A few years back after many a year owning a desktop PC and numerous upgrades I decided to take the plunge and splash out on a sleek and sexy laptop. Whilst it looked lovely and had a certain amount of the "wow" factor the novelty of being able to browse the internet on the toilet soon wore off and I found that all those lovely PC games that where being released struggled to run. So about two years later I went out and purchased a lovely new top of the range desktop unit. Not only was I able to play all the latest releases but I had 2 years worth of games I was able to go back and revisit.

Of those games one that I still enjoy playing today was No One Lives Forever 2, a first person shooter that was based around the exploits of a female spy called Cate Archer. Set in the magical sixties it was like Austin Powers meets James Bond with a little bit of Duke Nukem stirred in. The game was colourful and loud and above all else was a fantastic example of the FPS genre. So what has this got to do with Contract J.A.C.K ?

   

Well J.A.C.K (it stands for Just Another Contract Killer) is set in the same world as the lovely Miss Archer - it's actually set between the first and the second No One Lives Forever games. You take the role of JACK and this time around you are on the side of the "baddies" - JACK is a completely different character to that of Cate Archer - he is your typical FPS male star. Big, tough, loud and out to kill anything that moves. If Cate Archer's outings were similar to James Bond with stylish kills and clever use of the weapons, then Jack's are like a bad 80s Arnie movie - getting from A to B as quick as you can using as many bullets as possible and killing anything that moves.

It's a game that seems to have forgotten all the advancements of the FPS genre and gone back rather than forwards. There is no style or finesse to the game. It starts as it goes on, bullet after bullet after bullet. From the moment you open the first door you are greeted by wave upon wave of enemies. No matter how slow you move, how quietly you progress the onslaught is relentless. Just point and shoot and repeat (to fade). There is a fairly sizeable selection of weapons but in keeping with the game so far none of these are really that different or have any feeling of realism.

This basic style of gameplay would not usually be too much of a problem, and in some games it has been done well, but unfortunately this is not one of those games. The enemies all look the same, they all act the same and they all die in the same way. Instead of the clever A.I routines of some recent games J.A.C.K tries to hide behind relentless, non-stop attacks. There are no clever tactics employed - they just charge at you using strength in numbers…

   

The game is very much on rails, with no room or need for exploration. Each mission you go on does have its set objectives and purpose, but I doubt very much you would notice as it's really just old-style FPS at its worse with A to B progression and that "shoot it until it's dead" mentality. There are no side missions and nothing clever or different. As with the NOLF games you do get a few vehicles to ride on, but they to don't feel right and even these sections are just the same continual shooting.

The game does look very nice (except for the thousands of identical cloned enemies you come up against) - the graphics are colourful and bold and the sound effects and music are also very good - its just very unfortunate that there is no real gameplay to go with them as they could be the basis of a much better game.

It's a real shame that there is nothing new or good about Contract J.A.C.K - the previous games in the series were (and still are) not only great examples of the FPS genre but also had a great story and even moved the genre forwards in some respects. Why the developers could not have stuck to the winning formula rather than remove everything that makes a good game is beyond me. Anyone who sees this in the stores would be better off leaving it or looking a little harder and picking either of the two older NOLF games.