Moons of Madness Review (PS4)

Is the self-imposed isolation driving you nuts? Then you have something in common with the hero of this space horror, who’s isolation on the Red planet turns into a nightmare, and reveals deep secrets about his childhood.

After going through development limbo, Moons of Madness was saved by Funcom, and some years after its debut at Gamescom it was finally released. As a result of this meddling, the game can now be considered a side story of The Secret World universe. Just as is the case of The Park, another tie-in, those who have played the once very popular MMO will find several references to it in Moons of Madness. As a result, the game is not just a “simple” Lovecraftian horror story in space, but part of a larger fictional world which transcends several games.

In this space horror, which you can finish in roughly 6-8 hours, you will find references to other cultures and lore as well. You will have to walk in the space boots of Shane Newehart, part of a science team, living in the shadow of Phobos and Deimos, working for a mysterious company named Orochi. As an engineer, your tasks should fall to simple maintenance of the equipment, but soon things get very complicated very fast.

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Everything starts with a nightmare, an omen of the events that are to unfold: dark visions, colleagues gone mad, monsters, screams, ancient gods and mommy issues. At one point out hero will succumb to this craziness, not knowing exactly what is real and what are the horrors that exist only in his troubled mind.

The story will get convoluted real quick, being the only more complicated part of the game. The Moons of Madness is, in essence, a walking simulator, with fights presented as QTEs and some simple puzzles. It is obvious that the developers were going for an interactive movie experience or a very light adventure game.

The problem is that the gameplay is too simple, with no real challenges, while the story chokes on the different plots, all happening at the same time. On the plus side, the designers managed to include a few frightening moments, which will make your heart race, mainly because you don’t see them coming. On the downside, except for these few moments, the game lacks tension and feels more like a drama than a thriller.

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Even running out of oxygen, which should be a big problem on Mars, is not a real threat due to the generously placed oxygen stations. It feels like the developers wanted to present a horror story, but they kept holding your hand so you don’t get too scared. Also, with its flat ending, Moons of Madness makes it very clear that the trip is more important than the destination. Without entering spoiler territory, after seeing the whole story, we can look at the entire experience as a scary self-discovery journey, unfolding in space, in which our hero comes to terms with his childhood demons.

The graphics are a bit too sharp, but the art style manages to capture the essence of the Lovecraftian universe and mixes it with what we have seen in Hollywood movies about Mars. It feels a bit low budget, but it matches the pace of the game. The voice acting is just as forgettable as the finale of the game, the actors either trying too hard or not at all.

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The Good

The Bad

Conclusion