Game News MADiSON: Inspired by Kojima’s PT and Project Zero, should you watch this horror game?
In July, MADiSON will be released, a psychological horror title highly inspired by PT, Layers of Fear and Project Zero. What are the first hours worth?
Developed by Bloodious Games (formerly Nosebleed Games), MADiSON locks us up in the narrow corridors of a not exactly welcoming house where a demonic entity seems determined to put us through hell. We got access to the early hours of the first-person psychological horror game slated for release on July 8th. Here is our verdict.
Of the most classic demon
MADiSON begins in the skin of the young Luca of whom we see only the bloody hands and the blackened fingernails. The one who seems to wake up from a long malaise in a dilapidated room hears his father banging on a partitioned door, accusing him of atrocities perpetrated against his own family. Here is the only context given to the player who must therefore rush into a winding house in search of an exit and with a hero who is probably amnesiac. But Luca is not alone here, he endures the mental torture of Madison, a demon who forces him to continue a bloody ritual started decades earlier. A classic scenario that can be fun if done well.
To progress within a tumultuous course, our protagonist has a Polaroid camera. This does not help to exorcise ghosts like the camera obscura of Project Zero would have done, but rather it allows you to unblock situations or open portals to another dimension. You will probably soon have drawn it in each corridor without immediately understanding its usefulness. You will finally realize that it will be a question of activating it when it appears that no rational solution can solve the puzzle in front of you. Its most seductive aspect remains the apprehension it arouses with each flash likely to reveal a demon in the dark. The tool is stored in a particularly archaic inventory of which you will quickly accuse the lack of ergonomics. Especially since the latter has capacity limits, forcing you to multiply the round trips to a safe to get rid of secondary objects. A regrettable aspect for an experience which consists mainly of solving a slew of puzzles through elements picked up here and there. If not original, the puzzles are correct and sufficiently interesting despite the classic moments of hesitation when looking for objects essential to the progression of a fairly commanding game.
Three titles in one
Layers of Fear, Project Zero, PT: Combine these three experiences perfectly and you will get MADiSON. The inspirations are evident in every aspect of the game. While he is repeatedly abused into welcome new territory, Luca progresses mostly in tight, moving rooms. The title relies on variations of decorations that are often effective in scaring people and on a handful of jumpscares that are sometimes too expected. The horror mechanics are generally classic, enough to keep you on your toes: obviously the camera flashes will reveal some monstrosities and obviously the generator that will restore power to the house is in the basement. -grandpa’s floor, scene of a former family massacre. Cracking of wood and ringing of telephones are in order, infallible in the beginnings then simply ordinary. Luca’s dubbing is very good. Finally, the image is of high quality and takes advantage of rather attractive environments, the story of Luca’s family lining the walls with a slew of disturbing frames. The atmosphere of the place is therefore a success.
Our impressions
Very classic in content as in form, MADiSON is not necessarily unpleasant to browse. The title proposed by Bloodious Games has beautiful environments, pleasant sound work and interesting enough puzzles to keep our interest. But he also risks locking himself too much in his inspirations and in conventional mechanics. To find out more, see you on July 8 on PC and consoles.
Editorial review
Have
