Epic Games Store is giving away my favorite cyberpunk game for free – a dark, dystopian LA Noire

I’ve said it many times before: L.A. Noire is the best videogame ever made. There’s not a single thing quite like it: detective games have come and gone, but they’ve never fully managed to capture the clue-based sleuthing and detail-focused interrogation of Rockstar’s seminal police sim. I’ve played Shadows of Doubt and The Sinking City, but Critical Hit Games’ Nobody Wants to Die comes closest to transporting L.A. Noire’s mission-based, investigative gameplay into a dystopian cyberpunk future that’s reminiscent of CD Project Red’s Cyberpunk 2077. It’s absolutely gorgeous and relatively short, with a story that keeps you on your toes and challenges your preconceptions. And, the best part? It’s currently the free Epic game of this week.

You are James Harra, and this is 2329 New York. It’s a New York where nobody dies. A New York where the rich and famous own the streets, the corporations, and, of course, the police. You turn up to the home of one Edward Green, recently deceased. Found charred and hanging from a burning tree – the last tree in New York – initially it seems pretty obvious: Mr. Green chose to end his own life: in a city where no one dies, actively sabotaging your lifegiving Ichorite has to have been suicide, right? As far as your chief is concerned, that’s the case closed.

But Harra knows that this isn’t the end. Using various different tools, including the Reconstructor, which can manipulate time and replay the scene beat for beat, and your X-Ray tool, which is reminiscent of Detective Mode in the Batman Arkham games, Nobody Wants to Die tasks you with unraveling all of the various moving parts that eventually led to Green’s death – and the deaths of many more along the way.

As you progress you’re guided by Sara, Harra’s designated partner. She too has a story to tell, and while she initially begins as a chirping ‘don’t do that’ in Harra’s ear, her own narrative is just as interesting. As Harra struggles with his new body and its associated flashbacks, the lines between reality and hallucination quickly become blurred, and honestly, I wasn’t totally sure what was going on until the very end. Cue sharp intake of breath.

While much smaller in scope than L.A. Noire (music to the ears of those who weren’t fans of the game’s open world), there’s a lot less action, too. Most sequences play out as more of a walking simulator, while the fight scenes and chases are confined to cutscenes. As someone who enjoys immersing herself in a good story, this is perfect for me: if anything, I enjoyed just how streamlined it is.

Aaron’s Nobody Wants to Die review awards it a solid 8/10, praising its story while lamenting how intent it is on holding your hand. I personally rank it as a must-play: the noir vibes and stellar soundtrack ooze enough style to keep you intrigued, and given the runtime clocks in at roughly four to five hours, you won’t need to dedicate your evenings to finishing it.

Best of all, Nobody Wants to Die is currently free on the Epic Games Store, accompanied by The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark, which takes more pixel-based approach to sleuthing. Both games are free until Thursday February 19. You can pick them up here.

While L.A. Noire remains the magnum opus of detective games, Nobody Wants to Die is a close second. It’s a truly unique take on the genre, and a strong debut from Critical Hit Games. I’m excited to see what it cooks up next, but in the meantime, get that car moved, Harra, you’re not allowed to park here. Want more? Check our lists of the best cyberpunk games and the best detective games to play today.