Customer Reviews

Contract J.A.C.K.

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

They probably spent more time coming up with the title than they spent coming up with the game.
The excellent engine that drives the No One Lives Forever (NOLF) series is at the core of this dreck, providing a solid framework for the developer to hang garbage on. The retro hip sensibility and sparkling personality of the NOLF series has been safely lobotomized, leaving a drooling shooter prone to alternating fits of repetition and spastic flailing. It's been claimed that the solo game can be easily finished within 4 hours; I'm here to tell you that it's still 240 minutes too long.
The story feels like a scene that was rightfully excised from a much better movie. The characters and settings provide little for the player to cling to. However, a really good shooter can get by without things like plots and hooks. This is not that shooter. You can coast through large chunks of the game just by leaning around a corner and holding down the fire button while you call your relatives or read a book. Your "enemies" will all come frolicking over to be gunned down, and you only need to remember to reload every now and then. I kept thinking it was part of a euthanasia-related sub-plot, but it never came up.
The game rates a bonus star for the fond memories it sparked whenever I thought of its greatly superior antecedents. On that basis I could give it five stars, since I found myself thinking of other games quite often.

Rather than come out with a new Kate Archer game, the folks at Fox/Sierra/Monolith pushed out this overly short, ultimately senseless game to capitalize on the No One Lives Forever franchise.

The gameplay itself isn't bad and at times rather fun; I really enjoyed a few of the levels, but ultimately, it all fell rather flat. It lacked the enjoyment, humor and fun factor of the other No One Lives Forever games. It didn't help that the main character was a dud.

If you can get this for free and you have extra time on your hands, it's worth a spin; otherwise avoid it.

This game completely fails to measure up to the rest of the NOLF series. For one thing, this game is way too linear (even the original Castle Wolfenstein gave players more choice). Throughout every level you are herded in one direction. There is absolutely no possibility of strategically using alternate approaches. For example, you'll be following a hallway filled with barrels and other junk. As soon as you reach a specific point, a certain number of enemies will suddenly rush around the corner knowing exactly where you are, then it is just a matter of engaging in a shoot out.

Like NOLF 2, there is a button for sneaking, but it is absolutely useless. Since baddies know exactly where you are once you reach the magic point in the hallway/street/etc., any attempt at sneaking doesn't matter. Since you can't sneak up on baddies or eavesdrop, there are very few conversations to listen in on (all but one take place over announcement systems). As a result, much of the humour (except for a few in-jokes) which made the previous games so much fun are missing.

The only plusses are that the graphics are stunning and the AI is quite good. But considering how short and repetitious it all is (basically holding down the firing key as you run down halls, shooting at loads of interchangeable badies), I cannot give it a good rating. Those more into shoot-em-up games with no stealth or strategy might enjoy it a bit more, but I doubt very much more.

My copy was waiting at home for me last night, and I'm currently about half-way through (after 2.5 hours of playing).

It doesn't engage me the way NOLF2 did. The graphics are pretty, gameplay works just fine, and as someone else has stated, it's more stable than NOLF2 was when it first came out. But there's little or no humor, the story is just plodding along, and I'm not really caring about what happens next. I just want to finish it.

After playing through the single-player game, I'll be trying out the multiplayer games. The only new one I see is Demolition. If this isn't radically more fun than Doomsday then I'll just go back to my NOLF2 nightly playtime, and Contract Jack can go to EBay.

[ST] BSR

This is a bit of a weak first person shooter. But it is on the No One Lives Forever game engine so it is still pretty dang good. It is too short. There are only seven chapters. Not ten. The seven chapters are I guess broke up into ten sections. So you get the idea where this lackluster but fun game is going.

The No One Lives Forever games have good plots and lots of humor and great voice over conversations by the AI's! There is almost none in this. And the missions are all the same. You run around a corner somewhere, shoot some bad guys. Try and survive. Get ammo and health. Shoot some more bad guys, etc. That is it except for some flipping of switches and driving a snowmobile and scooter. It is just the same thing over and over. It gets repetitve, big time.

And you know almost NOTHING about the main character Jack! No characterization! And Cate Archer had tons of voice over. Jack has none. The game is very buggy in places and runs very slow at times. The final ending is decent. And there is a space level that is fun. It is still a good game. But it needed to be longer. And it needed more voice over, more story, and more characterization! Even the old Turok games had more characterization!!!

A mixed bag. It shoulda been SO much better from the NOLF team though! Ciao!

Poor storyline with a great gameplay/graphics.

Warning: For all NOLF/NOLF2 players. DO NOT BUY if you are looking for similar type play. (If you must buy, get it used!)

I beat this game in 5 days (in between living my life). This is $30 that I probably should have spent toward something like Max Payne 2. There is NO reference to Cate Archer except for 2 'wanted' posters in the entire game!!

You just go through shooting and shooting (set to hard/impossible for best challenge). No interludes between missions, no detailed information on the characters.

Play this game for for the sake of shooting, though a couple of missions closely resemble that of NOLF2 that were enjoyable.
The ending is the worst I have seen. A pure anticlimax.

Your only solace is the answer to the the following 2 questions:

1. How did Volkov end up in a wheel chair at the start of NOLF2?
2. How did Volkov survive the fall into the lava in a late mission of NOLF2?

Overall: not worth the money.... the game is lucky to get 3 stars on account of the graphics/gameplay.

UGH!!! this game made me so mad! it's so short I finished it in about 2 hours. I was so mad, that I emailed the company to complain! all you do in this game is point, click, shoot, point, click, shoot. NOTHING like NOLF 1 and 2. Also, the ending is COMPLETELY anti-climactic and stupid! the credits started rolling, and I figured it would be one of those funny things where the game's not really over, so I waited, and waited, and waited, and NOTHING!!!! Until this game's price comes down to $5, DON'T BUY IT!!!!!!!!