Moons of Madness
A mysterious signal has been recorded coming from the red planet. The message confounded Orochi scientists. Their analysts broke it down and determined it was of intelligent origin. Orochi management immediately concluded that the discovery was too sensitive for public knowledge and moved to keep it hidden. In secret, the corporation began construction of Trailblazer Alpha, a state-of-the-art Mars research outpost designed to identify the true nature of the message. You are Shane Newehart, an engineer stationed at Trailblazer Alpha and your security clearance means you are completely unaware of the existence of the mysterious signal. Your job is simply to keep the lights on until the transport ship Cyrano arrives bringing with it a new team to take over your duties. Soon you discover strange and unusual setbacks. Crucial systems are malfunctioning, the greenhouse is filled with a strange mist and the rest of your team has yet to return from their EVA mission. Things are starting to fall apart. You begin seeing and hearing things that aren’t there. Visions, hallucinations – or is that even what it is? Is this real… or are you slowly descending into madness?
Game Discussion
Steam User 10
A decent but short Lovecraftian-inspired cosmic horror story with solid voice acting and a pretty intriguing premise.
Definitely not a scary game at all, as they seem to focus more on creating a tense atmosphere rather than jump-scares or monster chases, which actually fit the narrative alot better imo.
Would recommend if you're into Sci-fi mixed with Lovecraft, though definitely only a one-time-playthrough kinda game.
Steam User 6
I truly enjoyed playing through this. The environment and game play is so fun and the feel of being on Mars hits differently. Give it a go for sure
Steam User 9
Disclaimer: If you are under the age of 30, then this game probably isn't for you. If you have never heard of H.P. Lovecraft or have never read his work, then this game isn't for you. If you are incapable of reading and analyzing story on your own and need someone to explain everything to you in great detail, then this game isn't for you.
If you don't meet any of these criteria, then this game IS for you, and I recommend it.
Pros:
*Decent graphics, even with it being an older game. (The surface of mars and the later temple sequences are particularly good.)
*A very stylish modern UI.
*Easy to understand and play, with a few irritating exceptions I'll discuss below. This simplicity lets you focus on the story.
*A delightful usage of Lovecraftian lore and elements that creates a simultaneous sense of dread and wonder, all fit into an increasingly surreal space age setting.
*There is no mention of ANYTHING other than the actual story. The creators did NOT force the denizens of this advanced time period (2045+) to still clutch the dull misshapen pearls of 2020's politics in an effort to appease Reddit. They focused on the important part: cosmic horror. This is the way.
Cons:
*A "quicktime" boss battle that appears based on RNG, not user input - the first (and really only) boss fight you have to complete is based on your focusing the camera on a certain spot on the screen until it turns green, allowing you to attack. The problem is that it doesn't always turn green. Most of the time it turns red and kills you anyway, regardless of how well you did focusing, forcing you to restart the encounter over and over again. It took me around 13 or 14 tries to complete. I was not happy.
*There are a few jump scares here and there. They are not the "only thing in the game" that's scary, as some reviewers have claimed. They don't necessarily detract from the atmosphere, but they don't add much too it, either. I could do without.
*The chemistry puzzle's animations and lack of instructions make it take WAY longer than it should.
*There is a glitch in the main character's dream/hallucination sequence that may require a game restart. (If you find yourself in your family therapist's office for the second time, and cannot get the door to open no matter what you do, then restart. Part of the dialogue does not always load, and if it doesn't, then you can't proceed.)
Steam User 3
"Moons Of Madness" is a horror game developed by Rock Pocket Games and published by Funcom, set in the same universe as Funcoms MMO "The Secret World" and it's 2015 Spin-Off "The Park". In the game, we take control of Shane Newehart, a technician stationed on a secret Mars base called Trailblazer Alpha. The whole project is financed by the mysterious Orochi Corporation. As we are waiting for our replacement crew, inexplicable technical issues occur and we start to experience increasingly disturbing hallucinations, so we set out to uncover the secrets of the red planet and the real reasons for the mission...
"Moons Of Madness" is a very linear, story-driven game that blends lovecraftian cosmic horror with elements of Science Fiction. It's mostly a walking sim with horror elements, where you explore your surroundings, solve puzzles and discover the back story by reading E-Mails and logs on various computers. While the story is quite enjoyable and probably the main reason that kept me interested, I can't deny the fact that it was a bit too much of reading. Especially during sequences where the game tries to create tension and urgency, it kinda killed the pacing and the atmosphere sitting down at a computer and reading four to five logs, going into the next room and finding another two computers with log data... Although the writing isn't bad and I read everything I could find, I noticed myself skipping through the texts in later stages of the game simply because I wanted to continue playing. On top of that, I felt like the many topics of the story haven't been fully explored. The game throws in a lot of different ideas and storylines, but they often felt underdeveloped and never get any real closure.
On the other hand, I really enjoyed the way the puzzles were integrated. They seemed daunting at first because they were presented in a very technical way, most of them became clear after fiddling around for a bit and the game always gives you enough help if you carefully explore the surrounding area.
What's also really well done is the atmosphere on Mars. Little details like managing the oxygen supply of your space suit while being outside or correctly using air locks before leaving and entering a building made me feel like a real astronaut stranded on Mars.
All in all, "Moons Of Madness" is more like a 5/10 game for me. I'll recommend it because I had fun exploring the story and there aren't that many great games that deal with cosmic horror, but it's definitely not a masterpiece. While the atmosphere is great, a lot of it's plot points are left underdeveloped and it felt like a lot of planned content was cut or not finished. Which is a shame, because I would have loved to dive deeper into this story and the mysteries behind it.
Steam User 6
This was better than I expected. I picked this one up on sale, and at around 6 hours, it's short enough to keep you interested but long enough that I wasn't disappointed. I'm a big fan of Lovecraft and space-horror, so this was the best of both worlds. You may end up confused if you don't read the various terminal entries, but otherwise the story is a nice mix of space horror and cosmic horror. Well done!
Steam User 3
love this game! im a sucker for horror games where you cant fight back and this deffinitly hit the mark for me! love the narrative, and the lovecraftian elements this game has!
Steam User 3
Solid entry in the Cosmic Horror genre. Your character is voiced, and talks to a couple other people through out the game, as well as talking to himself to kind of guide you along. There are some good scares and tense moments. There are 2 endings, and i liked both of them.
If you are into cosmic horror or Lovecraft, give this game a shot. It isn't a long game, so i would recomend getting it on sale.