Moons of Madness throws the player into a unique, first person, psychological horror game, combining Lovecraft influence with hard sci-fi.
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This game was slightly interesting, but also feels like it misses the mark. As the title is moons of Madness, I wasn't sure what to expect, but it starts off with a dream sequence, and then has you doing some work on Mars. Then spooky stuff happens, and it's another dream sequence. The game makes you feel like the character is going crazy and possibly seeing things that are not there. As when you wake from the dreams, you are in places you don't expect. I was hoping that your dreams were dreams, but your actions were real, but eventually the dreams aren't dreams any longer and everything is getting fucked up. Then there's a plotline of mass conspiracy, bigger than you could imagine, but as soon as the plotline is introduced, it moves to an occult element and then the game is done. I honestly didn't dislike any of those things, but it moves through them so fast that I just felt disappointed. I feel like I would have preferred any one of these plots fully explored instead of all three. This was all in the span of a five hour long game.
This review contains spoilers
With Moons of Madness the first game for 2023 through and am somewhat disappointed. Thrown away potential, starts really good and then falls sharply. I expected a horror walking simulator, but apart from a few cheap jumpscares, there was hardly any atmosphere and the few action sequences were just annoying and frustrating, because you couldn't immediately see what to do in the rush. The dialogues were flat and completely emotionless. The protagonist sounded like he was changing a light bulb while fighting for the survival of himself and the crew members.
It's all over the place with its story and gameplay, but when it focuses to its strengths with atmosphere and exploration/puzzles and doesn't try to be Amnesia with chase sequences there is something to enjoy here.
Some good jump scares and atmosphere killed by pacing and story issues.
Bought this on a whim as I love sci-fi horror (Dead Space, Aliens, Event Horizon, Soma etc.) and the start of the game is pretty promising moving around a creepy space station on Mars, as the game progresses however that tantalizing promise slowly falls apart.
The issue seems to be this game doesn't know quite what it wants to be. The story beats seem inconsistent with several arcs of mega corporations, cosmic horror, and sci-fi survival all mixed together but without the narrative thread or gameplay actions to tie them all together. It feels too much like several different game ideas put in one place and the result is that the pacing of the game feels unbalanced. One second a creepy oppressive atmosphere of a cloying nightmare, the next drearily playing mini games to fix solar panels. While I am all for down time to give the player time to compartmentalize and react, this just doesn't work here and I found the ending with it very unsatisfying.
That's not to say it's all bad, there are some genuinely disturbing moments that made me jump. The visuals are quite good for a title on a budget and I loved the more down to earth sci-fi designs of the base and equipment its just a shame it couldn't pull all the threads together it was trying to weave.
+ Nice sci-fi base and equipment designs.
+ Atmospheric at times.
+ Some good jump scares.
- The game is inconsistent it what it wants to be.
- The story can't pull all the pieces together in a satisfying way.
- Pacing is all over the place.
Bought this on a whim as I love sci-fi horror (Dead Space, Aliens, Event Horizon, Soma etc.) and the start of the game is pretty promising moving around a creepy space station on Mars, as the game progresses however that tantalizing promise slowly falls apart.
The issue seems to be this game doesn't know quite what it wants to be. The story beats seem inconsistent with several arcs of mega corporations, cosmic horror, and sci-fi survival all mixed together but without the narrative thread or gameplay actions to tie them all together. It feels too much like several different game ideas put in one place and the result is that the pacing of the game feels unbalanced. One second a creepy oppressive atmosphere of a cloying nightmare, the next drearily playing mini games to fix solar panels. While I am all for down time to give the player time to compartmentalize and react, this just doesn't work here and I found the ending with it very unsatisfying.
That's not to say it's all bad, there are some genuinely disturbing moments that made me jump. The visuals are quite good for a title on a budget and I loved the more down to earth sci-fi designs of the base and equipment its just a shame it couldn't pull all the threads together it was trying to weave.
+ Nice sci-fi base and equipment designs.
+ Atmospheric at times.
+ Some good jump scares.
- The game is inconsistent it what it wants to be.
- The story can't pull all the pieces together in a satisfying way.
- Pacing is all over the place.
Interesting setting let down by boring storytelling, bland gameplay and lacking atmosphere. CoC2018 and DCotE > Sinking City > Darkness Within 2 > MoM > Conarium.
This game is not groundbreaking in any way, we’ve already seen all its story and gameplay elements somewhere else, and it’s not even long. And yet – I think it’s still fun.
It’s a mixture of puzzle-solving and walking simulator with some occasional jump scares, that sometimes even manages to surprise us with the sudden changes of scenery. During the 7 hours I spent with it I never felt bored, and that, I believe, is already an achievement in itself. The technical components are also well done, but again, nothing innovative here, either. Graphics and sound are both good, controls were OK (a minimap would have been nice, though), and I personally liked the voice acting, too.
If you like horror games, especially Lovecraftian ones, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed, just don’t expect too much.
It’s a mixture of puzzle-solving and walking simulator with some occasional jump scares, that sometimes even manages to surprise us with the sudden changes of scenery. During the 7 hours I spent with it I never felt bored, and that, I believe, is already an achievement in itself. The technical components are also well done, but again, nothing innovative here, either. Graphics and sound are both good, controls were OK (a minimap would have been nice, though), and I personally liked the voice acting, too.
If you like horror games, especially Lovecraftian ones, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed, just don’t expect too much.