Spy game: a super spy is `super fly' in the new No One Lives Forever game sequel. (Gaming).(No One Lives Forever 2)

The '60s are back, baby!

And, the shagadelic spy Austin Powers isn't the only groovy British agent to re-emerge for a cloak-and-dagger sequel. The beautiful, hip UNITY operative Cate Archer has returned to the spy scene, investigating a secret Soviet project in Monolith Productions' computer game No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in HARM's Way. This time, she possesses a higher level of intelligence as she travels from one mysterious environment to the next, eluding foes that are equally intelligent and cunning.

The overall tone of No One Lives Forever 2, like the Austin Powers film series, leans toward tongue-in-cheek humor--a different style from most first-person shooter games. Yet the release maintains a balance between humor, action, adventure, and stealth. "We're not making a straight-up parody of the genre," says Craig Hubbard, lead designer. "But we're aware that some of the concepts and conventions that audiences might have been able to take seriously back in the '60s are exceedingly campy to audiences today."

In No One Lives Forever 2, players assume the role of Cate, a 1960s super spy who must save the world from the "nefarious machinations of a twisted magalomaniac and his sinister organizations," explains Hubbard. The story line unfolds as Cate travels to Japan to investigate some bizarre ninja activity, only to find that the ninjas--who are working for the evil organization HARM--are plotting to assassinate her. Armed with an assortment of conventional and experimental weaponry and gadgets, she travels the glove, dodging attempts on her life while trying to stop the Soviets from waging a nuclear war.

"Many first-person shooters tend to derive their aesthetics from futuristic, medieval/fantasy, or military settings," says David Longo, art director. "Just the period along in No One Lives Forever 2 afforded us great design opportunities, not to mention over-the-top environments, including secret villain lairs with a retro/futuristic look."

Image Dossier

Employing an expanded tool set, including a recharged LithTech (Kirkland, WA) game engine, the Monolith team created more than 40 compelling, richly populated levels with "30 times the detail of the original title," contends producer Samantha Ryan. The LithTech Jupiter System features an advanced renderer for generating a high level of image detail and state-of-the-art character and environmental effects, including projected texture shadows, realistic dynamic water, and a multitude of particles simulating everything from explosions and fire to snow and ice. To take advantage of the renderer's full set of capabilities, players should use at least a Pentium III with an Nvidia GeForce 1 or higher graphics card.