No One Lives Forever

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No One Lives Forever
No one lives forever 2000.svg
Original title The Operative: No One Lives Forever
Studio United StatesUnited States Monolith Productions
Publisher United StatesUnited States Fox Interactive Sierra Entertainment
United StatesUnited States
Senior Developer Craig Hubbard
composer Guy Whitmore, Nathan Grigg
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 Windows: November 9, 2000 December 8, 2000 Game of the Year Edition: October 4, 2001 March 15, 2002 macOS: November 21, 2002 PlayStation 2: April 18, 2002 May 24, 2002
North AmericaNorth America
European UnionEuropean Union

North AmericaNorth America
European UnionEuropean Union

North AmericaNorth America

North AmericaNorth America
European UnionEuropean Union
platform Microsoft Windows , macOS , PlayStation 2
Game engine Lithtech 2.5
genre First person shooter , stealth
Subject Secret agents , 1960s
Game mode Single player , multiplayer
control Mouse , keyboard , gamepad
system advantages
preconditions
medium CD-ROM
language German
Current version 1,004 (October 18, 2001)
copy protection SafeDisc 2
Age rating
USK approved from 16
PEGI recommended for ages 12+
information German-language version with censorship.

The Operative: No One Lives Forever ( NOLF for short ) is a video game developed by the US studio Monolith Productions from the genre of first-person shooters for Windows , macOS and PlayStation 2 , which was released on November 9, 2000. It marks the beginning of the game series of the same name, which was continued in 2002 with the successor No One Lives Forever 2 and in 2003 with the offshoot Contract JACK . The creative mind behind the game series was Craig Hubbard.

description

No One Lives Forever is in the Swinging Sixties of resettled person shooter with strong stealth elements. The colorful and humorous action game is reminiscent of the James Bond films and agent series (including Get Smart ) of the 1960s. The British secret agent and former master thief Cate Archer fights against some extremely bizarre opponents and is equipped with unusual agent gadgets by the Q-Branch before each mission . The action takes place in many different locations, even in space and in a sunken shipwreck . The game is reminiscent of the parodic Austin Powers films (also because of the appropriate background music) , but also borrows from the thriller Agents Die Lonely . The secret service issue is also expressed in the fact that the collection of hidden documents such as briefcases and documents is an optional game objective. If Cate Archer finds all secret items in a mission, she receives permanent bonuses , such as increased health.

action

The player controls the protagonist Cate Archer, an agent of the British secret service UNITY . The opponent of Archer and UNITY is the terrorist organization H.ARM , which tries to usurp world domination with a new chemical weapon. The story takes place in the 1960s (1967), the heyday of the agent thriller and in the middle of the Cold War .

Places of action include Morocco , a ship before and after sinking, a crashing plane and a medieval castle. Not to be missed - we are in the sixties - a visit to a beatnik club in Hamburg and a trip to the space station of an all-powerful criminal organization. The player is constantly given new tasks, which are mostly very different from each other and some of which have never been found in any other computer game. For example, he has to recover secret documents from a sunken ship, protect an ambassador from his attackers with a sniper rifle from a greater distance (who does not notice it due to his short-sightedness and poor hearing ) or remove his parachute from an enemy while falling from an airplane . The success of some missions can only be achieved if one proceeds carefully and is not discovered - at that time a new principle for first-person shooters. B. was taken over by Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell .

At the end of the game, Cate Archer secures the antiserum, blows up the stronghold of the criminal organization in the Bavarian Alps and convicts traitors in his own ranks. The leader of HARM only reveals himself in the credits of the game and plays a bigger role in the sequel.

Locations

equipment

Cate's equipment is essential to the success of her dangerous missions. At the beginning of each level of the game, the utensils required to complete the assignment are either selected by the player himself or standard equipment suggested by the program is used. The equipment includes, on the one hand, firearms from pistols to sniper rifles, which are modeled on real models but are not referred to by their real names, and, on the other hand, special spy tools disguised as everyday objects, i.e. gadgets . For some weapons there are different types of ammunition to choose from. The standard for most weapons are full jacket bullets . Alternatively, cyanide capsule , dum-dum projectiles or phosphorus ammunition can be used.

