A unique game about a woman’s first day of life after death, this point-and-click adventure is an intriguing story with charming art and clever puzzles.
“Martha Is Dead” is a game that has been created by LKA games. The game is about a girl who wakes up in an abandoned house and must find her way out.
One of my favorite genres, horror, has seen a revival in recent years. Some of the finest games produced throughout the years include Visage, a terrific and horrifying game, and The Medium, a game that not everyone like but that I did. Martha Is Dead is an atmospheric horror game with a strong focus on narrative. It was created by PK Studios, the same group behind the critically acclaimed Town of Lightm. Sony’s move to filter the PS4 version entirely owing to certain graphical images drew a lot of attention before the game’s release. Is the game everything it’s cracked up to be? Is it really so contentious? Let’s have a look.
You play as Giulia, a photographer who finds her twin sister, Martha, has been killed while shooting shots near a lake in a German-occupied Italy in 1944. Giulia sets out to find the truth behind her murder, all while having to cope psychologically with her loss and the current war in Europe (do I need to remind you? ), with some supernatural components thrown in.
Throughout the game, there is some disturbing visuals.
It’s difficult to talk about Martha is Dead without giving too much away about the plot, but what we have here is an exceedingly gloomy movie with some disturbing themes and twists. One that had me questioning every character whenever anything new occurred, with some stunning and absolutely surprising twists and turns that gave the events a whole new meaning. It’s a beautifully convoluted story with each chapter peeling back more and more layers. Even when movie dives into much darker territory with images that may be distressing to some, I was completely engrossed throughout.
While the plot is brilliant and twisted, and had me guessing from beginning to finish, it is the gameplay that will divide players. It’s a slow-burning psychological horror game, and the fundamental gameplay loop may be off-putting to certain players. Martha is Dead isn’t your typical horror film. You shouldn’t anticipate anything to follow you or sneak up on you, or even jump scares. Unfortunately, although this is good for the story, it has a severe influence on the gameplay, making it sluggish even by walking simulator standards like The Suicide of Rachel Foster. I was often bored and desirous of moving the plot along.
Much of the game involves you wandering the estate and surrounding area of the villa, snapping photographs of different evidence that may be related to Martha’s murder, and then manually processing the films you discover to unlock clues and reveal the truth of what happened. While this is enjoyable from a story standpoint, it is a laborious activity that requires you to go back and forth from the forest to the dark chamber in order to accomplish a basic mini-game. Each of the game’s chapters has its own mechanism, ranging from puppet performances to Morse Code decoding, but they don’t offer much to the overall experience. Sure, there’s some optional stuff, but nothing that stimulates replayability or additional investigation.
Prepare to enter this chamber… a great deal
The game’s default voice acting is Italian, which is a pleasant surprise. It may seem strange at first, but after you think about it, it’s a wonderful surprise and exactly how this game should be played. It adds an extra layer of realism to the beautifully realized scene. The voice acting is generally good, with some convincing performances, particularly from our protagonist. We also have a very eerie music that gradually builds up to the more dramatic parts.
The graphics are also rather impressive, featuring a well-designed Italian landscape and a gloomy woodland section. The settings are well-designed and do an excellent job of transporting you to the location. Environments, on the other hand, are very monotonous. Fields and woodlands are exactly what you’ll get. There are a few gory moments as well (which have gained some attention for being censored on PS4 and PS5). These compel you to get up up and personal with the gore, which is quite powerful.
However, minor pop-in, frame rate reductions, and stuttering might detract from the overall experience. It’s also worth mentioning that this game lacks true ultrawide compatibility, which causes some of the game’s puzzles to be difficult to solve, requiring me to play in 16:9 in a few areas. During several exploratory portions, I also ran across a few glitches, like endless loading rings and falling through the floor.
Spooky…?
The fascinating story of Martha is Dead is let down by some drab gameplay that fails to complement it in any significant manner. It does deal with loss in a creative manner that had me wondering what was going on the whole time, but the monotony was too much for me to bear. If you’re hoping for a true horror experience, this isn’t the film for you. With that stated, if you want a captivating story, I suggest picking up this game as long as you can get over some boring lack of appropriate gameplay.
|
Graphically, the game is rather stunning, although it suffers from a general lack of visual variation. |
Martha is Dead’s basic gameplay loop (or lack thereof) is just unable to keep up with the better storyline. |
|
The genuine and terrifying feeling is enhanced by the Italian voice acting, music, and ambient sound design. |
While the story is engaging, Martha is Dead’s basic gameplay leaves a lot to be desired. |
|
Final Score: 7.0 |
|
On Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, and PC, Martha Is Dead is currently available. The PS4 and PS5 ports have been postponed.
On a PC with an RTX 2060, Ryzen 5 3600X, and 16GB RAM, the review was conducted.
The publisher supplied a copy of Martha Is Dead.
As an example:
As if Loading…
Look at them!
Related Tags
- huld martha at dead of night
- the town of light review
