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.

"No One Lives Forever VS Contract Jack", Yes, even though this is the presequel to NOLF II, this doesn't quite seem like a NOLF game.
NOLF and NOLF II is a spy game. You're a spy, Cate Archer, that is saving the world from H.A.R.M.
Both games had around 10-15 chapters, with most chapters with 3-6 scenes. That's a lot of gameplay.
Plus, NOLF I and II also had cutscenes, some story and character development.
It also had humor, which personally I thought was dull and not funny in any way. The type of humor doesn't seem intelligent whatsoever.
"Please stop pushing me!" "I will stop pushing you if you stop clinging to things like a little girl."
Not funny to me.
To me anyway, in most cases, it insults my intelligence.
However the gameplay is pretty nice for NOLF and its sequel.
As for Contract Jack, it just doesn't seem the same.
First off, there are 7 chapters, half of what you'd get from NOLF and its sequel.
Second of all, some of these only have one scene, which makes it even shorter.
It also has little to no spy gameplay whatsoever. This is just flat out shoot people and get done with your mission.
Being it's also a flat out "shoot the bad guy" type, you cant fail any mission. There is no "You blew your cover" or anything like that.
Plus, very very few cut scenes, which are quite short.
Others had mentioned that the company was going to have Cate Archer in the game.
Well, it's quite the dissapointment. You don't see any cutscenes with her. You don't see her fighting or doing much of anything. You see a few posters of her, and while driving in the back of a truck, you see her standing along the road for only a second or two.
If you can play online, then this is worth buying.
If it's just SP, wait for the price to drop.
With no spy levels, no real cut scenes, not as many scenes, and not as many chapters, this will end a LOT faster than the NOLF series.

"Poor follow up to the NOLF series", 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.

"Uninspired, redundant and way too SHORT !!!!", I played No One Lives Forever 2. That was a great game. Funny, clever and involved.

I finished this game on the 2nd hardest setting in 3 hours!!!
Angry and feeling ripped off, I set the game to the hardest setting and tried again - I got through it in 4 hours - ONLY 4 HOURS !!!!!! PATHETIC!!!!

Contract Jack is a sad attempt to cash in on that success.

The weapons are limited and boring.
The enemy AI is easy to figure out and beat, even on the hardest settings.
The missions are lack luster. You keep waiting for something clever...it never comes.

This is an absolute rip off. I would only recommend this game if it cost $10 or less.

Don't think this is going to be fun or like No One Lives Forever 2.

If you have not played NOLF2...spend your money on that instead!!!
"A decent time waster", Well, I'm gonna do the pro/con thing for this one.

The gist of it: It's a run and gun game. In the first 2 missions, it said I missed a few secrets. I found out later that "secrets" are hidden places, not documents, film, briefcases etc. He is an assassin, not a spy.

Pros: The attention to detail in the environments is awesome. I saw furniture and cliche'd paintings in some of these places that were timeless. It gives you a choice in visual setup at the beggining to go with the video card you might have which was a nice touch. Jack is a more serious character than Cate(NOLF) and is a "get things done" kind of assassin. His dialoge is somewhat humorous if you pay attention to what he says. he refers to a drunken Scottsman if you know who he's talkin about haha. The other characters dialoges are kinda funny too. PLUS it's a slightly lowered price so you shouldn't be spending $50 for a simple shooter.

On a whim I used the cheat code to get all the weapons and wasn't disapointed. No exploding kitties but some pretty cool weapons. There's absolutely no need for god codes. On the easy setting you take little damage and there's lots of ammo and armor around.

Cons: I haven't quite finished it yet but the missions so far are pretty simple and short. I keep finding levers or buttons that will highlight for you to activate but they're greyed over so you can't activate them. I finished the missions and never figured out what they were for. Like I said, it's a run and gun game so don't get your hopes up for a NOLF type goofiness. This is a darker game.

I still highly recommend it to anyone with a love for shooters.