izigame.me

MADiSON is an excellent psychological horror title with clear inspiration from games such as Visage. It was made by two people over the span of its five-year production time and although it is not perfect, it stands out amongst the sea of forgetful Indie horrors here on Steam. I highly recommend this to horror fans, especially those who are OK with puzzles, but the hefty $AU50 price tag for a 5–8-hour game is something to consider prior to purchasing.

Pros
HEAVY puzzle focus
Extremely unnerving sound design
Excellent narrative, bridging many plot paths together
Using the camera as a tool in both survival and puzzles
Genuinely scary with little reliance on jump scares (except in one area)
Old-school feel with inventory management, note taking and intricate puzzles
Cons
Head bob is unable to be turned off
Jumpscares are overly excessive during the clock puzzle area
Price is steep for a shorter game, as well as camera skin DLC for AU$3 seems unnecessary
Sound effects seem to play on a loop during extended puzzle scenes

Story
MADiSON portrays its story masterfully. Right from the beginning, the main character, Luca, is clouded in mystery. This mystery deepens as the game continues, but the player is given enough breadcrumbs along the way to slowly piece bits and pieces together, until the final revelation.

In short, Luca is being tormented by a demon named MADiSON. He is being used as a tool to complete a ritual, but with sinister ingredients. It is set in Luca's grandfather's house, which although was once very familiar to him, begins to seem like a hellish maze with no escape.


Gameplay
MADiSON is a first-person psychological horror game with some survival horror elements. Players must explore the house, uncover more about the demon and its motives, all whilst completing puzzles. To anyone who does not like puzzles, this game is more than likely... not for you. There is a simple inventory management system where a red safe is used to store excess objects, as Luca can only hold eight items at one time.


The most important feature in the game is the camera. This plays a heavy role in puzzles and must be used to find otherwise invisible clues. Photos are developed manually by holding down M1 until the image is revealed and later on, it will be a means for survival. MADiSON gives great positive audio feedback to players when a correct action is undertaken, such as taking a photo of a correct item, helping to maintain the flow of the game and point players in the right direction without any need for exorbitant handholding.


Objects can move when players are not looking directly at them, but often these scares cannot harm the protagonist. This creates a false sense of security that Luca is safe, which is not always the case. However, during the clock puzzle, the excessive jump scares seen only in this section completely invalidate this tension building as they serve no purpose other than shock factor and are too frequent to actually be scary.


Puzzles
Puzzles here are plentiful, but they are meaningful and satisfying to complete. For me, they took quite a lot of thought, trial and error, manual note taking and, well, confusion. Yet, I would not want them altered to make them simpler. It is clear that this approach will not appeal to the masses, and anyone looking for a quick scare will soon be turned away at the head-scratching riddles mingled into the game. The puzzles are not necessarily complex, but they take time, and can have many components. Most are not fetch quests and there is no handholding telling players what the "rules" of the puzzle are, or even where or what it is. Sometimes, a point is reached where no further exploration can be done, so players must go back to their inventory and work out what to do now. Go back to past areas and try combinations or look at notes. Without revealing any spoilers, an example of a puzzle involves adding and subtracting numbers, but what the desired number is, where these numbers come from, is all semi unclear.

I found it easier to jot down notes, combinations and reminders for the puzzles on paper (yes, pen & paper). I appreciate this old-school style but can clearly see how this is not going to win in a popularity contest amongst most modern gamers.


Visuals & Sound
Admittingly, when I saw the cover image for this title, I thought it was another non-scary asset flip horror, but this is not the case. The setting is relatively small, with a maze of rooms that players must keep returning to, but it never feels dull or boring. Conversely, it is richly detailed with various interactive points to explore, making the environment feel alive. There are some decent scares with the demon cheekily placing its hand over a door frame and peaking over. The demon model itself is nothing spectacular, but it is only seen in fleeting moments and still created a chill down my spine when it decided to pop up.


MADiSON brilliantly captures the foreboding atmosphere required in a suspense driven horror game. It does this through its excellent audio, filled with unnerving creaks, doors closing and sharp clashes during the jumpscare moments, which are generally not excessive (except in the clock puzzle section). Voice acting is not its strong point but thankfully it is a minor component as the story is mostly told through its excellent interactivity and relies on player perception. However, after a few hours, the sound effects began to play on a bit of a loop. At first, I loved the ambience they created, and I was always paranoid, looking over my back, but this became a tad superfluous. This is possibly because I may have taken too long on some puzzles, becoming too accustomed to the sounds playing in the background as I loop confusedly around the house, however I still think these should be minimised slightly. Silence would not be a negative for a game in this genre.
As a side note, that Blue Knees song will haunt me for some time.


Technical & Stats
This game was played using a keyboard & mouse and with the following PC specs.:
Intel i7-9400 2.9 GHz
16GB RAM
GeForce RTX 3060 12GB
2560x1440 resolution
HDD
Windows 11

Playtime: Heavily dependent on the time players take to complete puzzles and figure out what to do. I took around 6-7 hours, but I can see puzzle enthusiasts taking as little as 4.

Controller Recommended? No

Replayability value: Yes, but only for achievement hunters (there are also speed run achievements) & those wishing to locate all 25 collectables. There are randomly generated events but not enough difference to warrant an entire fresh playthrough for non-completionists.
The only DLC at the time of writing this is an $AU3 camera skin pack, which seems strange, given the price of the game is already quite hefty at $AU50 for a 4-8 hour experience. If these could be unlocked after finishing the game, this would be more acceptable.


Conclusion
MADiSON is a must play for horror lovers. Its story is told masterfully and is shrouded in mystery, the sound design is sure to provoke feelings of paranoia and the puzzles are well crafted. All are good ingredients for a memorable and scary psychological horror experience. Perhaps its biggest negative is its price tag of $AU50 for a short average game length of only 6 hours, but If you like Visage or Layers of Fear, this title should appeal to you