top of page

Nobody Wants to Die: Tech-Noir Never Looked This Good

Writer's picture: A.J. SobelA.J. Sobel



In a world (say that with the movie dude voice) where blockbuster games release monthly, costing hundreds of millions to make, and the little guys are getting squeezed out of their market share, it’s good to know that there are still AA studios out there fighting the good fight.


I think I first heard about Nobody Wants to Die (hereafter abbreviated as NWtD) from an IGN preview that showcased the unique crime scene reconstruction mechanic that the game hung its hat on. I remember thinking. ‘Huh, that looks cool. And I love the art style.’ And that was it. It quickly flew out the other ear just as fast as it had flown in the first one, but I must have mentioned it to my wife, because I wound up with a download code for it for Christmas.


So let me kick this little write up off by saying that, unequivocally: This. Game. Is. Fucking. Gorgeous.


Sure, there are games with higher graphical fidelity, or more god rays, or more polygons, but NWtD has that special piece that a lot of games don’t. It has vision. It’s a blend of BioShock’s Rapture, and 1930s cyberpunk, with just a splash of Christopher Nolan’s Inception, and it had me thinking about Blade Runner and Altered Carbon more often than it didn’t.


Which is not to say that it isn’t unique. Despite all the source material that it draws from, it’s the Jazz Age influence (which it wears wholly on its sleeve) that allows NWtD to stand on its own two feet, setting it apart, and making me wish there were more of this game to play.


On the merits of style and world design alone, I would recommend checking this game out, and immersing yourself in it to the nth degree.


Now, at this point, it might sound like I’m saying that NWtD is all style and no substance, and to an extent that may be true, but that doesn’t preclude this game from being worth your time.


There are no skill-trees, no gunplay, no RPG mechanics, and, for the most part, the game is entirely on rails, but in this day and age, there’s nothing wrong with that. The “loss” of these systems (which modern gamers seem to be getting bored with anyway) means that Critical Hit Games (the developer) was able to completely focus on what they wanted to do, and the story they wanted to tell. A story that is vintage noir.


I’m going to try and keep spoilers to a minimum, but I’ve got to give you the broad strokes so you can understand my criticisms down the line. You’ve got the primary thread with the hard-boiled detective and his shady past getting in over his head as he tries to solve the case that was dropped in his lap. You’ve also got a secondary plotline where he tries to come to terms with that past.


By and large, these two threads are woven together fairly well. As James Kerra (said hard-boiled detective) works to solve the case, he is haunted by the events that led him to this point in his life. But as the story reached its conclusion, it felt like the importance of these plotlines had been flipped. It became less about solving the case (which was brilliantly written, in my opinion), and more about Kerra’s personal demons.


I’m not saying that these plotlines had to exist independently of each other, but it did feel like I was meant to care more about the secondary thread, rather than the primary, by the time the credits rolled. It’s a minor complaint, but one that has been a constant niggle since I set down my controller.


At a brisk 6-8 hours (maybe shorter for you; I stopped and stared at the environments more often than I’d like to admit), the campaign doesn’t wear out its welcome, and the only times that I got stuck were due to my own stupidity.


There were no bugs or hard crashes (fucking incredible these days), although I did find it odd that more than a few assets seemed to fade in and out of existence “Thanos-snap style” based on my proximity to them.


Now, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to sit down and mainline the campaign as I would’ve liked (I fucking hate getting old and having responsibilities), but luckily, the story and world were interesting enough that I kept coming back to finish it. What this meant was that I wasn’t connecting with the game as completely as I could’ve, but that’s entirely a me problem, and had nothing to do with the developers.


At about twenty bucks — depending on where you get it — NWtD is absolutely worth an afternoon to run through. Its world is stunning, its story is compelling, and its characters are well-fleshed out despite its short length. And, to be frank, its completely worth giving the devs your money just so they can keep making games like this.


AA studios like Critical Hit Games are the lifeblood of the video game industry. They’re the ones bringing new and innovative ideas to the table. They’re the ones that can experiment with art, and concepts, and writing to keep the industry moving forward.


It’s them — not the AAA devs with their bloated budgets and cookie-cutter games — that keep the fires of innovation alive. Their willingness to experiment with new IP has allowed the gaming landscape to be mined almost indefinitely, and in directions that nobody could’ve seen coming.


Now, if you’re wondering what the hell I’m going on about when I say, ‘IP mining’, I would highly recommend that you check out the latest video on my YouTube channel, where I explore the concept in detail.


Anyway, that’s enough self-promotion for one day. I hope you’ll take my advice and give Nobody Wants to Die a chance, if only to ensure that Critical Hit Games gets to keep creating worlds like this for us to explore.

Comments


JOIN THE MAILING LIST

Thanks for submitting!

© 2021 by A.J. Sobel

  • A.J. Sobel on Facebook
  • A.J. Sobel on Twitter
bottom of page