The Operative: No One Lives Forever

The Good
Full disclosure: I played with a fan patch which makes the game playable on modern systems and adjusts the HUD for higher resolutions.

No One Lives Forever was made by shooter specialists who used their own established engine and it shows: the shooter mechanics are flawless and the gunplay is very good (although some of them are redundant). One of the strengths is the possibility to play much of the game stealthy if desired. It is very fun to do a section with a silenced weapon and kill everyone with headshots and switch to a machine gun in the next moment.

This is a very long game, but the levels are so varied (both in optics and gameplay) that it never becomes boring. NOLF has almost perfect level design: some are linear, some are more open (but always simple enough that you don't get lost) and others have adventure elements and consist of talking and collecting items.

The graphics are fantastic. Don't get me wrong: I don't say they are good for a 20 year old game, I say they are good for 2021. Of course they are blocky and technically outdated, but they are made so well it doesn't show much. The levels and assets are built with love, the offices and such are all furnished individually, the atmosphere is perfectly implemented. This is a game which could not have been made outside of the early 2000s - in later graphic engines the assets for one level alone would probably cost more to make than the whole game. It also helps that the game is genuinely funny.

The Bad
NOLF was made in a time in which every FPS had to have at least one shitty stealth level. This game is no exception, but since stealth is baked into the main gameplay mechanics those levels are not as bad as in other games like Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Still, NOLF works best when it leaves the choice between stealth and action to the player and therefore the forced stealth levels are among the weaker sections.

As a James Bond parody, the game also has a lot of gadgets such as a lighter which can meld locks or a knockout perfume. Unfortunately their usage is lacking: you'll only use them at pre-defined places when a specific gadget has to be used to proceed, which speeds down gameplay without benefit. You'll never use the gameplay gadgets because they are useless and unnecessary. The only not underused gadgets are the vehicles which even have their own levels dedicated to them. Unfortunately, I might add, because they handle very badly and the levels are boring slogs (drive, dismount in order to dispatch some distant enemies, rinse and repeat) which don't even look as well as the rest.

I already praised the humor, but nevertheless conversation cutscenes between levels can be tiring because they go on for too long. I also did not like the conclusion of the story - of course I can't go into the specifics, but there are some final twists which are only explained in another way too long conversation.

The Bottom Line
There is no way around it: NOLF is one of the best shooters ever made. Despite my complaints above, the good parts greatly outweigh the negatives and make a very fun shooter which is still worth playing.

A few words about the GOTY version
Later a GOTY version was released which added a new mission after the ending. It lasts for about 30 minutes and is pretty fun, although there is another driving section included. However, if you already own the original, it is not worth hunting down the re-release.