Martha Is Dead

I’ve been eagerly waiting for the release of Martha is Dead ever since its initial announcement back in 2019. It was shocking to hear that the PlayStation version would be censored a few weeks prior to the launch of the game. Usually games are censored for explicit sexual content but Martha is Dead has instead been censored due to disturbing violent content revolving around the peeling of a face and womb, among other interactive gameplay sequences. However, the censorship only revolves around making these scenes non-interactive, instead of removing them completely. While it does take away some immersion with the narrative, it doesn’t cause too much frustration for the player, and is questionable as to why it was censored in the first place.

Martha is Dead is a first person psychological horror game set in an Italian countryside in 1944, during the events of the second World War. It inherently touches upon themes of self identity and war all tied up in a horror title. The story starts off extremely strong, immediately pulling you in with twin sisters Giulia and Martha. Martha, well, is dead, She drowned herself in a nearby lake. Their mother mistakenly believes Giulia, her least favorite child, drowned and instead assumes Giula is actually Martha. Giulia now adopts Martha’s persona as she tries to figure out what happened to her sister while facing a history of child abuse and mistreatment. Gore and extremely disturbing images are plentiful, though they don’t do much to drive the narrative home, providing little more than shock value.

Unfortunately, the game proves to be more of a walking simulator than a true horror game. There’s no combat involved but there are inventory management and puzzles sprinkled throughout. The walking is painstakingly slow while the sprinting is barely fast enough to even call it that. Even the biking sequences, which should supposedly be quicker, feel clunky and unresponsive. Oftentimes, you are tasked with mundane objectives that are uneventful and bland. Photographing objects and investigative work are frequently used gameplay elements but are not fleshed out enough to feel truly impactful. It is commendable to note that the camera mechanic is refreshing; it could have been utilized more, especially the bit that has you developing your own film since the time period did not have digital cameras.

There is a multitude of poorly put together mechanics that make the game a chore to play. Poorly explained dream scenarios have you piece together phrases of a sentence through the forest, and if you get a single one wrong, you are sent back to the beginning. The Morse Code minigame is interesting in theory but horribly explained and executed. Many interactable objects are also buggy and inaccurate, and have you moving around endlessly to get the correct angle. Although photography is a major component of the game, you often find yourself aimlessly looking for something to photograph as objectives are unclear. It’s loud and clear that the developers had the right idea for some really cool gameplay mechanics, but botched on the execution.

The sunny countryside villas of Tuscany are undoubtedly beautiful, with day and night sequences, but regrettably make the game feel padded out due to the aforementioned slow walking speeds. Art design and graphics are exceptionally well done though, featuring well-shaded objects and great visual fidelity on the PlayStation 5. The set pieces showcasing these remarkable visuals are all exceptionally well done. Darker and more ominous areas definitely give a horror atmospheric feel to Martha is Dead, as well. There are, however, several performance and technical issues, with unstable frame rates and random stuttering, but should hopefully be fixed in an upcoming patch. Given that the game is only five to six hours in length, it crashed upwards of five times on me, which is unacceptable.

Voice acting and audio are done exceptionally well, featuring emotional and immersive dialogue from all the characters. The musical ambience fits every locale, such the thumping heartbeats of Giulia and suspenseful tones during a scare sequence or the chirping birds and footsteps during a daytime investigative scene. It was an added cherry on top with the vibrations of the DualSense controller.

The ending of this narrative driven adventure is a bit disappointing given how strongly it started out. There is no definitive conclusion to what Giulia set out to do from the start, which left me dissatisfied and upset. There is, however, a true secret ending given the multitude of different choices you could have made throughout the game. But hey, this at least promotes multiple playthroughs to get different endings! But this brings me to another pain point, the inability to skip cutscenes or dialogue you previously encountered.

Martha is Dead is an interesting take on the body horror and psychological horror genres. It presents some welcome new ideas, but not without a slew of frustrating technical and gameplay issues. It’s not a game for the faint of heart, and not even a game for all horror fans. The censorship from Sony was also disappointing and unwarranted, but that was out of the developer’s control. There are definitely moments in the game that will have your heart racing and goosebumps tingling, but nothing comes together cohesively in the end to make Martha is Dead a memorable experience.