This review contains spoilers
One particularly interesting tidbit is that Madison earned the top spot as 'most scientifically scary game of all time' from Broadband Choices in their 2022 Science of Scare Project - the same people who crowned Sinister the top movie spot a couple of years ago.
Madison really does feel like the Sinister of video games: a bog standard horror with very big jump scares; in terms of the science, it's simply those big sharp noises and flash frames of grotesquery, all in very frequent doses. That's enough to liven up any heart rate monitor. I struggle to accept the idea of this being 'good horror' because I could probably replicate the exact sensation in a room full of set toasters, all going off at different times.
In all fairness, I mostly enjoyed Madison for its bleak atmosphere, stressful puzzles and a fairly intriguing story - and what an ending! I'd say as far as P.T imitators go, this one does a better job at capturing that dreaded true-crime nastiness than the more inconsistent Visage.
Like Visage though, Madison seems to struggle getting mileage out of the house itself, resorting to dreamy setpieces elsewhere. I found the elevator tour of the killer's victims to be perfectly chilling in the vein of a classic Silent Hill game; but the church segment is silly, drawn out and kind-of kills the flow of the rest of the game.
Another dumb element, sadly, is the game's antagonist of the second half, Blue Knees. He sucks. He's a pathetic and annoying little gremlin with no eyes and he wasn't scary. It's no wonder no one liked him. And why are there so many baddies? Between Madison, Blue Knees and some crazy ghost Nazi from the church bit (I know), surely it's just putting a hat on a hat?
It's also a shame about the central voice acting performance, which evoked more 'fruity Pinocchio' than terrorised teenage son.
Annoying flaws aside, I enjoyed most of the game when playing it. For fans of those spooky corridor simulators, Madison is a solid experience with decent puzzles and plenty of jump scares. I certainly don't find it to be the scariest horror game of all time, but then again my idea of horror is being asked if the only me is me.
Madison really does feel like the Sinister of video games: a bog standard horror with very big jump scares; in terms of the science, it's simply those big sharp noises and flash frames of grotesquery, all in very frequent doses. That's enough to liven up any heart rate monitor. I struggle to accept the idea of this being 'good horror' because I could probably replicate the exact sensation in a room full of set toasters, all going off at different times.
In all fairness, I mostly enjoyed Madison for its bleak atmosphere, stressful puzzles and a fairly intriguing story - and what an ending! I'd say as far as P.T imitators go, this one does a better job at capturing that dreaded true-crime nastiness than the more inconsistent Visage.
Like Visage though, Madison seems to struggle getting mileage out of the house itself, resorting to dreamy setpieces elsewhere. I found the elevator tour of the killer's victims to be perfectly chilling in the vein of a classic Silent Hill game; but the church segment is silly, drawn out and kind-of kills the flow of the rest of the game.
Another dumb element, sadly, is the game's antagonist of the second half, Blue Knees. He sucks. He's a pathetic and annoying little gremlin with no eyes and he wasn't scary. It's no wonder no one liked him. And why are there so many baddies? Between Madison, Blue Knees and some crazy ghost Nazi from the church bit (I know), surely it's just putting a hat on a hat?
It's also a shame about the central voice acting performance, which evoked more 'fruity Pinocchio' than terrorised teenage son.
Annoying flaws aside, I enjoyed most of the game when playing it. For fans of those spooky corridor simulators, Madison is a solid experience with decent puzzles and plenty of jump scares. I certainly don't find it to be the scariest horror game of all time, but then again my idea of horror is being asked if the only me is me.