Madison (video game)

MADiSON
Cover art featuring a hand touching a camera
DeveloperBloodious Games
Publishers
  • Bloodious Games
  • Perpetual Games
DirectorAlexis Di Stefano
Designers
  • Asad Manzoor
  • Alberto Castillo
  • Shuel Duo
  • Sol Cousillas
Composer
  • Ramiro Touron
EngineUnity
Platforms
Release
July 8, 2022
  • Nintendo Switch
    • WW: August 26, 2022
GenrePsychological horror
ModeSingle-player

Madison (stylized as MADiSON) is a first-person horror video game developed and published by Argentine studio Bloodious Games. It was first released on July 8, 2022, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. Perpetual Games localized and published the game internationally on Nintendo Switch consoles on August 26, 2022. A VR version of MADiSON was ported to PSVR2 and PCVR platforms in January 2023. The players control Luca, a teenage boy who receives a cursed instant camera for his sixteenth birthday. The cast was designed and modeled by Asad Manzoor, Alberto Castillo, Shuel Duo, and Sol Cousillas.

Development of the game started in 2016, and was announced with a demo released on itch.io in 2017, which received universal acclaim. With Bloodious Games continuing the development of MADiSON into 2021. MADiSON was a commercial success and earned positive reviews for the handling of the quality of the puzzles and the balanced tension. It would win multiple awards, though critics divided on the lack of originality.

Gameplay

MADiSON is a first-person horror video game that primarily focuses on the use of the instant camera to connect the world of the living to the dead. Which can be achieved throughout the game by solving puzzles, discovering secrets that are unable to seen with the naked eye, and driving away demonic entities.[1] The game showcases a variety of creepy locales, including subterranean tunnels, dingy storerooms, gloomy churches, and of course, long, dimly lit hallways.[2]

Plot

In MADiSON, players control sixteen year-old Luca, a teenage boy who receives an instant camera for his sixteenth birthday. The camera belonged to a serial killer 30 years earlier, and through the camera the spirit of the killer plans to use Luca to put an end to a macabre ritual.[3]

Development and release

MADiSON was planned, produced, and written by Alexis Di Stefano, while the character design was done by Shuel Duo, Alberto Castillo, Asad Manzoor, and Sol Cousillas. Stefano began development of MADiSON began in 2016, which was announced through a demo released on game distribution platform itch.io in 2017.[4] The demo was well received by players, surpassing over 100,000 downloads on the platform. In an interview with Sam Chandler of Shacknew, Stefano noted that he had two goals while developing MADiSON—believing in his vision and carrying it out and to make the game as scary as it can be.[5] The studio continued with development and announced a launch for PC in June 2021. The second trailer would be released on Gamescom in July 2021,[6] revealing the official release date after 5 years of development.[7] It was set to release on January 7, 2022.[2][8] Bloodious Games was met with inconveniences of publishing MADiSON under their previous trade name, Nosebleed Games.[9]

The game was first released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S on July 8, 2022.[10] Upon release, it was noted as one of the 20 highest-selling games on Steam for the month of July 2022.[11] In August 2022, developers announced that a Nintendo Switch version for MADiSON would be released.[12] On January 30, 2023, developer Alexis Di Stefano, officially announced the development of a virtual reality version at a Perp Games Showcase via IGN called MADiSON VR.[13] MADiSON VR was ported to physical PSVR2 platform editions and PCVR in 2023.[14]

Reception

Upon release, MADiSON received "generally favorable" and "mixed or average" reviews from video game publications based on the review aggregate website Metacritic aimed towards the PC and PS5 ports.[15][16]

Sam Chandler of Shacknews gave it 9 out of 10 stars, mentioned the game's writing as consistent, contrasting the usual trend of "a sluggish second act after an incredible opener". The reviewer praised the quality of the puzzles, tension that never decreased, and lore that was unpleasant "on a true crime level".[18] While IGN's Tristan Ogilvie awarded the game an 7/10, writing that Madison was a creepy game with "genuine" scares.[17] Daniel Quesada writing for HobbyConsolas felt that Madison was the "most terrifying" adventure he had played in a while.[22] Nintendo Life's Ollie Reynolds wrote that the game is "not the most original game", saying it was inspired by the "lead of pioneers" games Outlast and P.T., expressing "What you've got here is an effective horror experience regardless, and one that you're going to enjoy from start to finish."[19] Marcus Steward of Game Informer said "It succeeds in building tension and puzzle variety."[20] While NME's Jon Bailes criticized the game for its use of "stock creepy ambient noises" saying "a door creaks, a tin bucket falls over–that repeat to the point of insignificance." Bailes felt it was wasteful as players are never in immediate danger and said that was easy to live in the game.[21] Rock Paper Shotgun's reviewer felt it was what the players would expect, with the repeated thuds and thunder. Also saying that a lot of backtracking was involved, with players having to finish quests from earlier rooms.[6]

In October 2022, MADiSON was recognized as the "Scariest Video Game of All Time", by The Science of Scare Project from Broadband Choices who set out to measure the scariest forms of entertainment available. 200 participants were invited to play over 45 horror games released in the last three decades. In each case–the subjects’ heart rate was monitored while playing the game. Heart rates were measured while resting or in the middle of the game. The respondents playing Madison recorded an average of 97 beats / minute, and at the peak this rate stopped at 131 bit/s, with the new IP surpassing established franchises such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill.[23][24] MADiSON would also be declared of cultural interest in Buenos Aires, Argentina.[25]

