The first thing you’ll notice in Moons of Madness is the quality of the design, both artistically and in maintaining roots in believable near-future science.

I realize this was just an auto-responder sending out a form letter email, but it was still impressive to see Funcom’s commitment to player immersion beyond the actual game. In true role-playing fashion I composed a quick email about a possible password violation and sent it to the email address provided and within minutes I received a very convincing email from Invictus Security acknowledging my concern and to “maintain normal duties”. Even more impressive, later in the game I found an email about reporting security concerns to Invictus Security. Admittedly, the design started to fall apart if you went too deep, but it was still an admirable effort to create a site that only a small few would likely visit. Early in the game I found a URL in an email, so I went to that website in real-life and found a fairly convincing shell of a corporate website that played perfectly into the fiction of the game. I was particularly impressed with the commitment to world-building in Moons of Madness. You’ll need to explore the station and beyond, gathering clues and information as well as repairing various systems just to stay alive. Plagued with personal nightmares and a variety of system malfunctions, Shane will quickly discover not all is as it seems on the Red Planet.

You’ll be playing as Shane Newehart, an engineer and caretaker at Trailblazer Alpha where your main goal is to keep the place running until the next shuttle arrives with fresh personnel. Blending sci-fi themes with Lovecraft horror then seamlessly tying it all into Funcom’s Secret World franchise, prepare for several hours of classic first-person adventure, exploration, and puzzle-solving as you dive into this rich narrative experience exploring the dark mysteries of Mars and your own mind. Moons of Madness arrives at the perfect time, when the Halloween season sparks that inexplicable interest in spooky games and movies.

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