd think that henchmen would be talking about while being bored and waiting for action. The incredulous gadgets that you can use to take your enemies out.

You can use experience points to modify and increase your skill levels, such as sneaking, medical, etc... It didn't make a huge difference in game play, but it did add some depth. More often than not, you can use non-lethal ways of taking enemies out.

The Bad
Near the end, the novel game design falls away and you have a more gun and run play. The ending is satisfactory, but the ending play is more linear and not as interesting. Some of the wild gadgets do not work very well, leaving you vulnerable unless you employ more conventional weaponry. A lot of backtracking through non-descript areas.

The humor is there, but not quite as brilliant as in Nolf. Its missing some of the laugh out loud stuff that made Nolf so much fun.

The Bottom Line
An excellent FPS with great graphics and sound. But the gameplay was much better in the original.

Windows · by Scott Monster (986) · 2004

You are losing the swing Cate!!

The Good
It's been 2 years since we first took the role of Cate Archer and foiled H.A.R.M.'s plan for world domination through exploding people. No One Lives Forever was a super-shagadelic blast to play and one of the best fps of it's day, so talk about a difficult act to follow for Monolith... having won critical acclaim in practically every PC mag. out there only added to the pressure, but that isn't going to stop Monolith from releasing a sequel to any title!

The basics are still there: this is an action-heavy fps which combines aspects of sneaking and gadgetry to create an exciting spy-shooter gameplay mix. With everything taking place in a tongue-in-cheek version of the 60's that lampoons all of the super-spy movies of the decade. However new additions improve the already solid formula: if in the original you could get special items that increased your abilities and had a light rpg angle in this one you now have a full-fledged skill system whose points are gained by collecting intelligence items (which are still as wacky and funny as in the original). Gain enough and you can increase any of Kate's abilities such as sneaking, marksmanship, equipment efficiency, etc. adding much more depth to the already solid gameplay.

While the use of gadgets and special items was a key factor in the original, in this one the items themselves are refined, excluding the wacky but totally useless gadgets of the originals (now replaced with wacky but USEFUL gadgets) and the rest receive small but efficient improvements. Additionally, dead or K.O.'d enemies are now treated as items in themselves, and searching them for equipment or ammo is an action gauged by a "searching" bar that fills faster or slower depending on the level of your ability. Hiding is now a much easier affair as a pop-up "hiding bar" appears whenever you try to sneak, and practically all of the guess-work involved in knowing how much cover does this or that offer is removed, plus the bad guys now have the sense of hitting alarms and infinitely re-spawning baddies, so sneaking around is an essential feature in a lot of cases.

Technically speaking the game also takes a number of major improvements, with the graphics receiving a complete overhaul resulting in a striking new look, with texturing detail and model poly-count that makes the original look like a Doom-clone. In fact, the difference is so much that some players might have a problem with the super realistic models and textures, which lose the cartoony look of the original. I had no problem enjoying them however, and as far as I'm concerned the increased graphical quality add a lot to the game. Plus, as all LithTech-based games, you have realistic hit-detection for more interesting gunplay and spectacular animations like the now famous "rolling-down-the-stairs" bit and similar spectacular mo-capped moments.

The Bad
Unfortunately it seems that the guys at Monolith concentrated a lot on the technical and mechanics upgrades, and while that is good it comes at the price of a somewhat neglected scripting and storytelling, cornerstones of the original game.

Basically the sequel, while still a comedy-filled fps, comes nowhere near the original in terms of wit and but-gusting comedy. The story is pretty much a bore, having practically none of the fun of the original (except for the inclusion of a group of evil mimes that are the game's coolest opponents) and worse yet, it's yet another plot about some bad guy making a breed of super-soldiers... good god, by now I think this has to be the FPS cliche #1, I mean... c'mon!! Did badguys ran out of ideas?? Does it's always have to be about some form of super-soldiers??!!

Anyway, the game is also substantially shorter so the story doesn't drag so much, but unfortunately this also means there's less of the wonderful conversations between guards and assorted wackyness...

