Contract J.A.C.K.: Just Another Contract Killer - Single Player Demo

James Bond may have been a great spy and quite the charmer, but he had had nothing on Cate Archer, the main protagonist of the No One Lives Forever series. By using a blend of stealth, clever gadgets and swift violence, Cate managed to make a name for herself as a very capable agent, competing with the likes of Sam Fisher and Solid Snake.

Contract J.A.C.K.: Just Another Contract Killer is the third episode in the NOLF series, but it barely has anything to do with it, both from a gameplay perspective and the background story itself. Thus, Cate Archer is not part of the game anymore and neither is her agency, UNITY. Now, a man by the name of John Jack is under the spotlight, while UNITY'S greatest rival, H.A.R.M., is the one calling the shots.

As far as the plot concerned, you play Jack and you are being recruited by H.A.R.M. in order to accomplish a variety of dangerous missions around the world, most of which involve killing certain people or destroying entire compounds at once. While the game is technically a prequel that happens somewhere between the first and the second NOLF games, it is rather difficult to make head or tails of the events and they certainly do not make an effort to raise interest levels anyway.

One major attraction of the previous releases was the extensive collection of gadgets that could be used throughout the missions and made the gameplay that much more fun. The stealth element was very important, since Cate could not handle too many enemies at once. However, this new episode does not really emphasize on stealth, since almost all the missions require you to charge head on into hordes of enemies and generally be out in the open, shooting.

Graphically, there are some very impressive technological advances that obviously make the game look much better than what came before. The same cartoonish style has been reused this time around as well, although the textures are much more refined and the character animation is much smoother. A great deal of work went into the special effects as well, which makes for great gun fights and thrilling explosions.

In the end, Contract J.A.C.K.: Just Another Contract Killer is definitely a nice game, but it does not really integrate into the franchise, not by a long shot. Other than the sort of common background stories and a bit of the same humour, this prequel abandons the old ways in the favor of non-stop action.