Town of Light developer LKA is following up its distressing psychological thriller with another game seeped in history and trauma. Announced today, Martha is Dead explores the aftermath of one twin's murder beneath the backdrop of World War 2 and superstition.
Set in '40s Tuscany, players will tug at threads and try to unravel their twin's grisly murder. Like its predecessor, it's a first-person affair that's grounded in real history and locations, but with folklore and trauma influencing reality. LKA isn't giving much away yet, but more details will appear as it gets closer to release, expected in 2020.
As for Town of Light, it's a tough game to recommend, as grim and uneven as it is, but it's also so much more than its abandoned asylum setting suggests.
"The Town of Light is an experience you endure rather than engage with," Edwin Evans-Thirlwell wrote in his Town of Light review. "It is never fun, never challenging and evidently the work of an inexperienced and under-resourced team. But it also tackles the subject matter with a cold, fractured sophistication that exposes much, too-smooth, too-cohesive 'psychological horror' as trivial. I had a dreadful time playing it. I want you to play it anyway."
Instead of jump scares, you get introspection and emotional trials, which is admittedly a lot less fun to play. But you can get your jump scares and pant-wetting horror anywhere. It sounds like Martha is Dead is going down the same path, but hopefully this time it will be a bit more refined.
