" Have we learned nothing from the tremendous success of Golden eye...? "

      Title: No One Lives Forever by Sierra

      Format: FPS for PS2

      Reviewing Monkey: Simi N.

      The Hype: As secret agent Cate Archer you must use your wits and over 30 weapons and spy gadgets to save the world from domination by H.A.R.M.. On the way you will travel around the world and even get to drive snowmobiles and motorcycles along the way.

      What This Monkey Thought...

      Graphics: Truthfully, the graphics in this game are really outdated. I mean the PC version of this game came out a long time ago, and from the looks of it the people who converted it to a PS2 game just did a quick job of it and unfortunately didn't improve anything graphic-wise. Don't get me wrong the graphics aren't bad or anything, the levels are well designed and the frame rate is smooth, but the there are a lot of places where sections of walls don't quite meet up correctly so you get that white crack effect which bugs the heck out of me. 3.5 out of 5.

      Sound: The sound is kind of on and off. The voice acting is actually quite good, but the cut scenes that contain almost all of the voice work are just tediously slow. I personally wished that I could have just skipped over a lot of the cutscenes so I could get to the game, but they are important for the story, which is really quite good. On the flipside the conversations that people hold in the game (including guards, targets, and bystanders) are freakin' hilarious. In fact the conversations are often so interesting that several times I found myself being shot in the back because I was paying too much attention to what characters where saying and not what was happening around me. As far as the music goes it is fitting to the style of the game, but in some levels it is just too bland and makes you feel like more of a tourist than a secret agent. 4 out of 5.

      Playability: Ahh, here is where I get to go off on a little rant, be prepared. Hmmm, how should I state this in order to adequately convey my frustration...? Let's try directly: Why the hell would you make a First Person Shooter for a console that has two (count 'em, two) USB ports specifically designed to support gaming accessories and not have mouse support!!!! Are you guys freaking retarded?! And this isn't directly targeted at the creators of this game this is targeted at the industry as a whole (minus those who ported Unreal Tournament - bless your souls) almost no FPS games for PS2 support the mouse! Now as for this game it is even worse because instead of mouse support they decided to even the odds by giving you an auto target option. However instead of the auto targeting in other games like Unreal Tournament which only really helps out when you are damn near the target anyways, this one will target an enemy on the far left of the screen when you are aiming at the center effectively turning the game into a big pile of effortlessness. Fortunately you can turn this option off and just get by on your own skill which is hampered in a rather cool way in this game as the targeting reticule expands when you move lowering your accuracy, just as in real life you can't aim nearly as well when you are moving. So if you can get over the lack of mouse support, this game plays pretty well. The levels are cool and you get loads of weapons and cool gadgets to use throughout the game and you even get to drive vehicles (snowmobile and motorcycle) in the game. 4 out of 5.

      Multiplayer and Replayability: There is no multiplayer, which brings up a question that is really important. Have we learned nothing from the tremendous success of Golden eye and Perfect Dark for the N64? Let me give you a bit of a hint guys, half the reason those games were so popular is that they had four player support so friends could shoot the crap out of each other. As far as replay value is concerned the story is pretty cool and the conversations are funny enough to want to hear over and over again, but the game is really quite long so it would be unlikely for someone to play through the whole thing again. 3.5 out of 5.

      Story/Dramatics: The story itself is pretty good. You play a secret agent who must do a bunch of secret agent crap like killing agent who work for other organizations like H.A.R.M. (as well as other nasty bad guys) while protecting ambassadors and the like all in crazy settings straight out of the sixties with tons of cool gadgets. The only really problem with the story is that it takes forever to get through a lot of the segments. The writing is decent, but there are just way to many awkward pauses, and it really drags the game out much further than it ought to. 4 out of 5.

      The Verdict:

This game really is pretty cool. It has some neat aspects and some annoying ones. The targeting system takes a while to get used to, but once you do you will find yourself being sucked in by the game. It really just suffers from a lack of polish.

      The Good: Tons of weapons and gadgets, cool levels, good voice acting, hilarious conversations by non-player characters, and the story is really fun.

      The Bad: No mouse support, the auto aim sucks nuts, the graphics are lacking, and the story segments are....i n c .r e d i b l y....... s.....l.....o......w.............

      The Overall Ugly: If you want another First person shooter there are better ones out there, but you should at least rent this one the unique style may really appeal to you.

      What it's Worth: $30.00 - $35.00