I have been following Ray’s The Dead for a very long time. In fact, it came to my attention back in August of 2014 when the Kickstarter campaign began. 6 years, 1616 backers, and $51,773 later Ray’s The Dead is now available on PC and PlayStation 4, with a Switch release coming in the future. Does it live up to 6 years worth of expectations? It surpasses them in some areas actually.

Ray’s the Dead is a hard game to categorize. It is as if Pikmin had a baby with a beat-em-up, with puzzles, and a lot of 80’s references. That’s the best way I know how to describe it, and it is every bit as great as that description makes it sound. You play as Ray Lamorte, a man who crawls his way out of his own grave to discover that he is now a zombie.

His town and the area around it seems to be dealing with a strange phenomenon. People are becoming more aggressive and some strange things are happening. Dark rituals and evil plans are unfolding. It is up to Ray to figure out who killed him and to use his newfound powers to protect the people he cares about.

There are two types of levels overall. There are flashback levels where you play as young Ray and his friends and then present-day levels where you play as Zombie Ray. Zombie Ray can command zombies and can turn humans he has defeated into zombies. There are multiple types of Zombies you can collect over the course of the game, each with their own unique purposes.

Though there are two main level types, within these levels the mechanics shift and change. One flashback level may have you trick or treating, while another may have you sneaking around a summer camp. There are action-based levels, stealth-based levels, and puzzle-based ones. As you recruit friends/zombies to your swarm you can command them to your side, use them as a shield, command them to attack something, or do a variety of other things with your new allies.

The levels are all unique and interesting and contain two types of “collectible.” The first is batteries, which enhance your energy gauge that fuels your shield and swarm abilities. The second is backer graves. There are over 100 graves scattered throughout the levels that have backer messages on them. Collecting them is tied to achievements, so reading them all and finding the hidden ones is important.

Now, there is a dilemma you will have to contend with in some of the levels. Ray will be presented with a moral quandary, usually requiring him to sacrifice a battery or some of his team in order to help a human. You can either refuse for a short-term benefit or you can help the human and get help down the line. I like the inclusion of these moral quandaries, as it enhances the experience of Ray’s humanity vs his zombie nature.

The story is a heartfelt experience that lets you experience both Ray’s life and his life as a Zombie. Usually levels alternate between flashbacks and the present day, where the flashbacks teach you mechanics. The big issue comes when combat and fighting are required. The combat is frustrating because unlike Pikmin you can’t just “grow” more zombies in a hub world. So, if your zombies get killed during a fight, you have to carefully build your squad back up.

The difficulty (especially during bosses) can sometimes be punishing for that very reason. You can eat enemy brains to restore Ray’s health. However, if you’re fighting a boss that doesn’t have any minions when you need them (or there are too many) then you can easily find yourself in a bad situation. Ray’s The Dead also has a few bugs that can be an issue. I had to restart levels a few times because the levels bugged out, and at one point it tried to autosave and corrupted my save data.

Luckily for me, it didn’t crash before it saved again. If it had crashed though, I’d have had to go back and redo possibly multiple levels or even the entire game. No manual saving is also a problem in this regard, because there’s no way to save in multiple slots in case your save does corrupt.

Despite those problems, Ray’s The Dead is an absolute delight. It is full of 80’s movie and pop culture references, along with a fantastic 80’s inspired soundtrack. The combat dampens the experience, and if the developers had focused less on that and more on the puzzles, then I think I’d have even nicer things to say. Alternately, if they had fleshed the combat out more and made it more forgiving, that might have been a good way to go.

Overall, this is another example of a Kickstarter success. Yes, it took 6 years, but in my opinion, it was well worth the wait. Black Friday sales are coming up, and people will be purchasing games for friends and family for the holidays. Ray’s The Dead is perfect for that Zombie enthusiast in your life or that 80’s kid who wants to enjoy a fun, funny sort of adventure.

A PS4 review copy of Ray’s The Dead was provided by Ragtag Studio for this review.

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Ray's The Dead

$19.99 USD

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• Great 80's References and Aesthetic
• Fun, Heartfelt Story
• Interesting Puzzle Mechanics
• Unique Levels
• Moral Choices are a Nice Touch

Cons

• A few Bugs and Issues Need to be Ironed Out
• Combat is a Bit Frustrating