Eleven years after Earth was destroyed, the detective Jack Parker was killed on the transhumanist colony of MarsTopia on Mars. Luckily for him, the Dead Man’s Party holiday is just around the corner, when all the dead people get revived into a 3D printed body for one day to enjoy a gala. Of course, being the detective he is, Parker escapes and goes on a crazy adventure to find his killer, while at the same time maybe finding out what triggered Earth’s demise.
At least, that’s the plot for the exciting new Kickstarter campagin game, Last Life, by Sam Farmer. Last Life is a sci-fi noir game for PC, Mac and Linux that has been attracting a lot of attention recently.
Made in increasingly popular minimalist/modernist/geometric style, this game’s gameplay is similar to, from what they have already released, a choose your own path game, except with the ability to move around and interact with many different items and people. The whole game has a darkened feel, with the dark grays and maroons of MarsTopia in the background certainly not making the game feel more lively.
Throughout the game, you (Parker) will be scouring the streets of MarsTopia, which Farmer describes as “Orlando, Florida, but on Mars.”, looking for clues to find his killer. According to Last Life’s Kickstarter campaign, you will “wrangle deadly secrets out of an enormous cast of bizarre characters using whatever works: charm, bribes, or something less pleasant.” Sounds fun. 
Not only capturing the imagination of the media, the creators of the massively successful Kickstarter game Broken Age, Double Fine took an interest in Last Life. So they decided to help Farmer with distribution, their crowdfunding campaign and more. In return, Last Life with be one of the first games to fall under the “Double Fine Presents” banner.
Not only does Last Life sound sooooo awesome, but it is a very realistic and possible version of the future (besides for the “Earth’s demise” thing). 3D printing, as I have said before on this website, is most likely going to be a big part of the future, providing an easy and affordable way to make products and more. Scientists are even speculating on a way to 3D print a moon colony, after they sent the machine that prints it up there. Who knows. Could happen. “The 3D printing idea just feels like a natural evolution of the technology,” says Farmer. “I mean, we’re already printing organs. And I’m fascinated by the implications of this tech and how it could lead to a post-scarcity society.”
Last Life is a game with amazing possibilities based off of its fantastic storyline, great set of characters and intriguing world state and scenario. This game could be absolutely a gigantic hit (which it no doubt will be) and become the game of the year, but that depends on a couple variables, including the length, the cost, the ability to replay the game and more. Surely though, after raising $50,000 (and counting to $70,000) on Kickstarter, money hopefully shouldn’t be a problem. The game changing idea that the game starts where you die, which is usually the end, is genius. Sure, the expectations are high, but from what we have now, the future’s looking bright for Sam Farmer and Jack Parker.
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