Awards

The game was nominated for multiple awards and won. Including "Best Spanish/Latin Game" in Moscow XII DROP Festival's 12th Festival Awards;[26] for "Best Horror Game" in Shacknews's Best Horror Game of 2022;[27] and for "Community Game Of The Year" in the Rely on Horror Community Awards.[28]

MADiSON

Year Award Category Result Ref
2018 Expo EVA People's Choice Won [29]
2022 Expo EVA Best Game Won [30]
Moscow XII DROP Festival Best Horror Game [26]
Shacknews Best Horror Game [27]
Rely On Horror Community Game Of The Year [28]

MADiSON VR

Year Award Category Result Ref
2023 Expo EVA 2023 People's Choice Won [31]

References

  1. ^ "Madison Review". IGN. 15 July 2022. Archived from the original on 26 February 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  2. ^ a b Lockwood, William (7 July 2021). "Polaroid-based Horror Game MADiSON Coming to Steam in 2021". Rely On Horror. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023.
  3. ^ "Madison Review - Snapshots Of Potential". Game Informer. 14 July 2022. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022.
  4. ^ Driver, Dale (31 May 2022). "Madison: Hands-On Preview". IGN. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023.
  5. ^ Chandler, Sam (17 February 2023). "MADiSON creator talks atmospheric horror, puzzles & the game's reception". Shacknews. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  6. ^ a b Bell, Alice (8 July 2022). "Madison review: entertaining horror that's a bit too clever for its own good". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
  7. ^ Simón, Jaime (9 July 2021). "El juego de terror en primera persona Madison llegará a PC en 2021". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023.
  8. ^ Wilson, Mike (7 July 2021). "[Trailer] Upcoming Psychological Horror Title 'MADiSON' Arms You With a Polaroid For Fighting Demons". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023.
  9. ^ Romano, Sai (7 April 2022). "First-person psychological horror game MADiSON coming to consoles in 2022". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  10. ^ Wilson, Mike (11 April 2022). "Psychological Horror Title 'MADiSON' Arrives June 24 for PC, Consoles [Trailer]". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on 13 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Top Steam Releases of July 2022". Steam. 30 August 2022. Archived from the original on 25 October 2022.
  12. ^ Reynolds, Ollie (26 August 2022). "MADiSON Jump Scares Aplenty In This Effective, If Unoriginal, Horror". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on 13 September 2022.
  13. ^ Lopetegui, Enrique (5 March 2023). "MADiSON fever: Part 2 and VR version of the 'Scariest Video Game of All Time' coming up". San Antonio Current. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
  14. ^ "MADiSON VR". IGN. 30 January 2023. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  15. ^ a b "MADiSON". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  16. ^ a b "MADiSON". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 13 February 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  17. ^ a b Ogilvie, Tristan (15 July 2022). "Madison Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 26 February 2023.
  18. ^ a b Chandler, Sam (6 July 2022). "MADiSON review: A snapshot of true terror". Shacknews. Archived from the original on 13 September 2022.
  19. ^ a b Reynolds, Ollie (6 August 2022). "Review: MADiSON (Switch) - Jump Scares Aplenty In This Effective, If Unoriginal, Horror". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
  20. ^ a b Stewart, Marcus (8 July 2022). "Madison Review - Snapshots Of Potential". Game Informer. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
  21. ^ a b Bailes, Jon (11 July 2022). "Madison review: photograph your inner demons". NME. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
  22. ^ Quesada, Daniel (6 July 2022). "Análisis de Madison, el juego más terrorífico de los últimos tiempos". HobbyConsolas (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 13 September 2022.
  23. ^ "The Science of Scare: Scariest Video Games in 2022". Broadband Choices. Archived from the original on 7 October 2022.
  24. ^ Donovan, Imogen (6 October 2022). "Science has found 'the scariest horror game of all time'". GAMINGbible. Archived from the original on 7 October 2022.
  25. ^ Tronqui, Jorge (21 October 2022). "Declaran de municipal y cultural un videojuego creado por joven de Ranelagh". Verdad e Investigación. Archived from the original on 25 October 2022.
  26. ^ a b "Post Report Of The 12th Festival". Moscow International Horror Film Festival DROP. 25 September 2022. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  27. ^ a b Chandler, Sam (29 December 2022). "Shacknews Best Horror Game of 2022 - MADiSON". Shacknews. Archived from the original on 25 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  28. ^ a b Lockwood, William (31 December 2022). "Rely On Horror's 2022 Community Game Of The Year Is…MADiSON". Rely On Horror. Archived from the original on 23 January 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  29. ^ "Juegos ganadores de la EVA 2018". Pressover. 7 November 2018. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  30. ^ "EVA 2022: Premios y resumen de la exposición de videojuegos más grande de Latinoamérica". Pressover. 19 September 2022. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  31. ^ "EVA 2023: videojuegos ganadores y récord histórico de asistentes". Pressover. 19 September 2023.
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