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I consider myself a fan of the No One Lives Forever series. The first game blends action and stealth together and while I do feel the stealth is a bit rough nowadays, it’s still a great time. The game also tells a pretty good tale and takes you on a fun adventure. It was followed up by No One Lives Forever 2. I feel the story isn’t as good, it definitely leans more into the silly territory, but, in my opinion, the gameplay is an overall improvement and I found the stealth to be a lot more enjoyable. These were followed up by a third title, a prequel called Contract J.A.C.K. and J.A.C.K. stands for “Just Another Contract Killer”. Developed by Monolith Productions and published by Vivendi Universal Games and Sierra Entertainment, Contract J.A.C.K. was released for PC in November, 2003. As of this review, the game can be downloaded for free from the No One Lives Forever revival website. Contract J.A.C.K. is different than its predecessors, focusing more on action than stealth, and is set between the events of the first two games. It does offer a multiplayer component which I did not get to try so this review will only focus on the single player.
The story opens with our protagonist Jack, a contract killer, apprehended by thugs. He breaks free and receives a call from Dimitrij Volkov of the criminal organization H.A.R.M. Jack is hired by H.A.R.M. to recover one of their scientists who is also being pursued by another criminal organization, Danger Danger. Honestly, when compared to the previous games, the story feels pretty lacking. Almost like it was an afterthought. It doesn’t involve Cate or UNITY and Jack isn’t developed very much as a character. There’s not many cut scenes and the ones that are present are very short and the campaign can be beaten in under five hours. This is yet another story that aims to be humorous and while some of the dialogue made me chuckle, the humor isn’t on the same level as that of the previous games. Overall, I feel Contract J.A.C.K. tells the weakest and most forgettable story in the series so far.
I did not do a lot of research into these games before playing them so I don’t know what the consensus is on these titles but I would say that by the time I reached the thirty minute mark, I started to think that fans of the previous games are not too enamored with Contract J.A.C.K. That’s the feeling I get, anyway. I admit, I was a little impressed with the game in the beginning simply because it throws you into the action immediately. I like that. I like when games get right to it. And then I noticed it just kept going and going and eventually I realized the action is never going to slow down. Contract J.A.C.K. is a straight up first-person shooter. You run through levels blowing away tons of bad guys. That’s the game.
The first two No One Lives Forever titles are story-driven games that feature a blend of action and stealth and they basically pay homage to classic spy films and television series. I feel they’re designed in a way that attempts to immerse the player into the whole spy thing. You can sneak or shoot your way around the environments and use gadgets and equipment to help you get around and stay undetected. Contract J.A.C.K. doesn’t do any of this. There’s no stealth, the story is lackluster, there’s no gadgets, and it doesn’t try to immerse you into the whole spy thing. Jack isn’t a spy and this isn’t a spy story. I also feel it doesn’t convey the same type of cinematic style as the previous games, either. Basically, almost everything that made the previous games unique is missing from Contract J.A.C.K.
When I first started playing, I enjoyed that the game felt very much like No One Lives Forever 2 because I like everything that game introduced and refined. The look and feel and even some the mechanics of Contract J.A.C.K. feel like they were taken directly from that game. You can lean left and right and interact with certain things in the environments. I’ve always enjoyed the action and gunplay in this series so even after realizing what this game truly is, I can’t say I wasn’t enjoying myself. But I’ll tell you right now that I think it is definitely weakest game in the bunch. Contract J.A.C.K. simply offers the series brand of first-person shooter action and nothing else. That said, I think the gunplay feels great, weapons have great audiovisual feedback, blood will splatter on surfaces, and the enemy death animations are solid. You can no longer hide, search bodies or pick up and move them but you also don’t have a need to, either. The game features a pretty cool arsenal and veterans of the previous games should be familiar with many of the weapons.
