Also this issue: Icepack -A.D. Amorosi

October 17-23, 2002

naked city

Spy Another Day

Secret Agent Femme: Cate Archer faces one of her many nemeses.

It's endless adventure when you're hanging out with superspy Cate Archer.

by Juliet Fletcher

Editor¹s Note: Listings editor Juliet Fletcher was sent off to review Sierra/Fox Interactive¹s No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.’s Way, the second PC game featuring master spy Cate Archer. Before she could file her review, Juliet disappeared without a trace, leaving only the following note:

Morning, Thought you wouldn’t mind if I tucked this under your door: Just to let you know I wouldn’t be back at the office this week, or in fact at all. I’ve been juggling two jobs for too long, and it’s become, frankly, far too time-consuming. It’s time that I pick one calling, and I’ve made my choice. I pick espionage.

Kiss Me, Cate: Be Careful, her lipstick is really a camera.

I know! How weird is that? I've been fooling everybody! My life first took its forked path when I was introduced to Cate Archer, a super-operative who worked during the height of the Cold War. The afternoon I first met her, she dropped a disc into my bag, on which were details of her first-ever mission (No One Lives Forever, Sierra/Fox Interactive, PC, $19.99; PlayStation 2, $49.99), and an invitation to recruit with the crime-fighting agency, UNITY, for whom she works. Since then, I've been field-trained on covert missions all over the world, armed with impressive weapons and gadgets, learning to take down the agents of H.A.R.M., a global crime agency with a chip on its shoulder.

This latest mission on which she's just embarked (No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way, Sierra/Fox Interactive, PC, $49.99), has persuaded me, finally, to give up the day job and devote myself to the cause of H.A.R.M. limitation. And who wouldn't want to help her? After all, stealth is her weapon: She's more likely to spare the lives of a couple of Russian guards once she's overheard them chatting about their love of vodka than cut them off mid-sentence. Sure, it's risky, but while they're talking, Cate manages to sneak by in the shadows, pick the lock at the gate and infiltrate the compound while they're commiserating over the Siberian weather. There's always the alternative, of course -- busting in with an AK-47 full of ammo, as the sentries give chase, calling you a "slippery capitalist" -- but this is rarely Cate's first choice. Rescued from a life of cat burglary in Edinburgh and recruited by UNITY operative Bruno Lawrie, she still appreciates the, ahem, subtler aspects of her profession. Recent missions have seen her masquerade as an astronaut in order to get to the evildoers' space station, rescue one of UNITY's chief scientists from high-security incarceration without detection and pose as a reporter who flatters a high-level H.A.R.M. buffoon into giving a revealing interview.

And not all enemies are easy to spot, either. Given that UNITY's London base is collaborating with the Yanks on this one -- and having to deal with a particularly prickly general with an itch for "nu-cu-lar" action -- it's almost as tricky keeping them in line as getting to the bottom of the mysterious Project Omega, H.A.R.M.'s latest plot for world chaos. Still, they have some pretty good leads: a hitherto reclusive figure in the organization, known cryptically as The Director, has been sighted in Japan, surrounded by some crafty ninjas. While she tries to compete with opponents who can jump onto roofs in a single bound, Cate has also been learning to pick up others' weapons, so she can use them against the enemy. It's amazing the damage you can do with a throwing star!

The world she inhabits is flavored with a mix of Realpolitik and wry humor. Everywhere she goes, she collects intelligence on the running of this most bureaucratic of crime bureaus -- eavesdropping on important whispered conversations, rustling through filing cabinets, picking up casually discarded manila envelopes.

Gleaning intel sometimes requires the ubiquitous glamour of high-tech gadgets: a camera disguised as a lipstick or a compact mirror hardwired to decode encrypted documents. And if a snooping henchman gets too close, there's always the option of firing a tranquilizer dart and dragging him into a closet.

The way she tells it, though, battling across five continents has its down-to-earth advantages: Cate's an incorrigible explorer, so working on solo missions gives her the chance to run for miles exploring lush terrain, spend as much time as she wants on a mission and tailor ingenious strategies to meet her objectives while remaining her own sharp-shooting boss.

So on balance, I'm prepared to trade my security and social life for the chance to take apart H.A.R.M.'s egomaniacal villains, in a hilarious world of subterfuge and secret hiding places. Given how well I've hidden my double life so far, I reckon they need people like me.

I could go on, but I'm sure your fingers are probably feeling warmer now. That's the thermal self-destruction sequence starting up. You didn't think I'd leave this lying around, did you? Better drop this page in a trash can, sort of quick.

Don't call or write!