Martha is Dead Review (PS4)

Martha is Dead was reviewed on a PS4

Special thanks go to the publishers for providing us with a review code.

Developed by: LKA Games

Published by : Wired Productions

Platforms: PS4/5, PC, Xbox One/Series.

Release Date: February 24, 2022

There was a lot of controversy surrounding Martha is Dead before its release. Mainly because Sony decided to censor a few scenes of the game on the PS4/5 versions. This news made me even more curious about the game, and after reading the descriptions of the censored scenes, my curiosity was definitely piqued.

It’s hard not to admire a game that is so dedicated to its vision. Martha is Dead is a game that is determined to tell its impactful story. It blends its various themes of parental abuse, suicide and abortion with mysterious supernatural elements, all while being set during World War 2 at an Italian countryside villa. It’s a gory, chilling tale of pain and betrayal that paints a harrowing image of what it’s like to suffer the loss of a loved one.

What is Martha is Dead?

Martha is Dead is a First Person thriller game developed by Town of Light’s developers, LKA games. It’s set in 1944 and tells the story of Giulia, a young woman whose twin sister, Martha, was found dead at a nearby lake. Her parents discover her, holding her sister’s soulless body in her arms and they rush towards her with her mother warmly embracing her. Giulia was always loathed by her mother, who loved her deaf sister instead.

Having never experienced motherly love, Giulia pretends to be deaf, taking over Martha’s identity. The rest of your playtime with the game is spent investigating the mysterious circumstances of Martha’s death. Martha is Dead is a chilling and disturbing slow-paced story that makes the most use out of its fairly short time of 5 hours or so.

Time Travel To 1944

What makes Martha is Dead unique is its dedication to its setting and the immersive animations. Almost every action that Giulia takes is smoothly animated. Each of these satisfying movements are accompanied with an even more satisfying sound effect. One of the era-specific actions you’ll take is using a rotary phone, rotating the dial as you dial each number on the dial thing, okay, I really don’t know anything about rotary phones or how they work. You’ll also get to pump her bike’s tires and ride it around town; you can even send a telegraph and decode Morse code messages.

The most immersive element of the game though is its authentic, detailed and highly customizable 1940 Rolleicord camera. You can install all sorts of filters and add-ons to it so you can take the perfect shot and develop it in the dark room. Yes, the game features a fully detailed darkroom that you can use to develop your photographs, and it even explains the whole process of developing to the player. This immersion into the game’s setting makes Martha is Dead a true work of art. I was often sidelining the main objectives so I can go around the map, taking macro shots of every single little detail.

The story also gives a fresh new perspective on WW2-era Italy. It respects history and fleshes out characters that are usually one-dimensional villains in other games. In theory, we shouldn’t be sympathizing with Giulia or her parents, but the game does an excellent job of presenting them as real humans with real struggles and internal conflicts.

As I mentioned before, it’s a slow-burner, and the beginning chapters can feel a bit tedious as they often strip away control from you to make you go through nightmare sections that mostly feel like nothing more than boring padding.

Descend Into Madness

These nightmare sections however, are some of the game’s most memorable sections. Mainly thanks to the gory elements. There are a few scenes in the game that made even a seasoned gamer like me a bit queasy. If you’re someone who’s easily offended or have a weak stomach, then steer clear of Martha is Dead. The scenes in question can be skipped or censored, but they’re integral to the story and shouldn’t be missed.

It isn’t a horror game, far from it. There are no jump scares, no tension-filled walks through creepy hallways, but it is drowned in an atmosphere that’s haunting and melancholic, especially during sections that are set in night. The further you get in the game, the more things escalate and get out of hand, which makes its later chapters the best ones in the game. This can be a bit of a turn off for some players, but it’s definitely an adventure worth sticking to till the end.

A Broken Mess

The game would be among the greats of the genre, games like Firewatch, Gone Home and Edith Finch, if it weren’t for its technical hiccups.

Martha is Dead received a day 1 patch, and having played a pre-patched, extremely glitchy and buggy review copy, I decided to wait until the patch released to finish my review. The update fixed many of the game’s issues, but it was still far away from being a polished experience.

At one point, it crashed the whole ps4 for me and I had to reboot it by pulling the power cord. I had about four hard crashes during my 5 hours playtime, and there were plenty of visual glitches. Texture pop-ins, household items performing disappearing acts, blurry textures, missing objective markers from the map, all result in a frustrating and unbearable gaming experience. Whenever I started to get immersed in Giulia’s story, I was often taken out of it by the numerous issues that plague the game.

Overall,

I have no doubt that Martha is Dead will garner a cult following in the next few years. However, for now, it’s rife with technical issues that makes it extremely hard to recommend. In fact, Martha is Dead, on paper, would be one of my favorite games. However, the state that it’s in right now is so problematic that it almost ruined the whole game for me.

I’m looking forward to replaying it once the game is ironed out and fully polished, but for now, I’d urge you to give this chilling and disturbing adventure a pass if you don’t have a high tolerance for bugs and glitches.

You Should Play Martha is Dead If You:

Enjoy a disturbing and chilling story

Don’t mind the gory scenes

Have a high tolerance for bugs and glitches

Love an immersive setting

Don’t mind the slow paced story

Score:

6.5 / 10