Contract J.A.C.K.

by Vivendi Universal

Product Features

• Official prequel to No One Lives Forever 2
• Play as John Jack, a rugged anti-hero in the services of H.A.R.M.
• Ten new single-player levels and 15 new multiplayer maps
• New weapons and gadgets including Bacalov Corrector hand cannons and heavily armed assault vehicles
• Create and share mods online with new level-building tools

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0000A4F0R
• Item Weight: 5 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: November 11, 2003
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,699 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Trained to survive. Paid to kill. Explore the dark side of the No One Lives Forever universe as John Jack, a rugged anti-hero in the services of H.A.R.M. The legendary chief assassin for H.A.R.M. organization has given Contract J.A.C.K. a mission--whether he wants it or not. An Italian criminal organization has plans to take H.A.R.M. down and Contract J.A.C.K. must stop them. In doing so, players contend with deadly enemies and survive against ridiculous odds to complete the mission. Intense firefights and cataclysmic predicaments are constant in this exhilarating step forward for the No One Lives Forever franchise.

Features:

• Several harrowing missions spread across 10 new single-player levels
• 15 new multiplayer maps with Doomsday, Deathmatch, and Team Deathmatch modes
• An arsenal of new weapons and gadgets like deadly Bacalov Corrector hand cannons and heavily armed assault vehicles
• New H.A.R.M. enemies, including UNITY agents, Evil Alliance Thugs, and Volkov's arch nemesis, Il Pazzo
• Includes level-building tools to create and share mods online with other J.A.C.K. recruits
• All-new storyline with an amazing cliffhanger that sets the stage for NOLF 2

Product Description

Trained to survive. Paid to kill. Explore the dark side of the No One Lives Forever universe as John Jack, a rugged anti-hero in the services of H.A.R.M. The legendary chief assassin for H.A.R.M. organization has given Contract J.A.C.K. a mission--whether he wants it or not. An Italian criminal organization has plans to take H.A.R.M. down and Contract J.A.C.K. must stop them. In doing so, players contend with deadly enemies and survive against ridiculous odds to complete the mission. Intense firefights and cataclysmic predicaments are constant in this exhilarating step forward for the No One Lives Forever franchise. Features: Several harrowing missions spread across 10 new single-player levels 15 new multiplayer maps with Doomsday, Deathmatch, and Team Deathmatch modes An arsenal of new weapons and gadgets like deadly Bacalov Corrector hand cannons and heavily armed assault vehicles New H.A.R.M. enemies, including UNITY agents, Evil Alliance Thugs, and Volkov's arch nemesis, Il Pazzo Includes level-building tools to create and share mods online with other J.A.C.K. recruits All-new storyline with an amazing cliffhanger that sets the stage for NOLF. You are John Jack, the world's busiest professional killer. Using any means necessary, it's up to Jack to fulfill the seemingly impossible terms of his contract. He must destroy all threats to H.A.R.M. Trained to survive - paid to kill. This is a contract you can't refuse.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Slapped Together Expansion Pack of NOLF 2, April 8, 2004

By 

"ghostof1012" (Reno, NV United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Contract J.A.C.K. (CD-ROM)

I had read all of the different reviews of this game from various sites on the internet. However, I usually don't trust reviews, so I decided to spend $20.00 and try it for myself. What I found was a game that seemed to be less than half of what it's precessors were.

As you know, Contract JACK is based in the extremely popular NOLF universe, which stars Cate Archer, the savvy and beautiful heroine working for world peace through the British UNITY organization. Their main nemesis is HARM (and no, the name is not explained in this game), which is who JACK is hired for.

One of the things that was most interesting about NOLF 1 was the immense story you got by playing the game. Cutscenes would sometimes last 5-10 minutes just so you would understand what was going on. Though NOLF 2 cut this significantly, there was still enough of a story presented to keep you interested and laughing. However, JACK has almost no cut scenes whatsoever. there isn't much of a history on who Mr. Jack is or why he is in this situation. And as I was expecting a very story-driven game considering NOLF 1 and 2, it was sorely disappointing.

