Moons of Madness is a little gem of a horror title. I view Funcom as the sort of "Dean Koontz" to Remedy's "Stephen King." Where Remedy is putting out a bit of a more well known, more celebrated, and overall stronger piece of meta horror franchise entertainment with games like Alan Wake and Control, Funcom has been doing its own little thing with their own mythos that doesn't get near as much attention despite being pretty cool in its own right. Moons essentially builds upon, and perhaps even brings a bit of closure to, narratives Funcom started back with The Secret World and continued with The Park. However you don't need to have played either to understand this game, in fact I give the narrative bonus points for building upon Funcom's mythology while remaining totally standalone. As an aside, it's also the closest thing we've got to a Mountains of Madness adaptation until someone finally forks over the cash to Guillermo Del Toro.

Gameplay wise I'd say Moons provides three core experiences, exploration, puzzle solving and chase sequences, with moments of pure spectacle scattered throughout. Said spectacle isn't quite on the level you'd expect to find in horror and horror adjacent games like Resident Evil and The Last of Us, but it works for the story Moons of Madness wants to tell. Additionally, the puzzles are not be the most challenging, the chase sequences short, but I felt that all actually served the game rather than hinder it. There's nothing I dislike more in a horror game than a chase sequence that goes on a little too long or needing to collect a billion different items to solve a single puzzle door. It all feels "just right," (save for the ending which does feel a bit rushed.)

As for the scares, the game is a lot more about building up tension (which it does incredibly well.) Though there are a few jumpscares scattered about, they're few and far in between, something I appreciated as I often find horror over reliant on jumpscares to be a bit tacky. Ultimately this game is all about mood, and while that might be a put off to a player searching for something a bit scarier, a bit gorier or a bit more shocking, I feel it captures that overall atmosphere you'd find in stories within the Lovecraft mythos quite well.

Most players will clock in at about 3 - 4 hours, I took longer because I often found myself gawking in awe of how Mars was realized in this game, scanning everything I could, and reading every terminal entry and diary page I came across. Once more, I think this all added to the overall narrative experience, there's some info you can get from log entries that enrich the story in ways you won't get if you ignore them (Lukas, what the f--k.)

The protagonist, Shane, isn't an action hero like you'd expect to find in modern space horror, and, though he has a solid education and expertise in his field, he is not quite an accomplished academic like the heroes HP Lovecraft often wrote about. Instead, he is a regular Mr. Fix-It and the main reason the facilities belonging to the Martian expedition haven't imploded yet. His frustration is palpable as you run from one impending disaster to another, and as the weirdness starts to kick in his frustration, fear and confusion are palpable. Beyond the very clear Lovecraft influences, the game also felt to me like it pulled from theatrical narratives such as "Alien," "The Martian," "The Thing," and 2009's "Moon."

Ultimately this game is mostly about intense vibes and a wild journey. I went from being slightly bored, to being engrossed in a steady stream of intriguing revelations that had me often shouting "what in the actual f---." If you need something a bit more pulse pounding, there's a lot of great alternatives I'd also enthusiastically endorse such as Alien Isolation, Dead Space and Signalis. However if you're in for something atmospheric, narrative driven and occasionally downright weird, I would recommend Moons of Madness.

Moooooreeeeee!!!

Just like a good book, it starts out mundane - as far as being the maintenance technician of a Mars base can be so - and then slowly begins to pull back the curtains. While it wouldn't be entirely wrong to tag this as a walking simulator with basic puzzles, it still tells a fascinating story. The combination of hard sci-fi and metaphysical elements is an interesting mix, too.

A solid recommendation for anyone who plays games for the story.