Theme Song by Rich Ragsdale

Release Date: April 5th, 2002

            Promotional Release

     The second game in the No One Lives Forever franchise (which is currently only at one two games), greatly expanded on the music from the first game. Gone are the annoying MIDI-based segments that were forever annoying me while I played through the game. For this instance, the music uses actual digital sound files which are split up to allow for easy segueing between different cues, making the music a flowing and interactive experience. In fact, I loved the music so much, that this release is one I cobbled together myself after playing through the game in order to continue to listen to the tunes I so often played to.

     The biggest selling point with this score is the different ethnic stylizations that are thrown into the mix this time around. Of course, they are stereotypical of everything we have heard of this nature before, but it's all apart of the fun campiness that both game and the music have set up for the world of Kate Archer. If the first score album was sarcastic, this is even more so. The main theme is quite nice and slightly different from the main theme song of the first game, though never fear, the chorus lyrics are still there, just in a slightly modified form (and the chorus is beefed up quite a lot throughout). The action music is fun and over-the-top, and while things never get too emotional (without leaving that campy feel) there are some good quieter moments here. Unfortunately, the reverse end of that is that some of the darker moments (such as those for the Super Soldiers) get quite annoying in their orchestration.

     The quality is pretty good for an album sequenced from individual WAV files, and I'm not really sure how this score was composed. It doesn't sound exactly real, but if it is synthesized all the way, it's pretty darn good. I suspect that it's a mixture between the two, though in any case it generally follows the same ensemble feel of the first album, though there are plenty of moments where things get really big with the music. Unfortunately, being an interactive soundtrack, there is plenty of repetition throughout (especially in the music for the cutscenes)

     As I mentioned before, this album does not exist anywhere but as a personal CD that I made for myself. The game editing utilities make it easy to extract the music, so do yourself a favor and purchase a copy (especially considering that the game itself is quite enjoyable). The music is located throughout several .WAV files for each sequence, and so must be stitched together. It can require some effort, but if you're a fan of the score, it's not too bad.

     Even though this score requires a bit of work to get to on CD, it's well worth the effort if you're a fan of the series. Easily a good effort in spoofing the whole 60s spy genre that stands well among more "professional" efforts as Austin Powers and Johnny English.