No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way (2002)

I was impressed at the graphics improvement compared with the original, considering that it was released only 2 years after it (I guess that at the time graphics were improving at a much quicker clip than nowadays; the whole diminishing returns). But aside from that, I think this sequel is a big letdown.

The playability has improved a lot. Switching between weapons is much easier and gadgets are automatically selected when "using" the appropriate objects in the environment. Now you can lean over edges to spy around corners and make surprise attacks. And the stealth mechanics have been revamped to, honestly, an impressive level of complexity. Not only you can hide in the shadows, but you can also turn off lights or even remove light-bulbs to modify the environment in your favour. Enemies react to your actions such as opening doors or making noise while opening cabinets.

Once, for example, I was hidden behind a wall after having entered a building but when a guard came back from another room, he began looking for me instantly. I didn't know what had happened until I realised that I had left the door open!

Unfortunately, a lot of that complexity is never really used. Not once I found a situation in which I needed to unscrew a light-bulb to create a mantle of darkness. Even worse, hiding in the dark doesn't work because you are immediately discovered if you switch weapons!

Similarly squandered is the RPG elements in the form of upgrades. They are totally unnecessary and don't change any part of the gameplay.

But the most disappointing aspect of this game is how charmless it is compared with the original. What Cate Archer has gain in polygon-count, she has lost in personality. While in the first one you are an hyper-capable female agent always having to prove her worth and making awesome and smart retorts to the misogyny around her, now you're just a generic agent with ridiculously small amount of dialogue. Seriously, you could easily replace her with any generic FPS dude and the story and dialogue would feel exactly the same.

The overall story is also too serious. Whereas on the original the evil organisation's play was this ludicrous serum that turned people into living bombs, in this game they are creating huge super-soldiers. Can you came up with a more boring, trite and overdone plot? No, because there's also a tragic backstory to one of the supersoldiers.

Ah, and the bossfights are utterly atrocious. But that's keeping up with the original game.

Don't get me wrong, there still are small fun little moments, like funny conversations between guards, or the ridiculous but kind of gruesome Man-Crates. The whole mimes subplot (yes, there is a subplot involving mimes) is also pretty ridiculous. And the gameplay itself is not bad at all.

During the Siberia missions I noticed that there where infinite enemies that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Now in the Ohio missions, they went all out. Infinite ninjas coming from all directions with a limited supply of ammo, no healing and no clear path. It wasn't fun at all and it all seemed kinda pointless.

The dialogue is also much more generic and uninteresting than the original. In the first one, having Archer chastise all the misogynist characters around her and prove them wrong was really fun. But now that everyone seems to respect her, that dynamic is lost and, with it, a big chunk of the game's charm.

Decided to plunge directly into the sequel after playing the first one. The gameplay feels more polished, and the stealth has gained a fair bit of complexity. I was impressed, for example, at enemies' environmental awareness. For example, I entered a building and hid, and when a guard came back from another room he began looking for me instantly. I didn't know what had happened until I realised that I had left the door opened.

UThe game doubles down on vehicles, which was --and still is-- the weakest gameplay element. Driving feels as terrible as it did on the first game, showcasing one of the wonkiest of physics ever envisioned. But even if the physics weren't so bad, driving doesn't work gameplay-wise. The game nudges you into ramming into enemies and evading them at top speed with the intent of creating cinematic escape sequences. But in practice it doesn't work. Hitting enemies stops you into a halt, making you an easy target, and evading enemies still leaves you open to damage. In the end, the best strategy is to dismount, kill the enemies with bullets and walk back to your vehicle and continue. It's tedious and strips the game from any momentum.

Cate Archer's has a new voice actress and more polygons, which is fine, but I do mourn the loss of her nose.