As a courtesy, I want to throw out that Martha is Dead is not for the faint of heart. It showcases some pretty horrendous actions; even games that push the player to their limits in terms of violence and adult themes have shied away from these experiences. The PlayStation version has been edited to remove or limit the themes depicted, so bear that in mind if you’re looking to buy this. The scenes include mutilation, miscarriages, impacts of mental health, suicide, and strong sexual themes. If you’re not into those, I would suggest hitting the back button to check out one of our other reviews and skipping this release. Even if you censor some of the more extreme elements, this will be a difficult pill to swallow.
Martha is Dead focuses on the story of Giulia, Martha’s twin sister, who is going through a lot in her life, to say the least. Not only is her father a Nazi general in war-torn Italy in the 1940s, but her mother hates her, her boyfriend is part of the Italian rebellion, and her sister was just murdered with her being the one to find the body floating in the nearby lake. What follows is a mystery that begs you to unravel each strand, but takes too many pit stops along the way that distracts from the main focus: who killed Martha? I don’t want to spoil the mystery, as its the majority of what this game has to offer, but I will say I found the payoff did not live up to the slow build-up. Its twists and turns are on par with the original Scream film when looking at it as a great whodunit.
Similar to pretty much any horror release from the past decade, this is a walking simulator at its core. It occasionally ventures beyond the task of exploring the small open-ish world surrounding the Italian villa, requiring the player find specific objects to interact with or photograph. Snapping photos is a big part of the game, and while it does dumb down the various steps for the old school way of taking pictures, it’s still a little more involved than most modern games that feature this, and it can become a bit cumbersome if you don’t take the time to read each tutorial fully. The same can be said for the optional task of sending a message via Morse code, which I personally struggled with, so much so that I had to Google a translator to assist me.
The title largely reminds me of What Remains of Edith Finch in the way that it twists and turns between what definitely appears to be real, and what is a nightmare, only occasionally blurring the lines between them. As I mentioned before, this game pushes the limits in terms of violence, usually in a first-person cut scene that on the Xbox and PC versions you will have to partake in via quick-time events, reminiscent of the murders found in the cult classic Manhunt 2. I wouldn’t say this qualifies as a game that would scare the player as much as it would make them uncomfortable. Or in my case, occasionally laugh, like when I was taking the role of a fetus that emerges from its mother like an Alien style chestburster, and then rides its corpse along a river of blood until being forced to swim to safety. Having completed the game on the Xbox platform, I am a little confused as to why Sony decided to have this edited in one way or another, mostly by blurring or removing the interactive bits entirely from what I have read. Maybe it’s that I am desensitized to violence or that I just abhor censorship, but I don’t see anything here that warrants this action. This is especially true when Modern Warfare allows you to shoot a baby in its mother’s arms, and Visage has its haunting murder-suicide opening.
The game’s presentation is almost immaculate. In most cases, it looks and sounds like a movie you are partaking in, with only occasional bugs that rarely impact progress. My time with it was split about half and half pre and post-launch, with a pre-launch bug preventing me from interacting with a bit that moved the story forward. Outside of this, I did have to reload a checkpoint once because I was stuck reading a note without being able to exit it, aside from going into the menu, but this was minor as there are frequent auto saves, as well as the option to save whenever you please. The other bugs were very minor, with only one in which almost all of the furniture within Giulia and Martha’s shared room was removed with only their shadows remaining, or where a phone handset was floating along Giulia’s hand as opposed to being in it. Otherwise, this was a near-flawless experience that looked astounding, especially in the exterior wooded area that was equal parts relaxing and unnerving. The voice acting (Italian by default, but has a superb English translation) is engaging and rarely felt forced or phoned in. The only exception is the mother who sounded too dastardly, like you could picture her twirling a mustache as she tied Giulia down on some train tracks. The greatest accomplishment in the visual department comes from making Giulia feel like a living, breathing person who you can look down and see. You can even see her hands interacting with everything, which is great for me since floating bits and bobs are a pet peeve of mine, especially when dealing with horror releases.
I don’t normally recommend getting one version as opposed to another, but if you are going to play Martha is Dead, I feel like it should be experienced as intended, so I would avoid the PlayStation version unless it’s your only option. If you enjoy a solid mystery that dips its toe into the horror realm, and you have a strong stomach and/or a morbid sense of humor, this is something that is worth your time, even if the ending doesn’t live up to the narrative build-up.
8 out of 10
Pros
- Near Immaculate Visuals
- An Engaging Murder Mystery
- Mostly Great Voice Acting
- An FPS Perspective that Actually Feels Like You’re the Person
Cons
- Some Cumbersome Mechanics
- I Still Don’t Know Morse Code
- Occasional Bugs
Martha is Dead was developed by LKA and published by Wired Productions. The game is available for PC, PS4, PS5, X1, and XSX. The game was provided to us for review on XSX. If you’d like to see more of Martha is Dead, check out the game’s site.
Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.
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