It takes a lot for me to find myself fully enraptured in a game’s story; most of the time I kind of get the gist but just want to get on with playing. Martha is Dead however joins very select titles in being a game that not only was interesting to play but also fully had me hooked in the narrative from start to finish. It’s not an easy ride, far from it, but the character building and flow of the story are quite simply excellent and a testament to LKA’s talent as a studio.
Which makes it quite difficult to tell you why I enjoyed my time with Martha is Dead fully. I wouldn’t want to spoil any of the moments of the game as it’s definitely best played by going in with as little knowledge as possible. Despite keeping an eye on the updates for the game over its long wait for release even the opening section caught me off guard, instantly piquing my interest. Things only go from good to great throughout, and that’s about as much as I want to relay here in that regard.
As I say though, it’s not an easy story to sit through. LKA were right to warn players ahead of time of the graphic, gruesome, and disturbing depictions found within. Players have the option to avoid or turn off some of this but for my money, if you’re willing to see the experience as intended it will absolutely leave a mark come the end. It’s been a few days since I finished it at time of writing and I still regularly think about certain aspects and… to say more would again ruin things.
Outside of this excellent story telling what we get is an engaging, albeit slow-paced, psychological thriller. Played entirely in first person, we move around the small Italian village the game is set in freely, aiming to complete various key and side objectives. Puzzles tend to take the form of ‘find item A for location B’ but are kept brisk enough to avoid feeling like overly dragged out fetch quests. Perhaps my only niggle with this system though is that the main and side objectives aren’t clearly marked. Some can only be done by progressing others, while some are entirely missable. I finished the game with around 15% of quests left unfulfilled, but I could have completed them had I known which to focus on first. It kind of feels like missing the point of the game to worry about mission structure, but everything interweaves within the story together so I would have liked to see the resolution to those I missed before get past the point of no return.
A large part of the objectives use the game’s main mechanic – picture taking. With Martha is Dead taking place towards the end of WWII (in 1944), this is suitably old fashioned and clunky but offers us the chance to snap some stunning photographs as well as some that have more than the eye can see. Developing these is essential and done in the family’s basement dark room. LKA go to great pains to explain how taking real photos in 1944 and beyond would work, while also streamlining the process for players so we don’t have to spend hours on a single picture. Again, I don’t want to even slightly spoil the tale here, but this photography element is used constantly and to great effect.
The scenery within Martha is Dead has clearly been crafted with care to allow for some truly lovely looking photos, however, this has seemingly come at the cost to performance. On Series X we’re offered the ability to have either 4K/30fps or 1080p/60fps resolution, while on Series S we get only 1080p/30fps. I’m not a frame-counter as other more tech-savvy folk are in the industry, but I can tell you that at times the game felt very sluggish and slow to play. High density foliage or lighting, especially on the Series S or in 4K on Series X, exhibited visible slowdown and chugginess. I found playing at 1080/60 on Series X to be better but not without stuttering and slowdown at times. It didn’t ruin the experience of course, but it was noticeable enough that when playing on the S it felt decidedly worse enough to make me want to take a regular break.
Conclusion
However, slight technical issues aside I feel confident in saying that Martha is Dead is one of the best titles I’ve played this year. Its gameplay mechanics are simple but put to use effectively, but it’s the narrative, themes, and the way this is all tied together that really stand out. It’s gruesome, grim, and will be hard to stomach for some people, but if you’re up for a truly gripping and thrilling tale, then Martha is Dead is a must play.
This game was reviewed based on Xbox S|X review code, using an Xbox S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
