Take an old Dean Martin / Matt Helm (or even James Bond if that is more to your taste) movie, add a few more locations and lose a little of the camp, and you pretty much have the game No one Lives Forever.

Set in the 70’s, complete with poofy hair styles and hokey dialogue, this game truly does capture the feel of the old time 70’s spy movies.

The game itself plays pretty well, with a few quirks along the way. If you are familiar with the standard first person shooter, such as Soldier of Fortune, the Quake series, Deus Ex etc., then this game is not going to come as too much of a shock. The game plays remarkably like these others, with the usual assortment of weapons and items to make the game-play varied. A nice twist on the game is that many of the items are derivatives of feminine accessories, such as exploding lip sticks, lock picking barrets and perfume dispensers that shoot stun gas. Oh yes…I forgot to mention that the main character in the game is a woman. She is well rendered with enough strength and cold bloodedness to satisfy the blood thirsty, and yet with enough wit and charm to make the character believable. On the way through the game, she must contend with the sexist remarks of both friend and foe alike, and does so with a sly wit and sarcastic demeanor that I personally found very appealing.

In the end, however, it is not the game play that made me play it to its conclusion. It really was the story line and the general atmosphere. It progressed much as an old spy movie would, with a few plot twists and turns, enough to keep the interest level high. The very existence of the free world is at stake, and you must wend your way through quite a few scenes and scenarios to save it, ranging from a moving train, to an airplane (not to mention a free fall from that airplane) to a space station!

Now there were a few glitches in the game that did tend to hold it back from greatness. For instance, the AI of the enemies is horrible. I stood directly behind two NPCs and shot one dead. The other did nothing more than turn around and walk off! It wasn’t until he had crossed the room that he turned and started shooting. Now to be fair, there weren’t too many glitches like this, but the few that were there did detract from the overall effect.

As well, the cinematics between the action scenes were a little long for my taste. Some lasted as long as 4 or 5 minutes, and this took away from the game play a bit, but in truth these are quibbles. No one Lives Forever is a lot of fun to play, and a suitable homage to the 70’s spy film genre.

On the plus side, the sound is quite good. If you have a surround sound speaker capability, be prepared for some real audio enjoyment, as this game supports such a set up and uses it to a grand effect.

One thing I do want to mention – this game can get gory in parts. Shooting a spear gun at an enemy from up close can yield, shall we say, messy results, so I would recommend that you keep this one away from the kiddies.

Over all I have to say that this game proves that a game doesn’t have to be innovative to be a lot of fun to play. It takes an established game engine and throws a few twists at it.

The result? Quite a few hours of real entertainment.

If Miss Archer happens to return in a sequel, I will surely be there to greet her.

by Galen