Horror games in the past 20 years have been pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable and what is not, delving deep into immersive experiences that horrify the player in a variety of different ways. From breaking the fourth wall to utilizing severe mood whiplash, games are delving more into the deep psychological issues that plague the darkest depths of humanity while placing them within a supernatural element. A wide variety of modern horror games are issued with trigger warnings of varying severity, with the controversial new indie horror game Martha Is Dead being absolutely no exception as it deals with extremely graphic violence and sexual themes.
Set in Italy against the backdrop of World War II, Martha Is Dead follows the story of Giulia, the daughter of a German soldier who discovers the desecrated body of her twin sister, Martha, drowned in the lake near her home. A first-person psychological thriller, the story of Martha Is Dead goes far beyond this already depressing premise and into some truly triggering material not for the faint of heart, all the while the player has to solve a variety of puzzles and interactive sequences.
A Traumatic Tale
The game begins with Giulia narrating the story to an unknown listener. She details her childhood during the war, where she was forced to live with her nanny for a number of years. Her favorite story growing up was that of the "White Lady," a lake-haunting spirit who kills approaching young women to ease the pain of her murder by her jealous husband. This scary bedtime story would only foreshadow the game's immediate hook, as Giulia returns home to find her twin sister Martha dead and wearing Giulia's white dress. The plot only thickens when Giulia's resentful mother mistakes her for the dead Martha, leading to a desperate Giulia masquerading as her own sister for the rest of her life.
Over the course of the game, Giulia goes through severe mental anguish over her sister's death and the guilt of stealing Martha's identity, exacerbated by her mother's favoritism for Martha and disparaging of Giulia after her supposed "death." Giulia has very strange and gory nightmares based on her psychological trauma as they begin to bleed into her everyday life, making it unclear to the player what is fact and what is fiction. Giulia resolves to find out who killed Martha as visions of the White Lady disappear and reappear before her.
How Gameplay Enhances Martha Is Dead's Narrative
Martha Is Dead is a first-person adventure game that focuses far more on puzzle-solving and exploration than any kind of significant hide-and-seek action typical of modern horror games. Players have Giulia interact with her environment as she looks for clues to Martha's death while also hiding her true identity from her mother and father, pretending to be Deaf like her late sister. There are a wide variety of puzzles to solve in Giulia's journey, varying from tarot cards to photography puzzles. Giulia utilizes a wide variety of camera equipment in her investigations, with players taking pictures and developing photos to progress the story.
Besides the exploration and picture-taking in the real world, Giulia is also placed in a variety of nightmare sequences that dull the player's perception between dreams and reality. Many of these nightmares feature the White Lady chasing Giulia down and completely defenseless. The nightmares often involve horrific scenes of gore that require player control to shock and disturb them to their absolute maximum. These playable sections involve imagery such as slowly cutting one's face off and references to miscarriage, all rendered in excruciating detail that will surely get players' adrenaline going -- if they can stomach the game at all.