Ray's The Dead

A frustrating game that is designed to test people's patience. Long and boring cutscenes that you can't skip. Annoying enemy types that repeat throughout the whole game. Doing simple things like clicking a switch to open a door feels like a chore in this game. Actually, trying to do anything feels like a chore. Clunky controls and input delays. I bought because of the cute art style but i wish i didn't.

This product was announced in 2013 (a Democrat's administration) and only released today. The moment I saw that Unity logo I foresaw this would be a refund. Unresponsive buttons on the menu, random things (like zombie minions being put somewhere else on the map when you reload from defeat) that will then cause problems that were impossible to avoid. I say again, there should be a warning label for video games that use Unity. All the animations look the same - like paper shadow puppets or cardboard cutouts. There are some positive things too. For one, there are moral choices (I encountered only one before the refund request) which seem to add something to this video game but with no indication how they affect the character you play; the apparent abundance of pop culture references that go over this old man's head; and the idea of controlling your own zombie army. This video game is not terrible. Only held back by an inferior, poor-man's video game "engine."

[h1]I hate to write this, but sadly this game just isn't fun.[/h1] Well at least the first handful of levels aren't... Ray's The Dead is oozing with atmosphere! The Music and Art Direction are spot on. I can see why it took so long for this game to get released. You guy really ended up nailing the Return of the Living Dead vibe! Starting off-I don't know what is wrong with the menus but they are incredibly unresponsive, when using both M&KB/X-BOX ONE Controller. There is no [b]Ultra-wide (21:9)[/b] support or any in-depth advanced options to tweak performance. The game runs extremely well on my system-so no complaints there. Moving on to the game play...The words, [b]"Slow"[/b] & [b]"Unresponsive,"[/b] come to mind. Basically, you have to turn Ray, the direction, you want to attack, before you actually preform an action. It's just not fun to play...it feels very clunky and unrefined. [b]Wait for a Sale or a Patch.[/b]

I'm glad I bought, It's really very charming. I never thought I'd feel sorry for a Zombie (again). It has lovely light humour and lovely crispy graphics. It kind of reminds of Overlord a little with the gameplay. Lot's a little puzzles to solve and plenty of brains to chew on! The times you spend as living Ray were a plaesant surprise as well! A couple of little hiccups but nothing major. I seem to be suffering from a bit of stuttering for some reason however I noticed there was a small patch after I closed the game. So that might of sorted it. Sometimes the animation is a bit off or choppy. For instance if a tell a zombie to attack, they will teleport to this predermined position before launching their attack. Then finally, your zombies don't seem to be that autonomous. I felt the Stubbs the zombie 'zombies' were slightly more capeable of chasing down or attacking people. I know I typed almost a paragraph of negative there but....I really have enjoyed what I've played and I really hope the devs keep steaming on. It's amazing they've worked on this for such a along time to bring one their dreams to life (undeath?). I was hoping it would of been more like Stubbs but I still enjoying anyways! I'll update again once I've completed this! (Secretly hoping for a Stubbs cameo somewhere)

Everything about this game feels like it's designed to test my patience. The main menu has to pan over to the option before you're allowed to click it. The cutscenes have laboriously long pauses. You can't move while attacking or sending your minions out. The death animation is overly dramatic. Overall, it just wasn't engaging.

