About
No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way is a 1960s-styled comedic spy first-person shooter built on Monolith's LithTech engine, starring secret agent Cate Archer of the U.N.I.T.Y. organization against the criminal syndicate H.A.R.M. It blends gunplay, stealth, gadgets, and a tongue-in-cheek James Bond parody tone, and was widely praised for its writing, humor, and varied level design. The series is notable for being stuck in a long-running rights limbo between Warner Bros., Activision, and 20th Century Fox, which has kept it off all storefronts for many years despite enduring cult popularity.
Identity
Launch
- Binary
- NOLF2.exe
- Needs files
- none beyond the binary
Proton
- Version
- GE-Proton
- Winetricks
- dsound, directmusic, vcrun6, vcrun2019
- ProtonDB
- ProtonDB Gold runs perfectly after tweaks
⚙ Setup notes
Overview: Monolith's 2002 spy-themed FPS, famously stuck in rights limbo (no current storefront). Runs on Deck under GE-Proton.
Launch: Run NOLF2.exe (the LithTech launcher). It writes config and launches Lithtech.exe, the actual engine binary.
Modernizer: Install the community 'NOLF2 Modernizer' by HeyThereCoffeee (haekb) — extract into the game folder, then in the launcher pick Custom and tick only Modernizer (it loads via the -rez Custom/Mods/Modernizer/Modernizer.REZ argument). It adds native widescreen/16:10 1280x800, re-added AA, crash fixes, a restored server browser, and a rewritten input system with better controller/mouse handling.
Winetricks: dsound + directmusic are needed or in-game music won't play; vcrun6 + vcrun2019 (Visual C++ 2019 redist) are required by the Modernizer.
Audio: If audio still drops or glitches, set a dsound DLL override to builtin.
Controller: Even with the Modernizer's improved input, there is no clean native gamepad menu — use a Steam Input layout (keyboard/mouse emulation) added as a non-Steam game for reliable Deck controls.
Display: Force the Deck's native 1280x800 in the game's Display menu.
The one thing to know
Supply your own copy: NOLF rights are unresolved, so there is no official storefront.
Setup: Community reports success on Deck via GE-Proton + Bottles-style setup (dsound/directmusic/vcrun6/vcrun2019).
Audio: Without directmusic the soundtrack is silent.
Modernizer: Strongly recommended — it adds proper widescreen, AA, crash fixes and a rewritten input system. Even so, plan to use a Steam Input gamepad layout for this FPS (there is no clean native controller menu).
Binary: NOLF2.exe is the launcher used for both vanilla and Custom mods; it spawns Lithtech.exe.
Links: deckport links nothing.
Community guides
Write-ups and threads from people who got this (or a similar) game running. deckport links to them — it doesn't reproduce them.
Get the artwork
deckport never hosts game images. Open this game on SteamGridDB, pick
the cover / hero / logo / icon you like, and drop them into the
game folder under .deckport-art/ before you push it to the
Deck. The importer files them under the right names automatically.
Run it on your Deck
Two files: the one-time importer (deckport.py) in your
Deck's home folder, and this game's install helper. Copy the game
into ~/Games and run the helper with Steam closed — it
writes the recipe (binary, launch options, Proton version)
and registers the shortcut with artwork.