If anyone was wondering what type of person I am at my core, here goes: I have a giant, life-sized Freddie Kruger statue that stands next to my bed. I almost cried when my partner took me to see the newest Scream movie for date night, and I watch so much true crime on YouTube there is nothing left. if I want to watch more videos, I have to wait for new murders to be committed. What I’m getting at is that I love horror and all things that go bump in the night probably more than I should.
Before going any further into this review, I want to stress that Martha Is Dead will not be for everyone. Objectively it’s just not. If you’re looking for the type of horror that’s filled with jump scares, monsters hiding in closets or even one where you have to constantly watch out for a man with a pyramid head, you’ve come to the wrong place. Martha is Dead is a phycological horror that plays into the phycological aspect more than anything else. The only monsters you’re going to find here are the ones that live inside all of us, and that’s not always pleasant or pretty to showcase. The game does have trigger warnings, and for some of the more troubling chapters, there is an option for you to play a censored version. However, that is almost against the story the game is telling you, and you will miss out.
I’m only going to touch on the story for the briefest of moments because in all honestly, Martha is Dead doesn’t just have a story; it is the story and to talk about it is to ruin the experience. Martha is Dead is set within 1944s Italy, in the middle of wartime. As tensions are on the rise between the German and Allied forces, a body of a young woman, the daughter of a prominent German soldier, is found floating dead in a lake, Martha.
Now it’s up to you, Giulia – the twin sister of Martha, to deal with the acute trauma of loss as well as trying to uncover the truth behind your sisters death. During your time within Martha is Dead, the lines between reality, fantasy and superstition will become blurred and it’s up to you, the player, to see through the fog.
As mentioned above, I consume a lot of horror, fictional or otherwise, so I was pretty prepared for the type of game I was in for. You play as Giulia, who is also your guide for the game and from who you learn the history of the characters and the story. Still, before long, you’ll start to doubt how reliable of a narrator Giulia is. Martha is Dead isn’t a cookie-cutter horror, and a lot of the more nuanced aspects of the game are left up in the air for you to decide.
Martha is Dead is not a quick and straightforward horror game. It’s one you’re going to want to take your time with to explore truly. There is constant tension throughout Martha is Dead as the character you control shows you the world through her eyes, and you start to question the validity of what she’s seeing as well as diving into her repressed memories to try and make sense of the now.
However, a deep sense of unease and uncomfortable visuals isn’t the only thing Martha is Dead offers. A big part of the game is told through the art of photography. It has one of the most wonderfully utilised “old school” photography systems I’ve had the pleasure of playing around with. There is something utterly enduring about finding yourself standing in a darkroom developing the photos you took while outside the room everything seems to be crumbling apart. The game is also fully voiced in Italian a detail that complements the setting and the story beautifully. However, if you’d prefer not to read subtitles and your Italian isn’t great, you do have the option to change the narration to English.
Martha is Dead is one of the single most uncomfortable experiences I’ve had in a game, not because of anything I saw on the screen but for everything I didn’t. If gore, subversive horror and graphic symbolic imagery isn’t your cup of tea, then I would suggest staying away from Martha is Dead. However, if you’re feeling brave enough, there is a gem to be found here, and it’s a story hard to shake.