There is also a matter of the levels, both graphics and sound. Many of the levels, except for the Italian level, feature the exact same music as NOLF 2. In fact, the Czech level is almost exactly like the Soviet complex in NOLF 2, except the voices of the guards are different. Same music, same scenery, same props. The Moon Base level's music is the same as the underwater level, though it was interesting to see the familiar lines concieved with the Jupiter engine.

There's only a few new weapons involved in the game. There is a laser rifle and a laser cannon, used in the Moon Base level, as well as Jack's .50 handgun, which is rather impressive. Definitely a male-oriented weapon as opposed to Archer's .32. There is also the Bavlov Corrector, taken from NOLF 1. Another difference is Jack's melee weapon: his fists. However, all of the other weapons are the same.

Gameplay is about the same as NOLF 2, which is fairly high quality, but some of the maps are slightly confusing on the first go. There aren't anywhere near as many funny conversations as there were even in NOLF 2--which was cut a great deal from NOLF 1.

There is also the matter that the game is just too blasted short. It can be easily finished by a semi-experienced gamer within 5 hours. You basically have only one purpose in the game, as opposed to Archer's multiple objectives to accomplish her overall mission.

In addition, one of the most clever features of NOLF 2 was removed: gathering intellegence so that you might be able to increase your character's skills--such as reloading time, accurcay and other things.

In the end, it is as if the creators of the NOLF series decided to dumb down their series, slap together a few extra levels and add a few new guns, then packaged it to become a whole new game, when it really is more of an expansion pack than anything else.

I sincerely hope that when (I pray) they make a NOLF 3, that they put more effort into it and please put Cate Archer back into the spotlight.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Get it used, July 11, 2004

By 

Christopher J. Martin (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Contract J.A.C.K. (CD-ROM)

This game at full price new is a waste of money. First, there's a real lack of a good plot line to it. It consists mostly of shooting endless streams of enemies with only a meager plot line to each mission.
The graphics are pretty good. The major drawback is that the environment isn't distructable like other FPS games. So you can't shoot crates or other things to discover hidden items. IMO, this is a real drawback. You also can only interact with certain items in the environment that are integral to your mission.
The plot line in the game really doesn't make a whole lot of sense either. You never really know *why* Jack is going after the guy he's after except for money and there's no real good explaination why Jack's client wants the guy found.
I was absolutely shocked when this game ended after around 10 missions. Not only is that way too short, it ends in a particularly unsatisfying abrupt way.
This game did deserve its M rating though, it's perhaps one of the most graphic games I've ever seen in terms of blood as well as some of the language. The dialogue in the game is rather good IMO. Some of it is wry humor that I found amusing, although it really doesn't add anything to the game at all.
As other reviewers have said, this game just has an expansion pack feel to it. There's also a limited amount of environments that the entire game takes place which I think is a drawback. There's even one level where all you do is shoot enemies, you can't move around because there's no place to go in the environment. That reminded me of old arcade games, not modern FPS.
If you like NOLF, you'll probably want to play this game, but don't expect it to be near as good. As for Sierra's contention that it's a "prequel" to NOLF2, prequels usually have some explaination included in them that clears something up in games that have already been released. This game doesn't do that at all.
Overall, I was dissapointed.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Over-hyped disappointment, November 18, 2003

By 

evitoo (Dublin, OH) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Contract J.A.C.K. (CD-ROM)

As a huge fan of the previous titles in the NOLF franchise, it pains me to have to tell the truth about Contract JACK.

As other posters have noted, the game is exceedingly short. I'm not very good at first-person shooters and it only took me six hours to complete on normal difficulty. I understand that this game was half-priced, but I still expected more than one afternoon of fun. It is doubly irritating that the box claims 10 single-player levels when, in fact, there are only seven.

In interviews, Monolith developers claimed that Cate Archer makes a "brief but memorable appearance." I don't know what counts as memorable at Monolith, but for the rest of us back on planet Earth, half a second of someone standing by the side of the road isn't too exciting.

What's good about this game? Well, it looks like they made some minor improvements to the Jupiter graphics engine. The game seems more stable than NOLF 2 -- Contract JACK didn't crash a single time for me. The AIs are smarter, too.

I hope they redeem themselves at Monolith by giving us a NOLF 3 that is worthy of the name.