Review: ARKHAM HORROR: MOTHER'S EMBRACE is a Solid Story Held Back by Everything Else
Arkham Horror: Mother’s Embrace is a game from Asmodee Digital that I have been looking forward to. I greatly enjoy the board games set in the same universe from Fantasy Flight Games and this seemed like a great addition. Asmodee Digital was kind enough to provide me with a review copy of the game on Xbox, but all the thoughts below are my own. You can play the game now on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
The year is 1926, and a professor of astronomy is found dead in her mansion, the apparent victim of a heinous murder. Players must pick from 12 of the most iconic protagonists from the Arkham Horror universe, each with a unique skill set, and assemble a team of investigators to uncover the secrets behind this mysterious death.
I wanted this game to be so much better than it is. The sound design has problems, the graphics are not the best, and the gameplay feels boring. The story is fun and intriguing. I would love to play this scenario if it were available for Mansions of Madness. You play one of several characters from the Arkham Horror universe who has been invited to the home of an astronomy professor named Professor Tillinghast. When you arrive, the professor is missing and you end up teaming up with the FBI and discover her body. Then, you have to find out why she was taken out. It’s interesting and the I like the investigation aspect of the game.
Let’s tackle the gameplay first. Most of the game is you walking around and trying to find clues and items to aid in your investigation. This means a lot of walking around and hitting “A” at every glowing blue dot you see. In a lot of ways, the game feels more like a visual novel than a tactical RPG. There’s no real sense of urgency, no need to hurry up (not like you could at the snail’s pace you move at in the game). As you go around clicking “A” sometimes other things happen such as your characters having to make Sanity checks. This is in line with all the Arkham Horror board games, but it feels less punishing. In the board games, you only get to take so many actions in a turn and so these Sanity checks would hurt because they would also require you to use actions to happen and then to take care of. Plus, when your Sanity hits 0 you get a Trauma, but those aren’t really explained anywhere. In Mother’s Embrace, you can take your time and do as much stuff as you want with no action economy to worry about.
I want to talk about the sound now. I know that being a sound engineer can be tough. However, Mother’s Embrace has some real problems. The levels are not balanced very well at all. Tillinghast often makes comments during the game and the levels on that narration are too high. It often sounds like the voice actor was recorded too close to the mic and with too much gain causing bad distortion. Then, you hear your playable characters talk and they’re a lot quieter. It’s not great. Also, most, but not all, of the voice acting falls flat and feels stiff which continues to ruin the immersion. I will say that the music is very fitting and is a positive of the game.
This shouldn’t be a surprise, but the graphics aren’t great. If you’ve watched the trailers, you know what to expect. That doesn’t mean that I would hope for better. They really do look like PS3/Xbox 360 era graphics.
Mother’s Embrace is a great story brought down with mediocre gameplay, poor sound design, and 10-year-old graphics. I really wish that Fantasy Flight would release the story for Mansions of Madness.
