Why is 'Nobody Wants to Die' called 'Nobody Wants to Die'? As a dystopian sci-fi noir detective story set during the year 2329, it features rather a lot of death – murders mostly – and the wealthy denizens of its futuristic New York City have found a way to extend their lives using brain implants. Because they don't want to die. It seems that Polish developer Critical Hit Games could just as easily have called its game 'Nobody Wants to Get Murdered'. Our first look at gameplay from Nobody Wants to Die showcases one of the game's grisly crime scenes, a grim tableau comprising a man hung from a flaming tree, slap bang in the middle of an opulent hall in the heart of NYC. Consider our interest immediately piqued. It's like future Columbo.
This particular episode of future Columbo takes place in Green Tower on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, an audacious art deco building, all polished marble floors with glistening gilt edges. Its owner is Mr. Green, the murder victim in question swinging from “the last cherry tree”, his corpulent body charred and unrecognisable, his fine clothes reduced to singed tatters. What happened here? It's down to gruff Mortality Detective James Karra to find out, with rookie cop Sara Kai providing support in his ear. Karra is every bit the grizzled gumshoe, fond of a glass of whiskey and quick to ignore the commands of the higher-ups, as he doggedly pursues a case. He also has a lot of natty hardware at his fingertips.
Detective Karra's primary tool of the trade is his reconstructor, a fancy metal gadget he wears around his left wrist like a big gaudy bangle. It can be used to scrub through the incident's timeline (using the left and right triggers), enabling you to piece together events and get to the root of what transpired. Fast forwarding and rewinding through the scene uncovers fresh clues, like an unexplained pool of blood, Green's burnt out and oxidised 'ichorite' brain implant, or the mysterious substance found on the victim's shirt, leading to a transformer that's been tampered with. Use Karra's handheld x-ray gizmo, and you can trace snaking cables through the floor to the transformer – wait, was it a short circuit that caused the fire?
“Write it up as a suicide,” Karra's superior barks down his earpiece, suggesting that there might be even more to this than meets the eye. A cover up, perhaps? If so, why? Curiouser and curiouser. The downtrodden detective is not so easily deterred, of course, so it's straight back to the smouldering cherry tree, this time brandishing a UV lamp to pick up traces of blood spatter. Picking up a trail, Karra discovers that Green might have been forced to stick his head in a noose and march up the stairs, before being shoved through the balustrade. Clearly, someone had a real axe to grind with Green – unsurprising given his reputation as an unscrupulous “asshole,” according to Sara. “Do you think he deserved what he got?” Karra asks her. “I do. But it still wasn't enough,” she remarks coldly.
Finding the culprit behind Green's violent demise is going to be easier said than done, however – the killer left no trace, meaning they don't appear in the reconstructor's timeline. A strange image of a serpent and a numerical code carved into the tree could point to their identity, as could an unusual artefact, found inside the transformer hatch, which inexplicably causes Karra to have vivid hallucinations, possibly from a murky past. There's evidence, too, that someone may have messed with the reconstruction, and with Karra warned that 'the feds' are on their way to Green Tower, his investigation is cut short.
At this point, you can rewind the reconstructor's findings to 'clean up' the crime scene, or leave the whole mess for the feds to find – your choice will have consequences, as will the other decisions you make, be it the dialogue you choose, or your other incidental actions. And after a proper look at Critical Hit's first-person futuristic detective yarn, with its mild shades of Blade Runner (it has flying police cars, for one), and a healthy dose of film noir tropes, we’re left with more questions than answers. Why was Mr. Green killed in such a way? Who had it in for him? Is there a cover up at work here? With its intricate investigation mechanics, compelling core concept, and sumptuous Unreal Engine 5 visuals, we're looking forward to getting to the bottom of Nobody Wants to Die's intriguing plot. There's not long to wait, either, as Nobody Wants to Die will be coming to Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC on 17th July.