I have enjoyed this game for many more hours after writing my initial review, so I decided to update it: Bottom line: This game is extremely fun and light-hearted, combining puzzle-solving, combat, and (most importantly) the ability to raise and command armies of the dead! Despite its zombie theme, it is not too scary and is appropriate for older kids and adults (because of the subject matter, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to very young children). In RTD, you play as Ray LaMorte, an unfortunate (?) subject of a mysterious experiment into reanimating the dead. The exact forces and motivations behind this experiment are unknown at first, but unfold throughout the game, which is told through a combination of present-day action and flashbacks. These flashbacks are woven nicely into the gameplay, providing backstory and introducing places, characters, and events from Ray's life--and ultimately revealing how Ray wound up as a zombie in the first place. At the beginning of the game, you are attempting to solve the mystery alone. But quite soon you gain the ability to start "recruiting" some recently deceased helpers, and that is where this game really shines. As the game progresses, you get access to different types of zombies, each with their own unique strengths and weaknesses. By making clever use of Ray's undead pals, you are able to solve problems and defeat foes that would otherwise be impossible. In terms of gameplay, it is simple enough for just about any player, but effectively controlling your herd of zombies takes some practice to master. The game also provides a nice mix of combat, puzzles, and problem-solving, which keeps the action from getting stale or repetitive. And even if you are defeated by a particular challenge, you simply restore back to the last save point; since these are pretty frequent, you never lose much progress. The game has a fun story and entertaining characters, but in my opinion the upbeat 80's-inspired soundtrack really steals the show. The game also features a buffet of great 1980's pop culture references, which adds a deeper level of fun for older players. On the negative side, I did encounter a couple of minor bugs during my playthroughs, with a zombie occasionally getting stuck somewhere in the landscape. However, these were never more than an irritation, and I have found the devs very responsive in fixing player-reported issues (for instance, a recent patch addressed a very difficult section of a snow map about halfway through the game). Also, not exactly a negative, but be aware that this game does include themes of mortality and death, so it may not be suitable for very young children. Overall, I really enjoyed Ray's The Dead. I would recommend it to anybody who wants a fun, smart, and stress-free gaming experience with a strong 80's theme and an awesome soundtrack.

Been waiting for this for over 5 years and I came in looking for a Stubb's the Zombie style game but is more of an Overlord style game, which I do not mind since I really enjoyed Overlord. So the premise so fay is simple, you're a zombie that is resurrected but you can still somewhat have a conscience. Much like Overlord there a choices the player can make where you can choose to screw over a civilian to take their batteries (essential for the player) or choose to spare and help them. As of now I still do not see the benefit for not taking the batteries and sparing the civilians other than not looking like a complete douche. I do believe the game states that sparing these specific civilians will reward you later on, I'm still not in that part yet but I'm sure I'll reach it soon, will update this portion after completion. Also like Overlord you control different types of zombies, from what I have seen there are 4 different types of zombies each with their own unique colors. You start off with Romero style green zombies with their own unique powers, then you will unlock red zombies which for the sake of spoilers I will not say what kind of zombies they are but just know, each zombie is very unique in powers and will create for some good combos against enemies. Remember how I expected this game to be more of an action paced game like Stubb's the Zombie, the game instead goes for a more lore style route which I still enjoy. You can kill people and eat them for health then turn them to zombies, from what I have seen there is no cap for your horde so you can keep increasing your little army of the undead. There's zombie scenes and there are flashbacks from your living days which go more into depth as to who you really were. Bugs: the one thing that is a bit iffy are the bugs, sometimes you can't do objectives such as reading tombstones and sometimes your zombies will wander into their deaths and the boss will just not give you any breathing room the moment a zombie is revived. I'm talking the milisecond a zombie is revived and on its feet the boss will instantly kill it and you will have to wait for more chances to make zombies. This does add a challenge factor though if you're into that. The menu screen is also bugged as actions are delayed and some icons won't even activate no matter how many times you click on it. The main ones (New game/ Continue and Quit) do work though. Vsync is always turned on though, I don't mind but I'm sure others will. All in all it is still a very good game that I am very much enjoying. If you enjoyed Stubb's the Zombie and Overlord, this is much like that with a mixture of Paper Mario style graphics.

Slow and unresponsive (kinda like how dev communication was on the kickstarter). I waited almost seven years for this? Wait for a sale.

I waited almost a decade for this... crap. Original backer and decided to finally play the game. Opting to support the developers again by purchasing a second copy as they initially showed love for their game. Sadly their love has been misplaced by greed. This is an unfinished, uncoordinated pile of refuse. The epilogue makes no sense, with no initial back story or instructions. A confusing pile of 'guess how this works'. Between the multitude of crashes and screen freezing, the game-play is akin to something you would find in a children's RPG Tsukūru competition. Shame.

I actually returned the game, which is a bummer because I had been very excited for it for YEARS. I just couldn't get past how bad the controls felt for something that had been in dev for so long. MI know it's an indie game, and I'm sure more of it was great but I just couldn't make myself play it.