Three Dead Zed Review

By now it's become clear that everyone loves killing zombies, but so far we haven’t really seen a game that makes the undead, the hero. Well, that’s changed with Three Dead Zed, a 2D puzzle-platformer from Gentleman Squid Studios. This well-designed title combines elements from Trine and Super Meat Boy to make for a fun and humourous experience.

Of course, shooting, slicing and otherwise maiming the undead is great fun, but playing as them has plenty of benefits too. In Three Dead Zed you are given the ability to switch between three different incarnations of the walking dead, each with their own set of skills (this is where the Trine comparison comes in). The zombies on offer follow the usual archetypes of the genre; there's the heavy bruiser who can smash through walls and throw large objects, the agile crawler who is weaker but can leap off walls and is generally much quicker, and the classic shuffling zombie who can climb ladders and hit switches (okay, maybe that last one isn't quite so typical).

Your morphing zombie protagonists are the result of experimentation on the part of a large corporation aiming to use the undead for cheap labour. As you might predict, things go awry when you break out of the testing chambers and begin exacting revenge on your creators. Along the way you'll navigate through the facility while avoiding spinning saw-blades and crashing pistons, killing countless innocent employees and solving basic environmental puzzles.

Between the lasers, saw-blades and gun-toting soldiers, you'll die quite a lot in Three Dead Zed. Thankfully this never gets too frustrating due to a generous use of checkpoints. Another thing that makes the checkpoints so helpful is that they save the state of the level; for example, you might have to navigate a nasty section of a level to reach a switch that opens up a pathway to the exit. If you happen to die on your way back through the difficult section, the exit will remain unblocked when you respawn, saving a lot of time and frustration.

Alternating between platforming and puzzling (in combination with the constant character-switching) gives the game some good variety and keeps things interesting. Individually, the mechanics in Three Dead Zed aren’t exactly world-beaters - platforming isn’t nearly as tight as something like Mario or Super Meat Boy, and the puzzles are simple - but as a sum of its parts, the title is thoroughly enjoyable while it lasts.

It doesn't last long though; after about two hours I had completed the story. Thankfully, the longevity is increased by some challenge levels which require more precise platforming and include fewer checkpoints. I found these levels more frustrating than fun due to the somewhat floaty controls, but the Dark Souls-loving, glutton-for-punishment crowd may get some enjoyment out of the increased difficulty. Nevertheless, Three Dead Zed can get away with the short length due to its low price.

The game benefits from a good sense of humour, mainly stemming from the sadistic, over-the-top deaths. Being killed causes an explosion of blood to cover all nearby surfaces, and nothing beats scaring an elderly woman causing her to run into spinning blades. Dialogue is also, for the most part, amusing and well-delivered, particularly in the form of audio logs that can be found at some hard-to-reach employee workstations.

The visuals are great too; the game's hand-drawn, cartoony art style looks like it was ripped straight from a Saturday morning cartoon. Animation isn't exactly smooth - transitioning from standing to running looks a little jarring - but each character looks and moves in a unique and funny manner.

Three Dead Zed was a pleasant surprise. What I had expected to be another generic 2D platformer turned out to be a fun and charming one. The game is somewhat held back by the occasional frustrating section, but it makes up for this with a good sense of humour and engaging gameplay. It all adds up to a very enjoyable, albeit fleeting, experience.