What is this new video game that disturbs and shocks even the most hardened?

Game News What is this new video game that disturbs and shocks even the most hardened?

Although it’s February 25 and Elden Ring leaves most players speechless with its achievement, it’s not FromSoftware’s latest game in question here but Martha is Dead. Developed by LKA and published by Wired Production, the psychological thriller has been in the news for about ten days. We return in three points to everything there is to know about this case.

Martha is Dead: a game with very disturbing scenes

First of all, it is good to remember what the game Martha is Dead is. It takes place in 1944 in Tuscany, right in the context of the Second World War. While taking pictures of a lake, the daughter of a high-ranking Nazi soldier discovers the body, floating and lifeless, of her twin sister. Giula will then try to explain the causes of death. Then follows an investigation that borders on the supernatural and whose boundaries between historical reality and paranormal are blurred. All wrapped in a touch of gore, to destabilize the fans.

A necessary touch for Luca Dalco, the artistic director of martha is dead. A few weeks ago, he indicated that he “loves horror when it tries to do more than scare with sights and sounds“. And in general, it must be recognized that the title frightens. Mutilation of the face, mistreatment of its own children… Martha is Dead is full of situations more disturbing than the others, those cited here not being the worst : the developers want to disturb the player by imposing unsustainable and creepy situations that many might not assume. This is what Tiraxa mentioned in our columns during his test:

Martha is Dead forces you to do the unthinkable in very intimate spheres and provokes sincerely moving sequences. After six hours of bathing in an ocean of abominations that undeniably serve the purpose, it is difficult to complete the experience without being deeply disturbed by our misdeeds.

Martha is Dead censored by Sony, an unjustified decision

A moving, traumatic game, from which Wired Production has never hidden. The publisher has always indicated that Martha is Dead isn’t for everyone. During our preview of the title at the end of January, the first images displayed on the screen are information messages: Wired Production warns of scenes containing human blood, dismemberment, nudity or even mutilation. Despite these numerous alerts which aim to exclude the most sensitive audiences, the game is nevertheless censored on PlayStation ten days before its release. It is Wired Production, always, who speaks on this subject:

It is with regret that we had to modify the experience on the PS4 and PS5 versions, as some elements are no longer playable. After more than four years of passion and hard work, LKA needs additional time to make these unplanned changes.

LKA developers must therefore rework their game to meet PlayStation’s requirements and must postpone the release of the physical version of the game. And the decision taken by Sony is debated: why ask for a censored version when the Martha is Dead teams have warned over and over again that the game was not suitable for everyone? An initiative that questions all the more that the game, also released on PC and Xbox consoles, has not been the subject of such a sanction. It is therefore Sony who is blamed for a censorship that a majority of players do not understand. Other solutions could have been made, such as the possibility of censoring disturbing scenes: this is already the case on the PC version (for a single scene, but the option is understood). A decision all the more incomprehensible as the manufacturer has still not justified its decision.

Martha is Dead is not a trial run

If Martha is Dead slices, literally and figuratively, it’s not a first attempt for the developers of LKA. Six years ago almost to the day, they released the video game The Town of Light. Still set in Tuscany, the title picks up the story of the Volterra asylum. An asylum dedicated to the reception of the sick but which was closed in the 1970s for its judged practices “too cruel“: patients who were abused, placed in a coma or in ice tanks… This is where The Town of Light is based. The player embodies Renée, a 16-year-old young woman in 1938 who is about to unearth her past by returning to the institute and who will witness despicable events.

Already at the time, Luca Dalco put forward “the psychological adventure“proposed by his work more than the horrific side. An ideology that he kept after watching many horror films”very far from Hollywood standards“. According to him, a promising new subgenre with regard to horror films is being created, and he hopes that this will also happen in video games. In any case, one thing is certain: the games developed by LKA are far from current video game standards.

Martha is Dead is available from February 24 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series. The previous title from LKA developers, The Town of Light, was released on February 26, 2016 on PC. It then appeared on PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.

Pre-order Martha is Dead from $24 at E.Leclerc