I think my biggest disappointment with this game is the lack of collectibles and rewards which I feel is the result of the developer placing less focus on exploration. Or at least that’s how it feels to me. In the previous games, Intelligence Items are scattered around the environments to find. In the first game, if you find them all in a mission, you are awarded permanent upgrades. The second game introduces skills and you acquire skill points by completing certain tasks and objectives and by finding Intelligence Items and the skill points can be spent on upgrades. Basically, you are rewarded for exploring in both titles and, personally, I think these are great ways or incentives to encourage exploration. That, and I’m someone that enjoys exploring in games in general. Contract J.A.C.K. features secret areas and they typically house pickups like health, armor, ammo, and/or weapons. That’s it. There’s no upgrades of any kind. I guess you can say the pickups are the rewards. But it’s just not the same. It’s a bummer because, in my opinion, this series had a pretty good thing going on in terms of how it rewarded the player.
When compared to the previous games, the enemy AI has been noticeably improved which I feel is a good thing considering this game is more action-oriented. You’ll face typical guards and goons that will run around and shoot at you not unlike before. They will also take cover, shoot from cover, lob grenades, rush you, and can even flank you. I was actually a little impressed. Enemies feel much more aggressive here and you’ll typically face numerous at time. They’ll come pouring in from one or multiple locations, you’ll always be outnumbered, and sometimes they come in what feels like waves. You’ll want to move with some caution and stay behind cover when the bullets start flying.
Contract J.A.C.K. will take you to a variety of locations and the level design is pretty good. I prefer the more open-ended levels of No One Lives Forever 2 but this is clearly designed as a more linear action game. Although, there will be branching paths and areas to explore but as I indicated earlier, there’s not as many reasons and incentives to explore. There is, however, plenty of enemies to shoot, plenty of action. Because that’s what this is all about. You will have to find certain items to progress from time to time and that’s usually what held me up. It can be easy to miss items if you’re not paying attention. Once again, you can ride snowmobiles and motorcycles and I have to admit I found these sequences to be very enjoyable here, more so than in the previous games, mainly because the vehicles are weaponized so you can drive around and shoot enemies. I thought it was a lot of fun.
I want to mention that I did download the game from the revival website and had no issues with installation or getting it to run. Contract J.A.C.K. is another game that showcases a colorful presentation with good texture work, character and weapon models, and visual effects. It looks pretty good but I was more impressed with the audio work. Many weapons sound great and shots will sometimes echo and enemies are very vocal, shouting and screaming things during firefights. The action is backed by a good soundtrack but in my opinion, it’s not as good as that of the first game. However, Contract J.A.C.K. does feature some rocking tunes that really jam. On the technical side, the game ran smooth in my experience and I encountered no major issues.
As you may or may not know, I like first-person shooters. If a game features good action and gunplay, it’s very likely I’ll get some enjoyment out of it. And that’s basically how I feel about Contract J.A.C.K. It’s a nice shooter but it definitely could have been better. I also think it’s a poor No One Lives Forever title. I don’t know the history of this game but it feels like it could have been an expansion pack for No One Lives Forever 2. I don’t know why Monolith went in this direction. I admit I’m perplexed. I don’t get it. I guess they just wanted to make a pure action game. But being an action game isn’t really the issue. In my opinion, it’s the fact that this is part of the No One Lives Forever series. Contract J.A.C.K. just goes in a different direction than its predecessors and one has to wonder why. It’s not a bad game by any means but it’s also not amazing, either. It’s very short, offers a weak plot, and the replay value isn’t on the same level as that of the previous games.
I would recommend Contract J.A.C.K. and for two reasons. One, as a first-person shooter, it’s not terrible. If you enjoy the action in the previous games, this gives you plenty of it. And two, as of this review you can get it for free. I enjoyed the action but it’s missing most of what makes the series unique. It’s a fine albeit short run and gun first-person shooter. The action is all it really has going for it which is disappointing mainly because the series is known for much more. If you enjoy first-person shooters, check it out. But if you’re expecting something along the lines of the first two titles, be prepared for disappointment.