The budding operative, Cate Archer, is one of the most endearing and relevant video game protagonists ever written. It’s a shame she came in 2000 and was gone by 2002, and an even more of a shame that Warner Bros. seems keen on letting her story rot away under their lock and key.
The Operative: No One Lives Forever (also known as “NOLF”) is among the finest first person shooter experiences ever made. Its problem? It’s no longer available. Similar to what they did with other games in limbo such as System Shock 2, Night Dive Studios was closing in on the rights to rerelease the NOLF series to the masses via popular gaming services such as Steam and GOG, until they were stopped dead in their tracks by an unwilling to cooperate Warner Bros. Interactive. And so it remains that the only practical ways to play the NOLF series is by way of used copies purchased through Amazon or Ebay or via that illegal piracy.
For many years I’ve wanted to play NOLF, holding out hope that it might be rereleased. I still hope for that day, because I paid the same sixty dollar price someone would pay for a new game, for a used copy of a game that is fifteen years old, and it’s the best sixty dollars I’ve spent this year.
It’s certainly not as pretty as games today, but it holds up well in every other regard. The levels are a widely varied love letter to James Bond and spy cinema. The exceptional shooting is well accented by its stealth options and gadgets. The writing is what really sets NOLF apart though. It is silly, clever and often funny. By some, NOLF is written off as a James Bond parody starring a lady James Bond, but that would suggest the gender swap was empty.
It’s actually painful how relevant this game that came out fifteen years ago remains. The video game industry is widely viewed as male dominated, and for better or for worse, the mere concept of female protagonists gets people going. Set in the late 60s, Cate Archer is in a spy in a male dominated field. Whenever a mission takes a turn for the worse, it is claimed to be a result of her incompetence due to her being a woman.
“Because you’re a woman…”
“I wasn’t expecting a woman.”
“Never send a woman to do a man’s work.”
“Why her? It’s way too dangerous for a woman.”
“Wolloped by a girl?!”
Miss Archer is constantly underestimated by her peers and enemies. Mr. Smith is the mission coordinator of UNITY, the spy organization Archer works for, and he is particularly cold towards Archer's progress on the basis of her gender. Fellow agent Tom Goodman also shares similar sentiments when things go wrong. Cate shows resolve quickly putting such chauvinistic remarks to rest with her sharp tongue, but what rests is sure to come back again.
Archer isn’t completely disregarded as NOLF provides a pretty good representation of many viewpoints and stances on gender roles with its characters. The head of UNITY, Mr. Jones, is always willing to give Archer the benefit of the doubt, while he remains diplomatic to the others’ sexist remarks, and only once the mission is over does he call Mr. Smith out on it. Bruno is a friend of Archer and offers her his full support. Magnus Armstrong is a Scottish brute with a soft side, who becomes embarrassed when Archer bests him. Dmitri Volkov views Archer as a more intriguing nemesis, because of her gender, and Baron Dumas is the kind of oaf to flirt with any girl that gives him a second glance.
All of these characters offer some interesting insight on the idea of women doing what they want and what they might encounter in their pursuit. No One Lives Forever would be an excellent game without the gender swap, but it has left a mark such that if that weren’t the case, it would feel as if it were missing something. With the swap, it feels whole, and transcends the limits of first person shooting in the early 00s.
It’s a shame that such a relevant and charming story is likely lost to litigation and inaction. Who knows, maybe the silly executives at companies like Warner Bros. will allow us to line their pockets someday. Regardless of how you feel about the whole issue, the mere observation of female characters not getting their due in video games is an intriguing one. To me, the prospect of female leads done as well as Monolith could manage fifteen years ago would be a welcome additional perspective to the games of today and tomorrow.
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