Contract J.A.C.K.

Contract J.A.C.K. (CJ) is in most respects the polar opposite of the stealthy hi-jinks of Cate Archer in the two No One Lives Forever (NOLF) games.  Whereas Cate would quietly melt through locks with her mini-welder, the main character of CJ, John Jack, has no such option – all locks get blown off with a well-placed bullet.  CJ is a twenty-pound sledgehammer of wall-to-wall action.

In events that happen between Kate Archer’s adventures, you play as John, recruited by H.A.R.M. to combat a competing terrorist organization.  The rest of the story is slowly revealed across the 7 levels (including the Moon) and does a good job integrating itself into the NOLF timeline.  But the story is merely window dressing for the action and some amusing monologues.

The humor sets CJ apart from most first-person shooters.  I’d hate to spoil anything but one of the best lines is from a mad scientist lamenting the fact he didn’t create some killer robots.  In context, it actually had me laughing out loud.  Mission objectives aside, it was the search for this humor that actually got me interested in progressing from one level to the next, because after a while, the action – although intense and challenging – spirals to repetitiveness. (And unfortunately for me, the humor isn't found in abundance.)

move to the next group of four enemies.  Repeat as necessary.  The environments do help mix things up, especially levels that combine confined and open spaces (particularly in conjunction with a vehicle), but you won’t see the radically different approaches required – using the shadows, hiding bodies, etc. – with the NOLF games.  (Stealth?  What’s that?)

Graphically, CJ doesn’t leap far from what was found in the two NOLF games.  CJ doesn’t seem as splashy as the NOLF games, maybe for the simple reason that you’re playing as a bad guy, without the full support of Santa’s Workshop.  There’s still that feel-good ‘60s vibe (as slight as it is as you gun down bad guys) but CJ doesn’t try to step outside the box in terms of presentation.

If you’re a first-person shooter fan, Contract J.A.C.K. is an okay purchase – you’ll get your $20US worth but it's certainly no NOLF game that we're used to.  It builds on the No One Lives Forever timeline, but lets you go at it in an entirely different way.

- Omni

(December 17, 2003)