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Retro|Spective 109: No-One Lives Forever

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    Retro|Spective 109: No-One Lives Forever



    History in Games:
    2000 - The Operative: No-One Lives Forever
    2002 - No-One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M's Way
    2003 - Contract J.A.C.K

    Overview:
    Monolith's FPS with stealth aspects brought a 60's spy vibe to the genre in the wake of Half-Life's arrival. With a light, humourous tone players took control of Cate Archer in a game that won several game of the year awards by allowing players to either sneak through missions or take an action approach. The sequel followed quickly in the same spirit whilst a spin-off set between the two games took a more action heavy approach. The game mirrored Goldeneye in some ways too such as the ability to use various spy devices to accomplish your goals but differed from both rivals by containing an online multiplayer component.







    Share your thoughts and memories of No-One Lives Forever

    #2
    You made up this game series, right? I have never heard of it.

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      #3
      First game was amazing.

      The vibe and the music were brilliant, with a 60s Modesty Blaise/In Like Flint/Casino Royale feel to it.
      The gadgets were bonkers like a robot poodle to distract guards or lipstick explosive, but the weapons also felt meaty, especially the machine gun.

      I thought Cate Archer was a great character and a break from meathead marines and allowed the script to be clever and funny, with her having to do all the work, but getting blamed for things out of her control or constantly having to more than her male colleagues, just because she's a woman. There was a running joke that all her contacts had to use code words that sounded like bad chat-up lines and they felt really awkward saying them.

      I mentioned this before, but one standout scene has you on a construction site and I was just about to kill two henchmen with a silenced pistol. As I'm stalking them, they're chatting and one asks how the other is doing and he talks about how he's looking after "me old mum" and I stopped in my tracks.
      I didn't want to be responsible for the death of somebody who just wanted to make sure his mum was being looked after, so after listening to their whole conversation, I turned around an snuck off in the other direction, leaving the guards alone.

      It's one of my favourite gaming memories.



      There was a golden period of games around 2000 - Half-Life, Kingpin, Quake III, Wolfenstein, Tron 2.0, Nerf Arena, Aliens Vs. Predator, Unreal Tournament, Shogo M.A.D. and so on, that I adored.

      Sadly, PC gaming never stands still and despite upgrading the memory, hard drive and OS, the demo for NOLF 2 wouldn't run, so I've never been able to play it and the games fell into a rights hell.

      Last edited by QualityChimp; 21-10-2019, 11:47. Reason: Broom

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        #4
        This is right from the era where the PC was my main platform for games. I remember all the hype around it and bought it at release. I thought it was rubbish. I just never clicked with it. Back then if you were used to console quality a lot of PC stuff just didn’t cut despite the superior tech. PC gaming has really benefited from the rise of multi platform games bringing far bigger budgets.

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          #5
          Originally posted by CMcK View Post
          This is right from the era where the PC was my main platform for games. I remember all the hype around it and bought it at release. I thought it was rubbish. I just never clicked with it. Back then if you were used to console quality a lot of PC stuff just didn’t cut despite the superior tech. PC gaming has really benefited from the rise of multi platform games bringing far bigger budgets.
          Shame to hear that, as I always thought this looked good. I was a huge fan of Shogo: Mobile Armor Division, also by Monolith, which came out around the same time - and that was faaaar superior to anything happening in the console FPS arena at the time.

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            #6
            For some reason I'd completely forgot about these games. I have vague memories of playing the sequel when I built a new computer in 2002; it was quite an impressive game at the time and had an interesting setting/vibe about it.

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              #7
              People rave about these games even today. It's one of those odd gaps in my gaming history that I keep intending to correct.

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                #8
                I only ever played the shonky PS2 version but it had an immense amount of charm and atmosphere, Goldeneye crossed with Austin Powers/The Avengers but *exceedingly* well-realised.

                A remastered trilogy would be in order, the PS2 PAL I played had a terrible framerate in parts, I remember getting stuck at this annoying warehouse bit with sharks that was purely more difficult than it should've been due to it dropping down to like 11fps or summat.

                What I remembered was the variety of the levels. I think that stage was like 6 but *every* level I played up until that point had a completely different vibe, feel and look. Very clever, and classy. A lot of love put into it, even the PS2 vers I own (it's still great, I might go back to it, I remember that nightclub being lush)

                These need to be 60fps...and re-released as a trilogy for like 20 quid.

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                  #9
                  I'd say the nearest comparison on PS2 was a game called COLD WINTER. It looked like PS2 NOLF with smoother, stabler graphics and played really well. But had a samey, beige feel to it without the complexity, personality, variety and likeability of NOLF.

                  I could imagine a perfect world where NOLF was released on PS2 using COLD WINTER's graphics engine.

                  With 60hz, prog scan, 16:9 and gamma options thrown in there as well.

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                    #10
                    I only played the first game on PC and loved it, I think it came with a CD of the music too? Had a brilliant vibe too it, was very different and is the only FPS type game I played through to completion.

                    I think I once saw it available for slightly dodgy download (thanks to no single company proving they had the rights for it) along with patches to make it run on modern PCs. Are we allowed to discuss that here?

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                      #11
                      You're right, I still have the CD that came with the PC version! A copy of which I had but couldn't install, for some reason. So I gave the game away but kept the CD like a hoarder.

                      By the way, don't think I was slagging COLD WINTER, earlier. It's a great PS2 Goldeneye-style FPS and one of the most credible-feeling FPSes on the console. And it's GRISLY. Bloody hell, you can blow everyone to proper chunks, it's as bad as SoF!

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by Asura View Post
                        Shame to hear that, as I always thought this looked good. I was a huge fan of Shogo: Mobile Armor Division, also by Monolith, which came out around the same time - and that was faaaar superior to anything happening in the console FPS arena at the time.
                        Shogo was superb and seemed to have an active community for a long time after its release.

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                          #13
                          Originally posted by mmmonkey View Post
                          I think I once saw it available for slightly dodgy download (thanks to no single company proving they had the rights for it) along with patches to make it run on modern PCs. Are we allowed to discuss that here?
                          Don't post direct links, but you're allowed to talk about the licencing issue that has lead to the game being unavailable.

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                            #14
                            I got the first game as a pack-in with my Radeon 9700 Pro, was really impressed by it, it did remind me a lot of Goldeneye in a really good way.. and turned me onto Monolith too, picked up SHOGO which was amazing at the time.. I never did play the sequel though, was in University Halls playing Counter Strike and DOTA on the dorm networks took up all my time lol

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