Average Rating: 
Rating: - Quite good, but not outright "exceptional"
I very much enjoyed the creativity of the original No One Lives Forever and had very high hopes for this sequel.Very importantly, make sure your computer meets the technical requirements (e.g., video card capable of hardware transform & lighting--T&L--I've heard people without capabilities have big problems if they can even play). Graphics work is extremely smooth and well done. The sound work is a very rare, if not unique, 10 out of 10 for soundtrack, cues, etc. Outstanding. New features for hiding, increasing various skills levels, dragging away bodies, etc. have been seamlessly incorporated and are very easy to learn. Most levels can be accomplished by either stealth or brute force--the occasionally maddening stealth requirements of the original don't exist, save perhaps for one not-too-difficult courtyard one needs to sneak through. Cut scenes are more efficient and not as much of an interruption. I don't recall encountering any real bugs, perhaps a first for a game (!), save perhaps getting trapped once or twice by civilians in a corner in India from which I couldn't move. On the downside:
There's new humorous gadgets, but it's quite easy to go through the entire game and never use them, even forgetting if they're being carried. Switching weapons/gadgets isn't always the easiest thing. Unique levels requiring things like skydiving, SCUBA diving, etc., don't appear. One swims for maybe ten seconds total, and the rest of the time is running around, primarily with weapons and some attention to stealth when needed. There's a snowmobile, but barring a couple of mandatory jumps across chasms, it can be ignored and things just run through if wanted. The game overall can seem pretty "standard" until about the last third (about the time the tricycle and the mimes kick in! Bravo!). Completing the game takes about 1/3 the time of the original. In making a streamlined and cohesive game, some of the unique and unpredictable creativity of the original appears to have been toned down. Overall? This remains a very very good game, and is extremely well put-together, perhaps the "slickest" and most commercial-feeling overall of anything to date. For those more "experienced" who like things challenging and with some variety, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Jedi Outcast, and Serious Sam 2 are probably better bets. When it comes to game of the year (for which this MAY be a contender), games like Grand Theft Auto 3 and Mafia probably have more going for them (and we're still waiting on the new Tomb Raider). NOLF seems to be going a bit more "slickly" mainstream and losing a tad of its original "what the heck let's be creative and do something bizarre" edge. Still worthy of getting a movie made from its concepts though, as much as it's starting to feel more like a female Austin Powers rather than just being its own thing. NOLF2 gets a strong recommendation, with a caveat that fans of the original may find that more work was put into graphics and sound than in creating and expanding creative concepts, and another caveat that "serious" gamers may find this a surprisingly relatively quick and straightforward play. Thumbs up, but I want my NOLF 3.
Rating: - Move Over, Austin Powers...
Superspy Cate Archer is back, but since I've never played the first NOLF, this has no signifigance for me. The reason I bought it is because I liked the idea of a female spy, and because I'd read nothing but great reviews in gaming magazines. Plus, I had played a teaser demo of the Ohio level, and I thought that any game that has you chasing ninjas during a tornado is worth owning. The graphics are great, as are the cut-scenes and all of the evil characters that are running around. (I was hiding behind a building and I overheard two unsuspecting ninjas talking about poisoning their husbands!) Overall, the game is worth the money. The only complaint that I have is the loading between levels seems to take for-ev-er, which gets annoying when you keep on dying and you want to load your last saved game. But other than that, I'm having a great time sneaking up on the enemies, using crucial weapons, such as banana peels and killer kitty robots. This is a must-have for any first-person-shooter fan.
Rating: - Great game...though not as good as the first one.
Long story short: Good game. But subpar when compared to its predecessor.I won't go into details, but if you look, you will find reviews on game sites that agree with me. Basically, this game on its own merits is excellent. It has great graphics, great design and style, and a decent story. But it has COMPLETELY LOST THE SAME BRILLIANT ORIGINALITY AND FLAIR AS THE ORIGINAL. The story is almost nonexistent, there is absolutely no character developement, and Cate Archer feels like an almost completely different person than she did in the first game. There's no more long cut scenes that fleshed out the story and made it entertaining. They also cut down on the humor and guard conversations considerably. The level design is [poor] in comparison to NOLF1 and the enemies actually respawn in certain areas after you kill them. To top it off, I completed the game in about two thirds the time it took me to complete the first one. Santa's workshop is gone and so are all those cool guns you got to use in NOLF1 (guns are kept to a bare minimum). The lengthy, character developing cinematics were eliminated... They even eliminated most driving aspects and only included the snowmobile, which you hardly use. So all in all, a great game (even though I bashed it). But do not, under ANY circumstances, expect to find that same brilliant, spontaneous, original and hilarious humor and level design from the first game in No One Lives Forever 2.
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