Monday, June 10, 2024
Why is 'Nobody Wants to Die' called 'Nobody Wants to Die'? As a dystopian sci-fi noir detective story set during the year 2329, it features rather a lot of death – murders mostly – and the wealthy denizens of its futuristic New York City have found a way to extend their lives using brain implants. Because they don't want to die. It seems that Polish developer Critical Hit Games could just as easily have called its game 'Nobody Wants to Get Murdered'. Our first look at gameplay from Nobody Wants to Die showcases one of the game's grisly crime scenes, a grim tableau comprising a man hung from a flaming tree, slap bang in the middle of an opulent hall in the heart of NYC. Consider our interest immediately piqued. It's like future Columbo.
This particular episode of future Columbo takes place in Green Tower on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, an audacious art deco building, all polished marble floors with glistening gilt edges. Its owner is Mr. Green, the murder victim in question swinging from “the last cherry tree”, his corpulent body charred and unrecognisable, his fine clothes reduced to singed tatters. What happened here? It's down to gruff Mortality Detective James Karra to find out, with rookie cop Sara Kai providing support in his ear. Karra is every bit the grizzled gumshoe, fond of a glass of whiskey and quick to ignore the commands of the higher-ups, as he doggedly pursues a case. He also has a lot of natty hardware at his fingertips.
Detective Karra's primary tool of the trade is his reconstructor, a fancy metal gadget he wears around his left wrist like a big gaudy bangle. It can be used to scrub through the incident's timeline (using the left and right triggers), enabling you to piece together events and get to the root of what transpired. Fast forwarding and rewinding through the scene uncovers fresh clues, like an unexplained pool of blood, Green's burnt out and oxidised 'ichorite' brain implant, or the mysterious substance found on the victim's shirt, leading to a transformer that's been tampered with. Use Karra's handheld x-ray gizmo, and you can trace snaking cables through the floor to the transformer – wait, was it a short circuit that caused the fire?
“Write it up as a suicide,” Karra's superior barks down his earpiece, suggesting that there might be even more to this than meets the eye. A cover up, perhaps? If so, why? Curiouser and curiouser. The downtrodden detective is not so easily deterred, of course, so it's straight back to the smouldering cherry tree, this time brandishing a UV lamp to pick up traces of blood spatter. Picking up a trail, Karra discovers that Green might have been forced to stick his head in a noose and march up the stairs, before being shoved through the balustrade. Clearly, someone had a real axe to grind with Green – unsurprising given his reputation as an unscrupulous “asshole,” according to Sara. “Do you think he deserved what he got?” Karra asks her. “I do. But it still wasn't enough,” she remarks coldly.
Finding the culprit behind Green's violent demise is going to be easier said than done, however – the killer left no trace, meaning they don't appear in the reconstructor's timeline. A strange image of a serpent and a numerical code carved into the tree could point to their identity, as could an unusual artefact, found inside the transformer hatch, which inexplicably causes Karra to have vivid hallucinations, possibly from a murky past. There's evidence, too, that someone may have messed with the reconstruction, and with Karra warned that 'the feds' are on their way to Green Tower, his investigation is cut short.
At this point, you can rewind the reconstructor's findings to 'clean up' the crime scene, or leave the whole mess for the feds to find – your choice will have consequences, as will the other decisions you make, be it the dialogue you choose, or your other incidental actions. And after a proper look at Critical Hit's first-person futuristic detective yarn, with its mild shades of Blade Runner (it has flying police cars, for one), and a healthy dose of film noir tropes, we’re left with more questions than answers. Why was Mr. Green killed in such a way? Who had it in for him? Is there a cover up at work here? With its intricate investigation mechanics, compelling core concept, and sumptuous Unreal Engine 5 visuals, we're looking forward to getting to the bottom of Nobody Wants to Die's intriguing plot. There's not long to wait, either, as Nobody Wants to Die will be coming to Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC on 17th July.