The level design while hardly terrible is considerably worse than the original with only an indian area to remind players of the genius Morocco level (but with none of the chases, sniping sequences and cool stuff) and some levels are a downright bore to play through (ie. the early Japan areas and the later volcano HQ)Worst of all, the scripted action pieces that were such a cool element of the original are almost completely left out of this one, with only a battle vs. a group of ninjas in a trailer park (as a hurricane strikes) and a tricyle rail-shooter sequence against the mimes as the only standouts in the whole game. And nothing that even remotely comes close to the sky-diving fight in the original or the climactic boss fights.

Also, as another reviewer noted, the "interlude" sequences have been ditched in favor of in-mission briefings and hints, which may work to streamline the action but lose all the charm these sequences had... Yes they were long, but I cannot understand why would anyone want them out.

The Bottom Line
If NOLF2 took the original and improved many of the gameplay features, enriched the rpg-angle and gave it a major graphic overhaul we would be talking about a perfect sequel here folks. Unfortunately while the sequel does all that it is at the expense of a lot of the wonderful creative material that made NOLF such a unique experience. I don't want to go into the ultra-bitchy "A sequel ain't never going to be as the original" mode, but as sad as it is to admit the obvious result is that NOLF2 ends up being a lot more generic than it's predecessor... rest assured that it's still a worthwhile shooter and a definitive recommendation for action fans, but fans of the original won't be able to shake the feeling that the original was much, much better despite the fact that Cate looks much hotter.

Windows · by Zovni (10504) · 2005

New adventures of the great Cate Archer

The Good
The original No One Lives Forever is one of my favorite FPS, and a truly underrated gem. When I heard about the sequel, I was very expectant. This second part offers some great improvements over the original. Although very similar at first look, the graphics are better. The best improvement comes in the terms of facial gestures and people's movements. The submarine level felt very original, like a new version of the spaceship level on the original game I liked also the possibility of searching your enemies bodies and the chance of improving certain abilities.

The Bad
On the other side of the coin I have to admit that this level felt very, very short in comparison with the first one. There aren't the great variety of levels of the original NOFL, and even worse, much of the episodes takes place in the same map (the one in Morocco). I would like more stealth levels, too.

The Bottom Line
Despite being very short this is a game that won't totally disappoint to those who liked and loved the original No One Lives Forever. Long life to Cate Archer!

Windows · by Emepol (212) · 2009

[ View all 7 player reviews ]

Trivia

1001 Video Games

No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

German version

There are a few changes when playing with German language settings:

  • All blood, death cries and the sound after using the katana were removed.
  • Enemies can't be set on fire
  • Killed enemies transform into backpacks.

A detailed list of changes can be found on schnittberichte.com (German).

Online servers

The game's online servers were shut down on 1 November 2008.

Weapons

The Gordon SMG, the standard weapon of H.A.R.M. minions, is actually a Sterling SMG with a collapsed stock. It is a British weapon, which replaced aging Sten SMGs and it is still being used in some parts of the world (namely the Jamaican armed forces).

Awards

  • Computer Games Magazine
    • March 2003 (No. 148) - Game of the Year (Co-Winner)
  • GameSpy
    • 2002 – PC Game of the Year
    • 2002 – Best Music of the Year (PC)
    • 2002 – Quote of the Year (for a tape recording of Melvin Blitzny)
  • Golden Joystick Awards
    • 2003 - Unsung Hero Game of the Year (Runner-up to Viewtiful Joe)

Information also contributed by ApTyp and Sciere.

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by JPaterson.

Macintosh added by Terok Nor.

Additional contributors: PCGamer77, Rebound Boy, Unicorn Lynx, tarmo888, Sciere, Solid Flamingo, Zeppin, Cantillon, Patrick Bregger, piltdown_man, Plok, FatherJack, R3dn3ck3r.

Game added October 7, 2002. Last modified March 20, 2024.