Nobody Wants To Die is an ambitious debut. I previewed the game last month, and it was obvious that the team behind it was incredibly passionate, working hard to bring their neo-noir adventure to life and pay great tribute to its inspirations, like Max Payne. But I often wish that modern adventure games had more – I’d always prefer to play a part in the game and take advantage of the medium’s interactivity rather than let events unfold before me as I walk through it. Nobody Wants To Die is ambitious; it tries to do so much. But despite some stellar presentation, it falls victim to the many pitfalls that permeate this genre.
The game takes place in a dystopic version of New York. The year is 2329. People can become immortal, transferring their consciousness between other bodies for the right price. Of course, this means that the rich and corrupt tend to live longer while the impoverished die quicker, leading to a myriad of socioeconomic issues. You play a detective, James Karra, who is investigating a rogue serial killer who seems to be targeting the city’s elite. An incredibly intriguing premise set in an even more exciting world, and of course, nothing is as it seems.
As the story forms such a strong part of the experience of Nobody Wants To Die, I won’t spoil it here. But it does build upon this already interesting premise to deliver an intriguing narrative from beginning to end. Multiple threads are intertwining throughout the story at any given point, and it’s impressive that most are tied up by the end of the game’s modest runtime. But even more important is that these threads all come together satisfyingly. So much so that I hope we’ll be able to step into this world once more.
But I can’t say the same about James. He’s a stereotypically gruff detective who’s seen everything and is tired of it all. But so much of his personality and humour fall flat. Carrying all of the charm of your uncle at the family Christmas function, making jibes that aren’t funny and laughing at them himself, he falls flat. Perhaps that’s on purpose, but it makes James fairly unlikeable, especially in contrast to the voice in his ear, Sara. She’s infinitely more interesting and endearing, especially so as her arc develops two-thirds of the way through the story.
Similar to other narrative-driven adventure games like Edith Finch, Firewatch, or the more recent Still Wakes The Deep, Nobody Wants To Die is a linear adventure. You play James as he navigates through the story, discovering how each crime scene has transpired and moving from area to area as the story demands. It’s a straightforward design that serves the story being told, but only to a certain point.
The crux of the investigations involves James’ wrist-mounted reconstruction device. After gathering enough data about a scene, James can use the device to “rewind” the crime scene and explore it as it plays out in real-time in front of him. It’s an incredible feat on a technical level – being able to scrub through and walk through a scene with just the triggers. But the game almost always highlights which section of the replay to progress the story, so you never feel like you’re engaging with the crime scene naturally.
Other tools at James’ disposal are an earnest attempt at mixing things up but fall flat. A portable X-ray device allows James to see within bodies or walls, but the gadget is rarely used for anything beyond following cables from one device to another (usually hidden) power source. An ultraviolet lamp similarly detects trace evidence but is seldom used beyond following a trail of bloodstains from one body to another piece of evidence. They’re fine additions but feel underutilized compared to the rest of the game.
And that’s where my main gripe with Nobody Wants To Die lies. It’s got some really great ideas, at least mechanically, but they’re stretched too thin across an already modest six-to-eight-hour runtime. The reconstruction device is a novel idea that, while not totally original, is used to significant effect here in a way I haven’t seen in a game before. But you use it the same way each time, which becomes somewhat repetitive. The other tools need to do more to alleviate the repetitious nature of the core gameplay loop, too.
The other central gameplay element is the evidence board. You use it about three times throughout the story, allowing James (and the player) to catch up on all the story beats you’ve gathered so far. Mysteries will appear on the board, and you’ll have to drag a piece of evidence you’ve collected to that mystery to create new links and new mysteries to solve. Once you reach the end of a line of thinking, you can summarise the case and move forward.
Once again, it’s not entirely unique and has been done in games as recent as last year’s Alan Wake II. However, the interactivity and the way James and Sara’s dialogue add flavour to the evidence, making it stand out. This is the part of the game where I felt like a detective and that Nobody Wants To Die was making good on its premise.
While the game is linear, there are still different ways in which the story progresses, though these are only surface level. Around two major endings can be unlocked, with two variants of each. All endings are affected by some choices late in the story. But other smaller choices are more interesting. For example, how you speak to Sara will influence how their friendship develops, if at all, and unlock new dialogue options as the game progresses. Same as with James and the other characters in the story. They’re not essential to the big plot but give a sense of permanence to the characters and how they engage with the world.
And that world is easily the highlight here. Nobody Wants To Die has an incredibly strong sense of presentation. While lots of Unreal Engine 5 games are starting to look similar, developing a distinct look that I hope we will step away from, Nobody Wants To Die’s strong artistic direction brings this distorted version of near-future New York to life with great fervour. Whether it’s the busy streets of Manhattan or the quiet now-holographic paths of Central Park, the strong sci-fi flavour marries perfectly with the distinct 1930s-inspired art deco interiors to provide the perfect backdrop for a neo-noir story.
The score leans towards the latter, playing heavily into period-authentic sounds to give the game a broody noir atmosphere. It’s a strong score, riddled with elements of big band, jazz and swing, providing a solid atmosphere for the game’s already breathtaking scenery. Despite this, I’d wish the music would be more subdued during the evidence boards since you spend a bit of time there, and it’s overbearing. The voice work is similarly excellent, with Keaton Talmadge’s Sara being the highlight. James’s performance is decent enough, but the script does his character little favours.
Putting everything aside, it’s evident that Nobody Wants To Die is a real passion project for the creatives that produced it. It’s an awe-inspiring debut from a studio I’ll be forever keeping an eye on. And while it’s yet to quite reach the heights of its potential in my own eyes, there’s some great opportunity to improve upon this already strong foundation.
