Reviewed by: BobiRoka
Developer: Monolith
Publisher: Sierra Studios

Here at Deadalfs opinion has always been divided on the subject of Cate Archer’s winter 2000 debut, No One Lives Forever. Though to be fair, more criticism was leveled at the shameful Lithtech-nology powering things than the game itself, and those of us who saw past this inadequacy (read: tolerated jerk'o'vision - Ed) discovered a more than worthy first person action game which masterfully combined elements of stealth, adventure and – amongst other things – snowmobile driving. Two years on, Cate Archer and her voluminous wardrobe are back with a game that reeks of refinement, screams innovation and shines like a very shiny thing indeed.

And it’s the surface detail that must be spoken of first, for the new ‘Jupiter’ version of Lithtech upon which NOLF2 has been built, marks an important turning point in the often scorned engine’s history. It seems the Monolith machine is finally catching up! While perhaps not quite as beautiful to look upon as the Unreal tech, Jupiter’s real forte is in the implementation of cutting edge animation and object manipulation to truly breath life into the gameworld and engross the player.

This is evident not only in the numerous cutscenes and set pieces that frequent NOLF2, but during the game proper too. Enemies move with a scarily life-like swagger, they light up cigarettes whilst on guard duty, go prone and run for cover when under fire and even kick and prod fallen or dozing comrades when sighted. All of this is accompanied by amusing snatches of well-voiced dialogue, easily in line with the hilarity provided in the first NOLF outing. Unfortunately, enemy AI can be a bit hit and miss and I couldn’t help but think the luscious character animation was pulling the wool over my eyes at times. Foes often tend to charge around corners straight into your line of fire, but at the same time do make some effort to run, scream for help or set off an alarm when they are really in trouble (oh, how I silenced them…). Overall it’s obvious the AI has been built around the concept of a stealth-orientated game, but is still capable enough to provide some wholesome fire-fight thrills.

Anyone who took a sneaky peek at the Ohio level teaser released some months back will already have some idea of the kind of dynamic environmental scripting the Jupiter engine can deal with. And in this case it has the task of systematically pushing over lorries, dismantling houses and ripping up fences whilst you race around the ever decreasing map, taking out nasty female ninja assassins left right and centre. This not only highlights a way in which graphical advancements can genuinely influence gameplay, but also goes some way to demonstrate Monolith’s dramatic approach to level design throughout.

Many of the chapters (of which there are fifteen) in NOLF2 take place across quite expansive areas, allowing players to look at things in a less ‘by the numbers’ way. Many objectives can be accomplished in any order and often revolve around the acquisition of items, the blowing up of installations and other worthwhile covert pastimes, as opposed to the straight A to B format so many FPSs are guilty of. Exploration is definitely encouraged and playing the sleuth is rewarded no end with the acquisition of extra intelligence and items – which is quite important in this sequel, but we’ll come to that later. It’s here however, that we reach the real Achilles heel of NOLF2. Loading times are far too long! Should you move on to another section of the map or even die and have to quickload, you might as well turn the kettle on. Inevitably, this generates a genuine fear of death throughout play, but it’s clear this is a flaw of the game and NOT a feature!

Monolith seem to have worked at great lengths to make the lesser FPS elements feel more integrated and less like the sub-games they often were in the prequel. First and foremost, there’s a far greater emphasis on stealth, with randomly spawning sentries to keep you on your toes (I know, controversial, but it worked so well in Medal of Honor…). Indoors, lights can be switched off to create a better chance of hiding, which in itself is far more intuitive thanks to a proper ‘hiding mode’ icon appearing to let you know when you absolutely cannot be detected. All enemies now have proper inventories, which can be pilfered after slaying or otherwise disabling the chaps. Bodies can also be picked up and moved elsewhere in a way most reminiscent of Deus Ex (Thief did it first!!! - Ed). Hiding, gadget application and the searching of bodies all rely on a progress bar system, so picking locks takes a realistic amount of time to pull off (not that I know) and searching every pocket of every corpse can be quite a time consuming affair. Now if only it was possible to boost these skills as you progressed through the game… Well, remember those random bits of intelligence that frequented the first game? They’re back. Only this time collecting them is a bit more worthwhile…

Straddling this intricately decorated gaming pie is perhaps the greatest addition of them all - RPG-like experience points can now be earned by completing mission objectives, picking up training manuals and through the acquisition of Intelligence. These points can later be spent on raising various ‘skills’ such as ‘Stealth’, ‘Armour Proficiency’, ‘Searching’ and ‘Gadget Use’ through five progressively higher levels of expertise. The skills you focus on force you to play the game in a particular way of your choosing – hence the abnormally high shelf-life score for this heavily single player focused FPS.

Cate’s Arsenal has been massively refined since her first globe spanning adventure, with a greater emphasis on gadgets than weapons and none of those distracting training interludes that interrupted the flow of the last game. In fact, the lethal weapon complement is refreshingly lean indeed, a silenced sidearm and a trio of automatic rifles is all you see until about halfway through the game. As before, many real world elements permeate the idealistic 1960s surroundings, not least of which is terrifyingly fierce noise of machine-gun fire. As for the gadgets, where do I begin… the proximity mines disguised as playful metallic kittens? The multi purpose utility launcher with it’s five types of ammo? The Banana?(!)

Rounding off this DVD case shaped box of tricks is an objective based co-operative multiplayer mode which sees the players working together as UNITY agents to accomplish goals set behind the scenes of the single player experience. It’s truly bizarre, but works wonderfully even when played through solo. It’s a far cry from the seemingly obligatory Deathmatch and CTF modes that developers insist on serving with every course of single player FPS you devour, in the vaguest hope they might catch on and become the biggest online hit since Half Life.

NOLF2 isn’t even trying to achieve this, but definitely deserves a place in any discerning FPS fan’s game collection. The refinements to the engine firmly place this title into Medal of Honor territory, which I’m sure will appeal to all those tired, hungry and bleeding soldiers on the beaches of Normandy. It can be just as intense, provides a wealth of memorable cinematic encounters and I guarantee you won’t finish it less than 20 hours, no matter how good you think you are! An experience to be savored most definitely…