14 DAY TRIAL // 
Taking a selfie in the ‘40s, with a mechanical camera, was pretty hard. But the reward could be a dream about loss that sheds some light on the past. Finding three cameras in the forest to extract their rolls of film is slightly easier but it leads to blood and nightmares. Are the three bombers screaming across the sky real or just another imaginary threat? Is that a ghost of a lost sister or is it simply a mind grieving and playing tricks? Photography, mysteries, war, and exploration are the core ingredients that power Martha Is Dead.
The game was developed by LKA and published by Wired Productions. I played it via Steam on the PC but it is also offered on both current and last-gen consoles from Sony and Microsoft. The title mixes photography with adventure mechanics, with a focus on psychological horror and mystery.
The story is driven by Giulia, who finds the body of her twin, Martha, and drags it out of the lake. Her parents, unable to tell the two apart, believe Giulia is the one who has died. She takes on the role of her dead sister, including mimicking deafness, in order to try and find out the truth about her death and other mysteries that reveal themselves. Everything takes place in the summer of 1944, just as the destruction of World War II is reaching this area of Italy. The writing might lean a little towards overly emotional and too long for some scenes but it’s mostly good.
Martha Is Dead is a third-person exploration-driven game. Faux-Martha will move around environments, trying to reach her next objective, and get more information about the mystery. There are dreams that revolve around choosing the right words. There are sequences where the player just needs to get a particular item or to get to a particular place. Martha has to get dressed and she needs to read the day’s newspaper.
She can also interact with a wide range of objects that do not directly impact the narrative but enhance the level of immersion. She can ride her bicycle or simply look around for interesting things to interact with. And, sometimes, she needs to take out a very old camera and get the perfect picture.
The deepest mechanics of Martha Is Dead are about photography. 1944 cameras were fussy and even the game’s simplified approach can be frustrating. Players will have to adjust parameters, center their target, shift between types of film, and use accessories. Taking the right image will push the story forward. But not before it is developed, with another mini game. Gamers will need to find the right focus, paper placement, and time in the chemical bath.
The entire sequence of actions required for a good image is interesting to discover. It’s kind of fun to deal with a couple of times after that. It then becomes mostly annoying, mainly as more options are added for the camera. The worst part of Martha Is Dead is that you can skip nothing. Even if you read quickly and want to close that newspaper or diary there is no way to do so. Walls of text often explain what Martha is thinking or feeling. I wanted to simply listen to the Italian voice-over after quickly reading the English text, but I could not. It made me less interested in the details of the game, less immersed in 1944 Italy.
For anyone who appreciates the central mystery of the game and its gentle horror, small problems with the mechanics will not matter much. They will become a big stumbling block for players who have less patience or fail to see what’s interesting about faux-Martha’s story.
Martha Is Dead is impressive both when it comes to graphics and audio. The game world isn’t too big, but it has plenty of details for gamers to discover and photograph, some to progress the story, some simply to make their own beautiful images. Plenty of care has also been expended on the cutscenes. The voice acting for the main character, in Italian, is well-attuned to the narrative, while the music enhances the atmosphere, although it is a little heavy-handed at times. Re-imaged takes on Bella Ciao and Ave Maria mix with original tracks from Francesca Messina, also known as Femina Ridens.
The Good
- Presentation and atmosphere
- Some photography moments
- Story twists
The Bad
- Some photo-focused mechanics
- Limited gameplay
- No skipping allowed
Conclusion
But, for me, the individual elements do not come together to form a coherent video game. Inconsistencies exist because the narrative needs to move forward. There’s frustration around the mechanics. Martha Is Dead is worth playing for its narrative but I want developers LKA to focus on a more streamlined experience for their next project.
Review code provided by the publisher.
