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Last Life - Sci-fi noir adventure game, solve your murder on transhumanist Mars; KS

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LAST LIFE is a sci-fi noir adventure game for PC, Mac, and Linux about a transhumanist colony on Mars. When a murdered detective is 3D printed back into existence, he reopens his last case to uncover what he missed--a hunt that reveals AI corruption, corporate espionage, and the conspiracy that may have led to Earth's doom.
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  • The first game that gets to proudly wear the Double Fine Presents banner
  • You are Jack Parker, recently slain P.I.; Earth was destroyed 11 years ago; and no one is having a particularly good day on Mars. Yet, here you are: back for 48 hours.
  • Race your way through the glittery mean streets of New Shanghai City as Jack Parker hunts down his own killer.
  • Wrangle deadly secrets out of an enormous cast of bizarre characters using whatever works: charm, bribes, or something less pleasant.
  • Uncover the inner workings of the squeaky-clean United Corps that runs the planet like clockwork.
  • Drink DNA-enhanced brewskis.
  • Break robots.
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Eleven years before our story opens, all life on Earth was ended. Now, only a few million humans still exist, scattered throughout the remaining civilized colonies of the solar system--forever exiled.

P.I. Jack Parker was one of the lucky few to have escaped Earth's tragedy.

On that infamous day, he just happened to be working a case on MarsTopia, the crown jewel among these colonies on the red planet. He survived on that destination resort development, but half-wished he hadn’t. The echoes of the life he left behind on Earth…a life lost forever…grew louder every hour. Until, that is, the day 11 years later when he was gunned down and killed.

But here’s where Parker gets lucky and our action begins. The next day is MarsTopia’s annual Dead Man’s Party holiday. Following custom, Parker and all the other recently deceased in MarsTopia get a nice perk: they are each 3D printed back to life in a new body and given just enough time to enjoy the gala. But Parker has no intention of politely resuming his death after the party wraps. He has just four hours to break out of the 3D lab, pick up the leads in his troubling case, and find his own killer. And, rushing against time he actually doesn’t legally have, perhaps uncover what triggered Earth’s demise.
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For a long time, I've dreamt of creating a game that explores transhumanism. In it, one's individuality is tested, the dark parts of one's soul are exposed to the light, and yet hope and a chance at redemption may be just around the corner. Add to that my fascination with stories that build mounting suspense and evoke a pervasive creep-factor (think: Twin Peaks), along with introducing nuanced witty characters. And lurking amongst them…I have hidden Parker’s killer.

The game’s landscape isn't some airless and desolate dystopia; it’s a prosperous domed off-world community, packed with vibrant people, dark corners and luxurious bling. Here, deadly secrets are waiting to be discovered as you venture out into the glittering MarsTopian night with the clock ticking, ticking, ticking down on your very last life.
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This is going to be a good one. I love the Grim Fandango vibe it gives off. Also, I've been listening to "Song for Keely" repeatedly that's on the page.
 
And in case you didn't notice, this is being published by Double Fine. (Or at least I presume that's what the Double Fine Presents label means)
 
I'll have to keep an eye on this one. I've always preferred sci-fi stories that are more grounded over the usual FTL drives and aliens.
 
Bear said:
I'll have to keep an eye on this one. I've always preferred sci-fi stories that are more grounded over the usual FTL drives and aliens.
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Have you read anything by Richard Morgan or Warren Hammond? Sounds like you'd enjoy the Altered Carbon and KOP series
 
More_Badass said:
Have you read anything by Richard Morgan or Warren Hammond? Sounds like you'd enjoy the Altered Carbon and KOP series
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Altered Carbon was the big one that came to mind here. In Altered Carbon, people have a chip implanted that lets them essentially get installed in new bodies. The main storyline is about a wealthy guy with insurance trying to find out who murdered him. He had been able to restore an offline backup.
 
This game has a great premise. Would certainly back if it were coming to current gen consoles.

More_Badass said:
Have you read anything by Richard Morgan or Warren Hammond? Sounds like you'd enjoy the Altered Carbon and KOP series
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Altered Carbon was good. I've been looking for a similar and lengthy story. Never heard of KOP.
 
Double Fine is helping this one out, like they did with Escape Goat 2, nice! They'll also be showing Last Life off at PAX East. Wish I was in USA :(

While we’re not running around trying to play all of the amazing stuff on display, we will be at our booth publicly demoing builds of Hack ‘n’ Slash and LAST LIFE for the first time
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RPS: Introducing Last Life, Aka ‘Kentucky Route Zero In Space’

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Whole interview is worth a read, some good stuff about Glitch City (that place where Hyper Light Drifter, Nidhogg, and Brendon Chung work), what is Double Fine's actual involvement. Also Sam Farmer's 1st interview :P

More games are starting to be influnced by KRZ, like this and Night in the Woods and that's rad.
 
Minimalist and Retro 3D is in for Indies. The belief that everyone can access the same thoughts has to be true. I've been working on minimalist 3D for my sketches and a lot of other Indie-Gaffers have been doing the same.
 
