Moons of Madness is a horror game that was released on the PC in October and has now been released for the console. We tested the Lovecraft oriented title for you.
Of course, the game is not the first and will not be the last game, which is the world of the author H.P. Lovecraft owns. The story is basically about Shane Newehart. He is an engineer and part of a secret research mission that is carried out on Mars. Strange occurrences soon occur that make him and his colleagues experience a real nightmare. Because you are not alone.
The story is sometimes very confused and confused. Which is of course nothing new in Lovecraft horror and can also be exciting. The only pity is that everything is very linear. You can have a look around the different locations, but it is very limited so that players can not stray too much from the main path.
Great graphics, great sound
The graphics of Moons of Madness is fantastic, both the futuristic Mars station and the monsters we encounter. The game is played from the first person perspective and the data on character and missions can be found either in a space suit or on a small device that is carried on the wrist.
The soundscape is also really successful. Although I have to say that I had to take off my headphones during the first external mission. Because it sounded like an airplane flying over the house at a height of only a few kilometers. That made me a little nervous.
The speakers are authentic and well chosen. It is dubbed in English and has German subtitles. I have to say that the subtitles were really too small for me, despite the 55 inch television. So if you sit a little further away with the couch, you will sometimes have problems here.
Small marques of simple dimensions
Something disturbed me that sometimes wrong terms were used in the game, which has no meaning with the action that the character performs. So the game showed “Look around”When I opened a door with a crowbar. It makes little sense and such small translation errors can be found in some places. The game has been on the market for almost 6 months and this has certainly been pointed out before. Then integrating them into the console version again, I found something weak. Of course, it doesn’t affect gameplay, but it can cause confusion.
Puzzles stimulate the gray matter
Of course there is Moons of Madness not just of pure exploring, as well as fighting or escape sequences. Puzzle skills are also tested, but to a healthy extent. So the action is not held up too long and the developers bring in some variety from time to time.
The moments when we are outside the stations with Shane are also interesting. There is an oxygen storage in the space suit, which is used up faster or slower depending on the style of play. You should then remember exactly where the charging stations are. Otherwise Shane suffocates. The endurance to run is also limited. The endurance indicator is shown in the heart rate. If you run longer, the heart rate increases and the oxygen is used up faster.
Conclusion
In itself, Moons of Madness is a soldies lovecraft horror game, but in no way is it particularly outstanding. It has a good balance between story, exploring, puzzle and fight. I would not recommend it right now, since I personally would not count it among the must-plays of the horror genre, but unless you have other games on hand, it is certainly worth a try.
