After backing the project for around £60 in 2021, I can "happily" say that my money went to anything *BUT* the development of Dead Matter. Same lacklustre, un-optimised game now as it was at launch. I think the project idea unfortunately was too big for the development team to handle and will never see the light of day as a full, completed game. I wasted my money, frankly. Learnt my lesson.

I won't delve into the drama of the release, but I will deliver a review of the game:
The game currently lacks a proper game-play loop. There's no incentive for survival or endgame. It's just grabbing food and water, walking around, messing around, finding guns and exploring. There's nothing else really to do, no reason to build, no reason to properly explore. If you look at Project Zomboid, there is a proper game-play loop where you can develop your character. Build the person up. That incentive gives the player a reason to play and to care. There isn't really anything like that properly implemented in DM where it isn't a buggy mess, so there's just no reason to play other than to mess around.

The game also is heavily unoptimised. I run an RTX 3080 and this game feels as if it requires a quantum computer to run. I get major lag spikes. The lag spikes don't even warrant the graphics, as they are standard (almost sub-par actually).
The mechanics in the game are also unrefined. The GUI and any other display system is alright but driving around can be quite difficult with the weird physics of the vehicle, and the handling isn't up-to-par. Other physical mechanics are also janky.

Overall, the game is an non-cohesive mess of mechanics stapled together. They don't really seem like they work in harmony, with each different system in the game having no clear directive in development. There isn't really anything to do, and the mechanics are just outright jank.

Save your money and I recommend looking into the studio of Dead Matter so you know to keep your money if you ever see another project released by QI interactive as it'll probably be the same non-harmonious slop of game design.

Edit 22/06/2025: Grammar fixes.

After backing the project for around £60 in 2021, I can "happily" say that my money went to anything *BUT* the development of Dead Matter. Same lacklustre, un-optimised game now as it was at launch. I think the project idea unfortunately was too big for the development team to handle and will never see the light of day as a full, completed game. I wasted my money, frankly. Learnt my lesson. I won't delve into the drama of the release, but I will deliver a review of the game: The game currently lacks a proper game-play loop. There's no incentive for survival or endgame. It's just grabbing food and water, walking around, messing around, finding guns and exploring. There's nothing else really to do, no reason to build, no reason to properly explore. If you look at Project Zomboid, there is a proper game-play loop where you can develop your character. Build the person up. That incentive gives the player a reason to play and to care. There isn't really anything like that properly implemented in DM where it isn't a buggy mess, so there's just no reason to play other than to mess around. The game also is heavily unoptimised. I run an RTX 3080 and this game feels as if it requires a quantum computer to run. I get major lag spikes. The lag spikes don't even warrant the graphics, as they are standard (almost sub-par actually). The mechanics in the game are also unrefined. The GUI and any other display system is alright but driving around can be quite difficult with the weird physics of the vehicle, and the handling isn't up-to-par. Other physical mechanics are also janky. Overall, the game is an non-cohesive mess of mechanics stapled together. They don't really seem like they work in harmony, with each different system in the game having no clear directive in development. There isn't really anything to do, and the mechanics are just outright jank. Save your money and I recommend looking into the studio of Dead Matter so you know to keep your money if you ever see another project released by QI interactive as it'll probably be the same non-harmonious slop of game design. Edit 22/06/2025: Grammar fixes.