It's an eye-catching title, I'll certainly give it that. I might not have looked twice at I Am Dead had it been called something like "Shelmerston" (after the game's setting), but as a title it is certainly fitting.
You are, indeed, dead. The story concerns the recently deceased Morris, who is idly getting used to the afterlife when Sparky, the spirit of his similarly departed dog, visits him. She brings worrying news that the island's volcano is about to erupt unless a ghost can soothe it. Morris is apparently not right for the job, so the two set out to find the island's next protector.
This takes the shape of a hidden object game where you search through a series of delightfully low-poly dioramas to learn more about the various candidates. You see the memories of those who knew them and try to find items that were important to them while alive.
While this sounds morbid, the game leans more towards the quirky than macabre. In fact, I Am Dead is often too quaint for its own good. The writing isn't bad necessarily, but the tone is almost flippant to a point where it's easy to forget that death looms over every moment. The game rarely actually commits to exploring tragedy or grief, instead celebrating each character's life. While this leads to some genuinely sweet moments, it undercuts the larger themes that the story is reaching for.
Zooming through the levels to find each object can be quite engaging, especially since Morris is able to phase through almost every single item in each level to visual dissect them. It's a particularly satisfying visual effect, and I can't help but be impressed at the sheer volume of detail that has gone into somewhat realistically model thousands of items - both inside and out - most of which are just there to obfuscate your goal.
It's hard to knock the effort and care that's been put into creating this charming world and its characters. As a game and story, it sadly doesn't quite coalesce. The very abrupt and unsatisfying conclusion left me feeling deflated rather than moved. For a game partly about the value of closure and important of legacy, it's a disappointingly unfulfilling note on which to end.
You are, indeed, dead. The story concerns the recently deceased Morris, who is idly getting used to the afterlife when Sparky, the spirit of his similarly departed dog, visits him. She brings worrying news that the island's volcano is about to erupt unless a ghost can soothe it. Morris is apparently not right for the job, so the two set out to find the island's next protector.
This takes the shape of a hidden object game where you search through a series of delightfully low-poly dioramas to learn more about the various candidates. You see the memories of those who knew them and try to find items that were important to them while alive.
While this sounds morbid, the game leans more towards the quirky than macabre. In fact, I Am Dead is often too quaint for its own good. The writing isn't bad necessarily, but the tone is almost flippant to a point where it's easy to forget that death looms over every moment. The game rarely actually commits to exploring tragedy or grief, instead celebrating each character's life. While this leads to some genuinely sweet moments, it undercuts the larger themes that the story is reaching for.
Zooming through the levels to find each object can be quite engaging, especially since Morris is able to phase through almost every single item in each level to visual dissect them. It's a particularly satisfying visual effect, and I can't help but be impressed at the sheer volume of detail that has gone into somewhat realistically model thousands of items - both inside and out - most of which are just there to obfuscate your goal.
It's hard to knock the effort and care that's been put into creating this charming world and its characters. As a game and story, it sadly doesn't quite coalesce. The very abrupt and unsatisfying conclusion left me feeling deflated rather than moved. For a game partly about the value of closure and important of legacy, it's a disappointingly unfulfilling note on which to end.