Martha is Dead

After leaving us deeply unsettled with its previous effort Town of Light, LKA has returned to the psychological horror genre once more. The studio's latest release Martha is Dead shares a lot of similarities with its predecessor, but instead of following a woman's struggle within a mental asylum, it instead explores the more everyday themes of loss and guilt. The game isn't expected to launch until later in 2021, but fortunately, we were able to play through its opening hour within an exclusive preview session ahead of this year's Gamescom.

This story-driven title is set within the beautiful Tuscan countryside towards the end of World War II, and it sees you step into the shoes Giulia, a young woman, who is the daughter of a German soldier. It's only moments into the game that a pivotal sequence in the story happens. Whilst exploring the woods outside your home and taking photographs, you catch sight of a body floating in a nearby lake. After jumping in and trying to rescue this mysterious woman, it turns out to your horror that it is actually your own twin sister Martha. The question, of course, arises whether this was intentional or whether something more sinister had occurred.

Whilst I'm unable to delve into specific plot points, what I will say is that certain story moments really caught me by surprise and I developed a lot of empathy for Martha's unfolding situation. Her life is pretty much changed forever following this horrific incident and I'm really interested to see how she learns to cope with this new set of circumstances as the game progresses. The only criticism I have with regards to the narrative is that some sequences are just shown through scrolling sequences of text. This is perhaps in an effort to free up some more of the budget, but even something as small as a still image would have captured my attention better.

I also have to admit that this won't be a game that will suit everybody. The dialogue here is purely in Italian (it's apparently the first indie game to use it as a native language) and with it being so story-focused it means you'll have to be patient and do a lot of reading. Then there's its story content. The game is set during a particularly sensitive time during world history and some may find the overarching theme of losing a family member to hit a little too close to home. This is by no means a shortcoming, but I can't say it's the most accessible.

Just like Town of Light before it, Martha is Dead isn't in short supply of disturbing moments. With Giulia's mental state declining, I encountered several nightmare sequences, and one of these contained one of the most grotesque interactive moments I have seen in a video game. That might sound like a criticism, but it isn't. The scene in particular perfectly captured the intrusive thoughts that Giulia was suffering with and really worked to convey the severity of her unfolding illness. The game also blends in some more traditional elements of horror. During one part of the demo, I had to explore the pitch-black woods around my home using only a gas lantern and here I was made to feel increasingly paranoid with shadowy figures quickly darting throughout the trees around me.

One thing that I was surprised to see was that the photography mechanics are pretty fleshed out and are integral for progressing the story. This helped the gameplay really stand out to me as it isn't something you see an awful lot of within horror games. When taking a photo you'll need to ensure that your shot is framed properly, is in focus, and is correctly colour balanced. You'll then need to follow the right steps to properly develop your photograph within your family's darkroom by adjusting its framing and focus.

I have to give praise to how well information is conveyed here, as I never felt lost or found myself going around in circles. Your journal tracks your current objectives and offers subtle hints (it told me that the darkroom can be found within the basement, for example) and you have a map too that is marked with where you need to go next. Because of this, it was always clear what I had to do next and it just made sense from a storytelling perspective, as Giulia obviously knows details like where her family's darkroom is.

Martha is Dead looks to be a promising second outing for LKA and its opening hour left me longing to see how its twisted story would come to a conclusion. I felt that it expertly depicted Giulia's spiralling mental health through its nightmare sequences and it was refreshing to see it stray ever so slightly from the genre with its focus on photography. Of course, these are only my initial impressions, so you should check back to see our full thoughts when the game launches on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series later in 2021.