Gameplay

Play by yourself!

The campaign mode in NOLF has to be one of the longest I have played in quite a while. There is probably no way a person can finish this game in one day. Each of the fifteen levels has no less than three missions within it, bringing the total number of playing fields to at least 45. The majority of those missions take quite a bit of time to go through. Don't expect to complete many missions on the first try.

The replay value on these levels is also rather high. You get a ranking depending on how stealthy you are. Your ranking drops with the more dead bodies you leave behind to be discovered, or alarms you set off. Finding notes, and intelligence papers are also taken into account. Unless you are extremely careful your first time through a mission, chances are you will miss quite a few things.

Finding all the random bits is in itself a reward. Most of the letter or folders you find are completely nonsensical. Some talk about Michael Knight (of Knight Rider fame), others are attaché cases filled with pig snouts, completely in line with the comical nature of this game.

Seeing as there are fifteen different locales, the playing fields vary quite a bit. One moment you're sniping in a small Moroccan town, the next you're searching the wreckage of a sunken freighter. One of the most original levels has to be the sky diving scenario; this is of course done sans parachute.

NOLF has you circumnavigating globe. Monotonously dark and dreary levels are far from the norm here. Even better, there is a purpose to each level. I don't recall ever having to find a key to open a door in the level. The goals are actually interesting; sometimes you are there on a hostage rescue mission or simply for intelligence gathering.

Smoke my friend

Get a load of that

Cut-scenes

One area that many games tend to skimp on is the cut-scenes. NOLF, however, has a cut-scene for just about everything. They aren't great CG masterpieces like those out of Final Fantasy; they utilize the in-game engine to render the sequences. They don't look too bad, and they do help to get a story across. We are happy to note that the lips actually move in sync with the voices with some degree of accuracy.

Guards, dogs, and cameras

Since this is a spy game at heart, sneaking around is usually recommended -- sometimes even enforced. Each mission has a few assorted limitations, the dreaded ones usually begin with: Don't kill anyone and don't set off the alarms. Usually, the game goes by much easier if you do stick to the sneaking bit. Waltzing in front of security cameras, guards and dogs leads invariably to someone yelling, "There she is!" The ensuing battle usually leaves you dead, as ten guards, regardless of their bad aim, will eventually kill you.

These guards are no dummies either. They may not be able to aim, but they make up for it in terms of communication and action. These punks will dive behind cover, pop up to shoot and then roll away to hide again. It's almost as if they don't want to die!

Screw the alarm!

Took!

So the general rule is to stay out of the view of cameras, guards, and dogs. Seems easy enough, seeing as two of the three can be killed, and only one (the guard) can actually shoot back. Shooting cameras is pretty much a bad idea. How would it look if all your security cameras suddenly started going offline? That's right, you sound the alarm. So unless you've already triggered the alarms and need some target practice, forget about messing with the cameras.

Dogs aren't really a big threat; the biggest problem is generally the guards. These guys are very curious, sometimes putting themselves at extreme risk just for the sake of checking something out. If they hear you walk, they will come closer to inspect. If they see a dead buddy, they will ask, "Hey Jim, are you ok?" They will come to check out anything that in some way or form involves you, or one of your careless actions.

Use this to your advantage. The game provides coins as useable items for this very reason. Tossing a coin will generally get enough attention to bring one guard to investigate the noise. Preferably, you will want to toss the coin in a slightly hidden area. Then you can dispatch him with a single shot to the head from your silenced pistol. Occasionally you will hear the other guards talk to themselves, muttering something about not having seeing Jim for some time.

Oh dear!

Jim are you ok?

The biggest problem is killing guards in front of cameras. Once a camera sees a downed guard the alarm will sound. On some of the levels you can go for the run-and-gun scene. It isn't impossible for you to win by playing this way, but you tend to miss out on a lot of good stuff if you do play it in this manner.