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
Note: We may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made via eBay or Amazon links (prices updated 3/26 10:20 AM )

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

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Videos

See any errors or missing info for this game?

You can submit a correction, contribute trivia, add to a game group, add a related site or alternate title.

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)

Who's Up For A Round Of NOLFING?

The Good
No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy In H.A.R.M. S Way, is as the title implies the sequel, to The Operative: No One Lives Forever. As one would expect it is a fun and funny game. Which is impressive as humor is hard to pull of in a game.

NOLF 2, takes place shortly after the first game. The game’s heroine, Cate Archer, having proved herself in the first game is now a full agent of U.N.I.T.Y. H.A.R.M. of course wants her dead. Cate’s adventure will take her to Japan, India, Siberia, Khios, and various H.A.R.M. bases.

Cate also has several close calls in NOLF 2. This game is truly humorous. Sometimes in the form of notes you come across. While other times a conversation you overhear. Or perhaps even the way your enemies act.

During missions you have set objectives, and usually can perform optional objectives. Which reward you with skill points that can be used to upgrade Cate’s skills and agent rankings. The level design is excellent as we have come to expect from Monolith. One of the most interesting missions is one in which you must defend U.N.I.T.Y headquarters from attack.

The Graphics are amazing, thanks to Monolith’s Jupiter Engine. After all Monolith is known for pushing the graphical barriers of PC games. Even of the lowest setting the game looks incredible. Environments and models are incredibly detailed. Lighting effects are also very impressive. Even considering the games age it still looks better than some newer games!

The voice acting is superb. As one would expect from a modern, American game. The sound effects are up to par as well. The music is appropriate 60’s trends which are dead now. The soundtrack is very good. I am surprised that it was not available for sale.

The game mixes FPS, with stealth, and vehicle segments. It blends the types of gameplay successfully. You can also collect data for skill points and they are often quite humorous. You can hide and lay traps for unsuspecting enemies. Other game makers can learn from this, the A.I. is beyond belief! Enemies have routines, they get up look over files, go and have a smoke break. They are also more varied than most games from H.A.R.M. troops to mimes! They will notice if they hear or see something strange. When in combat they will call for help or set off an alarm. They will duck and roll out of the way of fire. They are generally more cunning than in most games.

The Bad
You may need a patch to get this game up and running. And for some reason on my PC the game always tells me that my video card does not support T&L which is a load because Max Payne 2, needs a T&L supported card and that runs just fine. The game is on the short side. But at least it is not too long.

The Bottom Line
Overall NOLF 2 is still one of the best PC games. At Cate Archer is a babe. And could kick Joanna Dark’s ass.

Windows · by MasterMegid (723) · 2006

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

Mostly H.A.R.M.less

The Good
Early in NOLF2, we learn that H.A.R.M. (Good at Being Bad, Bad at Being Good) is still active and under the control of a martini swigging, cad with a bad comb-over and major maternal issues. Worse yet, H.A.R.M. is working in conjunction with the Soviets on Project Omega and it’s up to The Operative, Cate Archer, to stop Project Omega and, if possible, find out what Project Omega is… and maybe uncover H.A.R.M.’s new mission statement.

This second installment in The Operative series puts Cate on a globe-spanning mission to defeat the evil forces of H.A.R.M. Along the way, Cate is joined by new friends and old enemies and assisted by the gadgets and weaponry developed by Santa’s Workshop (UNITY’s Q-Branch equivalent). NOLF2 improves on much of the original game’s innovations. Intelligence Items- whether a slip of paper in a desk or an abandoned briefcase provided humor in the previous game with an occasional hint. In NOLF2, Intelligence Items take on an added importance. They still provide humor and hints, but now their recovery earns points for Cate, points you can spend to improve certain aspects of Cate’s character.

Though a well-trained spy, Cate begins the game with minimal abilities in Stealth, Stamina, Marksmanship, Carrying, Armor, Weapons, Gadgets and Search. As you spend points you can increase the length of her life or armor bars, decrease the time it takes to search a corpse, or increase the amount of damage you do with your guns. NOLF2 has a better interface as well, if you are in a dark area, a hide icon will appear to show that you are hidden. This takes away the guesswork some games require to determine if your surroundings are dark enough. Right-clicking interacts with the environment and if you are aiming at an area that requires inventory, NOLF2 automatically selects it. This is useful if you are being chased and need to quickly pick a lock.

While NOLF2 has a lot of weapons and gadgets, I felt that there were less available this go around. I didn’t feel cheated though, because it seems like the new system is more streamlined. In the original game, each mission was preceded by a visit to Santa’s Workshop where Cate could train with the new equipment. There was also an equipment selection screen were Cate could pick what she wanted to take. In a somewhat clumsy attempt to add to the replay value, there were levels in the game where equipment available later would be useful. Once the equipment was unlocked, you could replay these levels and explore new areas. Now Santa appears during missions (in the guise of a bird) with notes on new equipment and briefcases for Cate.

While I didn’t notice improved enemy AI (the original’s was quite good), a new feature of this game is that alerted enemies will run to an alarm. While the alarm is sounded and enemies remain aware of Cate’s presence, enemies will spawn and search the area. If Cate stays concealed, enemies will lose their enthusiasm (and disintegrate the bodies of their fallen comrades rather than deal with the paperwork). The enemies Cate faces are quite diverse and include sinister mimes and ninjas who leap from the street to the rooftops in a single bound. There are also Boss-type characters Cate must face.

Graphically, NOLF2 is incredible. I marveled over the water textures in Japan, the snowfall in Russia, and schools of fish beneath the ocean’s surface. Characters look great and they tumble like rag dolls when they’re killed. Music is still that swinging sixties sound, though modified to sound culturally correct depending on Cate’s current location. Voice work is top notch, both in game and in the mercifully short cutscenes (NOLF1’s biggest problem area).

The Bad
NOLF2 seemed short to me.

Part of this is probably due to the streamlined gameplay system, levels build on each other and there aren’t side trips to Santa’s Workshop. But what I missed most in this game and liked most in the previous one were the action set pieces. This game has a few memorable sequences, but nothing that matched the excitement of a midair gun battle at 36,000 ft or fighting off helicopters in a mountaintop gondola. The Boss fights also seemed less innovative and… well… easy.

I have no real complaints about this game, but I think the first one was more fun.

The Bottom Line
Cate Archer is back even if the heart isn't. This is still a great FPShooter/Sneaker where one wrong turn can lead you into a pit of petulant rabbits.

Windows · by Terrence Bosky (5397) · 2003

[ 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.

Analytics

MobyPro Early Access

Upgrade to MobyPro to view research rankings!

Related Games

The Operative: No One Lives Forever
Released 2000 on Windows, 2002 on Macintosh
Contract J.A.C.K.
Released 2003 on Windows
Intellivision Lives!
Released 2003 on PlayStation 2, Xbox, 2004 on GameCube...
Math Forever 1+1
Released 2013 on Browser
Bruce Lee Lives
Released 1989 on DOS
Rayman 2
Released 2001 on Game Boy Color
Duke Nukem Forever Collection
Released 2012 on Windows, Macintosh
Hole in One
Released 1991 on SNES

Related Sites +

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 7391
  • [ Please login / register to view all identifiers ]

Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

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.