Moons of Madness

Moons of Madness is best when it asks the player to explore the Mars station, but it quickly becomes dull through uninspired puzzles. The story tries to blend Lovecraftian horror and science-fiction, but misses the mark due to the lack of horror, a tangled story, and tedious gameplay.

The visuals are far and away the most impressive part of this boring journey around Mars, as multiple camera angles and well-crafted Lovecraftian tentacle monsters give the game a cinematic aesthetic that draws to mind the first Alien film. There is something engaging here, but it’s marred by weak scares and, less forgivably, dull as dishwater gameplay.

Moons of Madness ditches the cold New England setting of Lovecraft’s eldritch tales for the dry, arid wastelands of Mars, and what results is a textbook example of how “cosmic” cosmic horror truly can be.