Martha is Dead preview: Horror fans need this on their radar right now

Martha Is Dead Source: LKA / Wired Productions

Martha is Expressionless is an upcoming psychological horror from LKA and Wired Productions, the squad that built The Town of Light. Martha is Dead has been on my periphery for a while as a fan of psychological thrillers, but last week I was lucky enough to experience the kickoff 30 minutes of the game, which takes place in a rare World War 2 Italy setting.

I had absolutely no thought what to expect from Martha is Dead going in, but I came away from the demo jaw agape from some of the most intense scenes I've experienced in a game this side of Silent Colina. Martha is Expressionless is shaping upwardly incredibly nicely indeed (although nice isn't exactly the all-time way to describe how the game plays out). Horror fans of all stripes need to put this game on their radar right now, as I thoroughly wait it to make the list of all-time Xbox horror games for Xbox Serial Ten and Xbox Series Southward when it finally launches later this year in 2022.

Gorgeous Tuscany landscapes with a creeping hush-hush

Martha Is Dead Source: LKA / Wired Productions

Martha is Dead is set during the closing years of World State of war two, equally Mussolini's dictatorial government began to fall confronting the Allied forces. Two twin sisters, Guilia and Martha, live with their parents on a lakeside ranch, deep in the Tuscany countryside.

Programmer LKA spared no expense building the game'due south environments and characters, and for good reason. Photography formed a large part of my gameplay demo experience, consummate with a zoom lens. Ensuring the environments are detailed upwardly close while using Giulia'south camera seemed to form role of the design philosophy, and the developers delivered in a large way.

Martha is Dead commands your intrigue correct from the first moment.

Giulia, indeed, is a big photography enthusiast, and is a defining characteristic of her personality. The relationships betwixt Giulia, her sister Martha, and their parents, is complex and in some ways perplexing. As you lot explore the villa and the surrounding areas, you'll brainstorm to become hints that things are non all as peaceful as the stunning south Italia landscapes might have you believe.

Early on, our titular result occurs, turning Giuilia'southward world quite literally upside downwards. Inexplicably, Martha winds upward expressionless, apparently drowned in the lake beside their home. Giulia is the one to discover the body, with their parents shut in tow. From that moment on, what might otherwise have seemed like an idyllic childhood begins to unravel, and you unwrap layers of disturbing hints every bit Giulia struggles to come to terms with her sister's death.

Martha Is Dead Source: LKA / Wired Productions

I don't desire to give besides much abroad, but even in the modest preview piece we were afforded, I was impressed by the density of interactivity and dialogue LKA injected into Martha is Dead. Giulia remarks upon most things you interact with, giving insight into her thoughts and feelings as y'all movement through the game's timeline.

The entirety of my 30-minute demonstration took place in the ranch and the surrounding woods, both during the day and at night. Giulia resolves to recover her tripwire nature cameras from the woods to see if they comprise any information on what happened to Martha, emerging afterwards dark to avert her parent's scrutiny. Discordant music, armed merely with a lantern paints a harrowing atmosphere that impressed and intimidated in equal measure. The sequence culminated in a horrifying nightmare that completely took me off baby-sit, and elevated my estimation of LKA every bit a horror crafters studio by leaps and bounds. Martha is Dead commands your intrigue correct from the first moment, and masterfully drip feeds tension as you move ahead.

How Martha is Dead moves past the "walking sim" stigma

Martha Is Dead Source: LKA / Wired Productions

Martha is Dead is an interactive adventure game at its core, although it shrugs off the "walking simulator" appendage with a mountain of interactive elements that push information technology far across your typical on-rails psychological thriller.

Something atrocious happened in that business firm, and I have to know what it is.

Every bit mentioned, photography is a huge part of both the story, and the general gameplay, and the procedure of developing film is surprisingly involved and circuitous. Since the game is set during WW2 in the pre-digital era, you'll jump through a simplified exposure, h2o bathroom, pic development procedure to progress the story, while too hunting downwardly additional clues nigh the secrets around the villa. The photography arrangement is wholly dynamic, meaning you can take photographs of basically anything yous want, consummate with dynamic focus, framing, ISO, and aperture controls. Whoever designed this is conspicuously a fan of classic photography setups, but the viewfinder as well lends itself well to inducing fright.

Through the lens of Giulia's photographic camera, you'll peel back layers of secrets that unravel the character's true natures, uncovering events that intrigued me to the point of desperation. The viewfinder is used to create narrative events, but also it's somewhat claustrophobic to use, giving yous a crushed field of view.

Martha Is Dead Source: LKA / Wired Productions

Some of the subjects I was asked to photograph in the demonstration were truly grotesque also, and I couldn't shake this feeling that there was a leap scare waiting for me just out of the lens' field of view — despite the developers assuring me that Martha is Dead is non about jump scares. Indeed, Martha is Expressionless is all about the intrigue, and a rich canvass of interactive objects, lore items, and Giulia'due south authentic Italian inner monologue got its hooks into me quite speedily.

I take to know more nigh this game, I accept to know why Martha died, and how. Writing this, I realize that Martha is Dead's demo moved my interest in the game beyond professional person belittling involvement, and firmly into the realms of captivated dread. Something awful happened in that house, and I accept to know what it is.

Martha is Dead is beautiful, horrifying

Martha Is Dead coffin Source: LKA / Wired Productions

Martha is Expressionless is shaping up to be an incredibly promising horror championship. The atmospherics are on point, and the unique presentation and approach to narrative gameplay is a breath of Tuscany fresh air, masking the grotesque secrets behind the villa's walls.

With then much riding on the story, I promise Martha is Expressionless remains elegant and subtle with its delivery and remains as intriguing throughout as this cursory preview slice seems to imply. What I did see thrust Martha is Dead to the tiptop of my horror pile and one of my about anticipated upcoming Xbox games, and if you lot're a horror fan, it should be at the peak of your pile likewise.

Martha is Dead is launching erstwhile before the finish of 2022, across Xbox, PC, and PlayStation.