As of 2004, there are two games in the series, as well as one interquel.
The Operative: No One Lives Forever was published in 2000, and starred a female protagonist - a rarity in games until that time - superspy Cate Archer. The game is a mixture of a first-person shooter and a first-person sneaker: most (but not all) missions can be solved in multiple ways: using sneaking to avoid danger, using gadgets, or by going in Rambo-style with guns blazing.
The basic plot of the game is that a secret organisation, Unity, watches over world peace, and as a member of that organization Agent Archer has to fight the terrorist of H.A.R.M..
The game is set in the 1960s, and included a lot of humour: it has been described as a mixture of Austin Powers and James Bond.
A major feature of the game are its crazy gadgets: anything from a body removing spray, to an electronic poodle to distract guard dogs. Additionally, the missions are littered with intelligence items: textual notes which often provide humourous side-notes to the game.
It is also notable for its use of sound: not only are enemies aware of noise made by the player, but the game features music in the style of the 60s, and includes long humourous conversations.
The game has won several Game of the Year awards, for example by Computer Games Magazine, Computer Gaming World, PC Gamer, and Gamespy.
No One Lives Forever later appeared in a Game of the Year (GOTY) version, with one additional singleplayer mission which was not made available to those that bought the original.
In 2002, NOLF was ported to the PlayStation 2 video game console, complete with extra missions not available for the PC version. This port also included the extra GOTY mission. One of the other extra missions was a prequel to NOLF, with Cate Archer as a thief in the days before her recruitment by Unity. The port suffered from dated graphics and a confusing control system, and was not so succesful.
A Spy In H.A.R.M.'s Way, a sequel in which Cate Archer once again takes up arms against H.A.R.M., was released in 2002. This second game featured even more exotic locales, and came with a whole new range of gadgets and weapons.
From a technical point of view, A Spy In H.A.R.M.'s Way ran on a much improved game engine, capable of higher quality graphics, and featured a kind of rag-doll physics.
As in the first game, missions can be completed by pure action, by using pure stealth, by using gadgets, or a combination of all methods.
NOLF2 also won several Game of the Year awards, for example from Gamespy [1]. It also won a prestigious Excellence in Writing Game Developers Choice Award [1].
A Spy In H.A.R.M.'s Way was also released on the PlayStation 2 video game console, in a nearly identical port. More recently it was also released on the Macintosh.
In 2003, a prequel to NOLF2, but set after the events in NOLF1, appeared. This game was called Contract J.A.C.K. (Just Another Contract Killer), and instead of featuring Cate Archer, the gamer took the rôle of Jack, a contract killer in service of H.A.R.M.. The game was much shorter than NOLF1 and 2, and lacked the gadgets and intelligence items that were so present in the NOLF games. Additionally, it lacked the 1960s look-and-feel in places (such as featuring a Desert Eagle handgun, which did not exist in the 60s), and completely lacked the stealth of NOLF 1 and 2.
Contract J.A.C.K. has been described as a standalone expansion pack, rather than a full game.
The Games
No One Lives Forever
A Spy In H.A.R.M.'s Way
Contract J.A.C.K.
External links