Weapons (and their real role models)
Gadgets

The humorously designed gadgets include:

  • A rocket launcher disguised as a briefcase
  • A hair clip as Dietrich and for the administration of venom may be used
  • A lighter welder
  • Photo camera, mine detector and infrared scanner disguised as sunglasses
  • A robotic poodle that can be used to distract guard dogs
  • Perfume for euthanasia, blindness or poisoning
  • Plush slippers to dampen running noise
  • A belt buckle as a grappling hook
  • A powder bottle to dissolve corpses
  • Grenades disguised as lipstick .
  • Coins to distract opponents.

Development history

The creative mind behind the game series was Craig Hubbard. Nathan Grigg and Guy Whitmore contributed the music. The accompanying audio CD contains eight pieces of music in the style of the 1960s, including the sung A Spy in Harms Way , as well as two modern pieces.

In 2002, a port for the PlayStation 2 was released that contains three new flashback levels, but not the original soundtrack of the PC version. Instead, the music for the PlayStation 2 version was composed by Rebecca Kneubuhl. In addition, the port does not have a multiplayer mode and the barely improved graphics were no longer up-to-date at the time of publication.

In the fall of 2001, a Game of the Year Edition of No One Lives Forever for Windows was released, which offers additional content. In the spring of 2002, the extended new edition was also published in Europe. After the end credits, the game in the Game of the Year Edition is not over, there is another mission with four new levels.

reception

Some computer game magazines saw it as “Game of the Year”, the Metascore of the PC version is 91 out of 100 points. No One Lives Forever is considered a masterpiece by fans and critics and achieved very high scores in the trade press, e. B. GameStar and PC Games each gave a rating of 91%. GameSpot gave the game a 93% rating. Computer Bild Spiele rated No One Lives Forever with the test result 1.26 (Note: "very good"), one of the highest ever awarded ratings of the magazine for a PC game. The 4Players website awarded 94% for the PC version and 78% for the PS2 version. In general, the PlayStation 2 version of the game , released in 2002, was rated significantly lower than the PC version. Gameswelt, for example, awarded 78% for the console version, the PC version received 93%. The metascore of the PS2 version is 67. On GameRankings , No One Lives Forever has an average rating of 88% (PC) and 70% (PS2).

Trademark legal situation

In 2004, Monolith Productions was bought by Warner Bros. Entertainment , but parts of the trademark rights are believed to remain with Sierra Entertainment. The company was acquired by Activision and closed in 2008. As a result of the unresolved trademark law situation, No One Lives Forever has not been officially available for years. In 2014 the indie publisher Night Dive Studios tried to acquire the licenses for a digital re-release of No One Lives Forever . However, the plans failed when Warner Bros. Entertainment threatened legal action. Since March 2017, however, a website called "NOLF Revival" has been online, which offers all three parts for free download . This new publication was unauthorized and violates copyright law . The illegal action was intended to force the owners of the trademark rights to intervene, but so far no measures have been taken against the operators of the website (as of July 2018).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Craig Hubbard: Postmortem: Monolith's No One Lives Forever ( English ) In: Gamasutra . UBM plc . June 8, 2001. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  2. ^ John Walker: Retrospective: The Operative: No One Lives Forever - I spy with my freakishly giant eye. ( English ) In: Eurogamer . November 22, 2009. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  3. ↑ The Operative: No One Lives Forever Review on GameSpot , accessed May 10, 2014
  4. ↑ The 100 best PC games , Computer Bild Spiele, issue 6/2006
  5. ↑ Review: No One Lives Forever (PC) by 4Players , accessed on August 11, 2013
  6. ↑ Review: No One Lives Forever (PS2) by 4Players , accessed on August 11, 2013
  7. ↑ Gameswelt article on No One Lives Forever by Gameswelt , accessed on August 11, 2013
  8. ↑ No One Lives Forever - New trademark applications indicate revival on gamestar.de, accessed on July 8, 2017
  9. ↑ No One Lives Forever - The shooter was re-released on gamestar.de, accessed on July 8, 2017
  10. ↑ No One Lives Forever 1 & 2: "Revival" -Download with widescreen support on pcgames.de (accessed on July 29, 2018)
  11. ↑ No One Lives Forever: Free download challenges license holders on giga.de (accessed on July 29, 2018)