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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Slapped Together Expansion Pack of NOLF 2, April 8, 2004
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.
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