Damn, this is amazing!
Edit: Yeah, backed it, the RPS interview is fantastic, 'Kentucky Route Zero In Space’ hhhrrrr.
 
Looks amazing!

I see they said this was only going to fund episode one, does this mean the story wouldn't be wrapped up in a single game? That's kind of disappointing. How's this tracking on Kicktraq?
 
^Thanks for the heads up, I'll look into those once I get home...and assuming my internet works fine again =_=

I was sold when I learned this is an Adventure game. I got more interested upon learning it's a DF game.
 
Backed with the power of a thousand suns! *

Looks and sounds absolutely wonderful, noir is one of my favorite genres. Sci fi noir is the epoch of cool to me.

* 30$.
 
I backed it... but it was really hard for me to justify it. there's no boxed edition physical tier anywhere from $60-100. I don't want a dumb t-shirt.

so instead of taking my chances on a kickstarter, I can still get the digital version of the game that backers are "investing" in - what's the point of investing now other than to say you did?

but... I'm a huge DF fan and the concept seemed cool so I contributed even though all signs told me not to.
 
so instead of taking my chances on a kickstarter, I can still get the digital version of the game that backers are "investing" in - what's the point of investing now other than to say you did?
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It will be awhile before you can purchase all three episodes for 15$.
 
discounted price then... and I'm assuming it'll probably be closer to $30-45 for the whole package? it still seems like a half-assed tier reward setup.
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Perhaps you are not aware of how kickstarter works- the game will not be made if the asked for amount is not reached. Your prepurchase also ensures it's production that would not happen otherwise.
 
afternoon delight said:
Perhaps you are not aware of how kickstarter works- the game will not be made if the asked for amount is not reached. Your prepurchase also ensures it's production that would not happen otherwise.
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I definitely get how it works - I think you're just having trouble seeing it from my point of view. Sure, I like the idea and I'd like to see it made, but there's very little incentive for me to contribute. It's hard to want to "risk" my money for something when I can let other people risk theirs and get the same or similar rewards after the project is made.

"blah blah if everyone used this logic then the game wouldn't get funded"

I still contributed... but my point is that they should create meaningful tiers if they want to increase the activity and donations. as you can see above, the projects I'm actually interested in I contributed on the physical boxed edition levels as it's a meaningful reward for me. not a t-shirt that I can go make on my own.

Last Life Tiers:
$15 digital game
$30 digital art, music, game, and a special gun
$100 a t-shirt
$1000 a character based on you

They could've easily just gained an additional $70 from one participant (me) had the $100 tier been something like a boxed edition of the game. I guarantee other people would've hopped on the train - there's some other guy in the project comment box asking about a physical edition...
 
Some devs are against physical rewards

From blog post by Prisonscape devs
We have made two key decisions about our campaign - there won't be any physical rewards (except for the highest pledge levels and these items will be goddamn unique artifacts!) and there won't be any stretch goals that add more game content like character customization, new areas or animations, etc. We know that these are extremely popular and often help campaigns to gain a lot more money than they initially anticipated, but we have a good reason to not include them in the campaign - stretch goals and physical rewards tend to delay the release of the game.

Physical rewards, such as t-shirts, are a huge time sink. You have to design, order and post them around the world.
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Pledged, this is looking to be very good indeed. Now here's hoping for a Vita stretch goal, anything on there automatically makes it 100x more awesome.
 
hohoXD123 said:
Sounds like it's more of a marketing/advisory role.
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That's so bullshit.

They are essentially just getting their stamp on the game without taking any responsibility for it.

Edit: the game looks really damn good. Nothing against the developers but I'm fed up with Double Fine and them just putting everything on Kickstarter. Its not like its just an endorsement. Its the stamp of the whole company. Its going to be one of the things that shows up when you launch the game - at least I think it will be.
 
More_Badass said:
Some devs are against physical rewards

From blog post by Prisonscape devs
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I know DF is kind of against it too from the previous documentary episode, but I would bet that a lot more people would be contributing on the $100 level if it was a boxed game instead of a t-shirt. They're only limiting their sales from many of the like-minded people. Hell... put a $150 or $200 tier for the boxed edition.

more reward tiers with more unique - even if digital only - content would grab a lot of people. they need a reason to pull potential funders in - something that will set them apart from the people who will be able to buy the game after it's developed.
 
SystemBug said:
That's so bullshit.

They are essentially just getting their stamp on the game without taking any responsibility for it.

Edit: the game looks really damn good. Nothing against the developers but I'm fed up with Double Fine and them just putting everything on Kickstarter. Its not like its just an endorsement. Its the stamp of the whole company. Its going to be one of the things that shows up when you launch the game - at least I think it will be.
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Is it any different from Adult Swim Games publishing indies like Volgarr, Rain World, Obltus, etc.? Or any other publisher getting behind a game?

Sounds like you just have some issue with Double Fine.
 
One perk of having Double Fine publish it is that it won't have to get voted through Greenlight. Not that I think it would have any trouble to begin with, but it's one less thing to worry about for the developer.
 
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