Whilst there are moments of frustration, there was enough intrigue to help power me through. The story does lead into some satisfying avenues and, one character aside, the acting is spot on in tone and execution. It’s a very polished product that’s well-written and presented. Whilst I am a little sick of Lovecraft, Moons of Madness does help ground its cosmic horror with some believable characters. It helps weave together a story that does build to a satisfying conclusion. Other than that, dialogue is written smartly and delivered nicely. With the rest of the cast so grounded in reality, her performance sticks out like a lump. I know there’s a theme of knowledge corrupting the mind and creating madness but, there comes a point where it accelerates into full-blown theatrics. I do feel one character hams it up a little too much. The latter third is heavy on these character-building moments. They work effectively as a storytelling device and as a way to catch the player’s attention. It allows for some flashbacks to take place and the toying around with perspective does help add some flair to some otherwise ordinary and realistic settings. I’ve not seen any technical hitches and the environments maintain a high quality throughout. Voice acting from the small cast is well done and you can tell that, from a storytelling perspective, they had all the right tools at their disposal.
Sound does well to maintain an eerie atmosphere and you’re always put under duress, even if actual threat is very rare. Visually, it’s all well presented with some quality lighting and flourish. One thing Moons of Madness does have is polish. There’s hazards to traverse which can kill you and, whilst checkpoints are frequent, there are points where they’re placed too far back for comfort.
Stealth and chase sequences feature and, whilst not very often, they come with their own points of failure. If nothing else, each new locale gives you something interesting to figure out or to see. New mechanics tend to be introduced for new areas, although they also tend be hastily discarded. Moons of Madness also allows you to ping the environment for waypoints so getting lost is not a concern.ĭespite interactivity being light, there are attempts made to vary gameplay. It also appears to be restocked when reaching checkpoints. Whilst it is there to give you a tiny sense of urgency, the supply seems plentiful. When out on Mars, you have oxygen levels to concern you. Even if you’re on the wrong track, Shane’s internal chatter will prod you in the right direction. These can take more thought but the information you need to solve them can be simple to suss out. Logic puzzles do arrive to test your reasoning. Again, it helps instil a sense of momentum but doesn’t flex your brain too much. Puzzles spice up the walking with most of them having solutions very close by. Your radio team act as constant help and supervision and they are written well as colleagues that have spent time together. In terms of gameplay, you explore the substation or the Mars surface in search of clues. There’s no opportunity for branching paths which do help funnel the player from beat to beat. Moons of Madness does have a very linear structure. It builds well, although the first act’s pacing felt somewhat laborious. There’s some obvious horror furrows but there’s some nice corporate sidetracks that make the final act a lot more interesting. Once it does, you’re given some decent sub-plots to sink your teeth into. You spend a lot of time exploring and reading terminals before the action real kicks off. The first act sort of plods before any real information is handed your way. Whilst I can’t knock it’s execution, I’m a bit sick of games retelling those kinds of tales.
There are some heavy, heavy Lovecraftian elements coming from Moons of Madness‘ narrative. It’s familiar and, at times it left me feeling cold. Whilst investigating the local flora and fauna, things inevitably go sideways into catastrophe. You’re a member of a group of scientists who set up on Mars. Rock Pocket’s effort does at least attempt to provide intrigue of its own beyond the usual genre trappings. Now, forgive me if I’m a little worn out by the relatively recent influx of cosmic horror. Lovecraft’s work is an obvious example of this and Moons of Madness looks to take heavy inspiration from the Victorian horror writer. There’s an unknown quality to space that media loves to plunder and explore.
Moons of madness review Ps4#
Main PS4 / Reviews tagged cosmic horror / lovecraft / mars / moons of madness / rock pocket games / space / story-driven / walking simulator by Mike
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