No One Lives Forever

Another spy-related theme is stealth. Cate is encouraged to be as stealthy as possible throughout the game although in most missions brute force is also an option. Sound plays a key role in being stealthy. Enemies are able to hear and find Cate if she is walking or running on hard substances. Crouching and/or walking on softer ground enables Cate to move undetected. The game's soundtrack works to let you know whether or not guards are aware of your presence. Slower, relaxed music means she is safe whereas faster, ominous music means she's been detected. Being stealthy has definite advantages. In addition to being able to deal with enemies quickly (and non-lethally, if desired), Cate is able to listen in on the conversations of her enemies. NPC conversations are one of the highlights of the game. Enemy henchmen will discuss the tedium of their lives, cars, philosophy, TV shows, etc. At the end of each level, Cate's performance is scored and ranked, with a large portion of the score coming from how stealthy she was.

No One Lives Forever

You won't be let down by the combat. The enemy AI is great: guards duck and cover, hide behind pillars, and scramble for their lives when caught out in the open. They react with far more plausibility than the bots in Quake III or Unreal Tournament.

No One Lives Forever certainly played its part in a glorious time for first-person games, sharing elements from its contemporaries but also providing ones that stick out on their own. The hyper-real '60s vibe complete with some classically humorous spy gadgets, the amount of different setpieces that the gameplay would throw at you with action and stealth and everything inbetween, and of course the game's hero -- the almighty, forever savage Scottish superspy Cate Archer, resplendent in catsuit, fashionable bob, and lipstick containers that so happen to hide explosives. 041b061a72