Analysis of Martha is Dead – Beneath the Tuscan Lake

LKA’s controversial title is finally coming to Xbox consoles. Will it be as much as they say?

a good story ghosts it usually always pops up through a story that has been passed down from generation to generation, since each new narrator of it adds little things here and there to make it a story we truly fear. A good ghost story is one that makes the hair on the back of our necks stand on end and we start hearing strange noises everywhere or looking around, feeling a presence behind us watching us. Martha is Dead is a good ghost storyBut it is much more than that.

Martha is dead was developed by the LKA Italian study and published by Wired Productions. This small studio, which has about 10 to 15 developers only, have been responsible for great games like Deliver Us the Moon (which I reviewed a few years ago) and The Town of Light. LKA generally offers immersive storytelling adventures full of a great narrative and a very careful atmosphere. This game fits perfectly into the same mold, but offers a much bigger experience. Now, as you have read before, some footage in this game contains a high degree of impact, things you may never have done or wanted to do in a game. Because of this, Playstation has censored its versions of the game, while on Xbox and PC you can play the original uncensored version. I’m not going to wonder if the game is too strong or not, since each person is a world and each person’s tolerance to certain things is totally different. However, I think these scenes are not inserted just to cause controversy, since they are at the service of the story and are completely at ease with what is not said. Of course it’s a game not recommended for minors 18 years old. It will be up to you to give it a chance or not.

Martha is dead it’s a dark narrative adventurea first-person psychological thriller (and not an Outlast or Face style horror game, as many believed). Set in 1944, during the closing stages of World War II in Italy, you play as Giulia, the twin daughter of a German father and an Italian mother who lives in the beautiful lands of Tuscany. Your twin sister, Martha is murdered, found drowned in the lake near the house. Our objective will be to find out what happened, taking into account the consequences of his death in the family.

At the same time, the game introduces us to the history of the “White Lady”, the ghost of a woman that she was murdered by her lover in the lake and that she appears to take other young women to their watery grave. At the same time, the game features many different narrative threads against the backdrop of Second World War always present, something that creates an impressive atmosphere. For example, we see the Italian Resistance Army in action (the Partisans), with German troops on the other side chasing people in the woods. There are also stories of teenage pregnancies and unrequited love, but at the same time the storytelling is intertwined with fantasy and folklore, something that strongly reminds me of that great Spanish film called “Pan’s Labyrinth”. Tarot cards and their background, murders and even death itself also make an appearance. The use of Italian language with Spanish subtitles by default in Martha is Dead it is very important to give more substance to the atmosphere and to the narrative. It is a brilliant work, capable of creating social drama mixed with suspense and terror in a fantastic way.

Gameplay takes place in first person, allowing you to discover the house in which you live, a kind of typical Tuscan villa, its park and the lake. You can move around normally and pick up items, documents, and interact with doors or phones. Corn one of the most interesting things you can do is take pictures. Giulia is a photographer, so on some occasions we will have to take photos in certain areas to advance the story, although we can also take them for our own pleasure. Getting the perfect shot is like a little mini-game, which plays with composition and focus. These photos are revealed in a dark room, which in itself is like another little mini-game. It’s an interesting mechanic that gives us some memorable moments for the plot.

There are other sections in Martha is dead where, for example, we can send messages in morse code (how the Spanish translation fails miserably), play with puppets or unlock crypts on the sly. But we also have those “strong” moments in which we ourselves will be the protagonists and not mere spectators of what is happening on the screen. However, I think that’s what makes the game effective in what it tries to tell us, since it also wants us to be part of it. Also note that, as in this type of game, its duration varies from 5 to 7 hours maximumbecause it is a perfect game to combine with another game more dense in hours.

As for graphic part, Martha is dead looks spectacular in many moments. It’s brilliant for being historically accurate when it comes to home interiors, phone, dark rooms, landscapes, and cameras. The lighting is also very good and brilliantly used, giving the game a haunting feel throughout. At Xbox series X the game has two game modes: one for 4K/30FPS and 1080p/60FPSwhile Xbox Series S 1080p/30 FPS featurebut maintaining the same level of quality as in Series X. Comment that Martha is Dead uses super resolution technique, which makes the 1080p versions much better than they could be. We played it on Xbox Series S (screenshots that accompany the review are from that version) and it looks luxurious. The framerate I know suffers from small drops in some scenarios, but that doesn’t make the game a negative experience either.

Soundtrack is a wonderful blend of original background musicas well as music of the time, from jazz pieces to Italian opera. Highlight the moments of greatest tension, in which the music helps to create situations that will glue us to the chair. Keep in mind that the dubbing of Martha is Dead is in Italianbut it is beautifully performed by its voice actors, fully immersing us in this corner of 1940 Italy. Tap on the wrist, however, at the Spanish translation, that despite the fact that it is generally maintained at a good level, but when we come to a puzzle in which we have to send a message with a telegraph, what the protagonist says and what is written in Spanish is totally different. It makes that we should even change the subtitles to Italian in order to understand what we are doing wrong. Hope they fix it in future patches.

Marta is Dead is a brilliant psychologist with good production levels and a story that will keep you glued to the screen for more. Media headlines and gamers will focus on the sections that were censored by Playstation and Sony, but that would be a shame, because there’s so much more to this game than those moments.