Mortanis Prisoners arrives on PS5 with a premise that should, in theory, be a guaranteed winner. You play as Justina, a member of the Polish Resistance captured by the Nazis during the Second World War. After an unfortunate encounter with death – or something very much like it – you awaken in a morgue and are informed by a mysterious spectral figure that you are now trapped in purgatory. Escape, it seems, is the goal. Between the wartime backdrop and the gloomy corridors of a morgue, the stage is set for a gripping survival horror experience. Sadly, the stage is about where the excitement ends.
Gaming Heaven
To give credit where it’s due, the setting genuinely has potential. World War II remains an interesting historical backdrop for games, and pairing it with supernatural horror could have produced something memorable. The morgue environment, with its dim lighting and clinical decay, at least manages to create a mildly eerie atmosphere. Wandering its halls occasionally hints at the kind of tense experience the game might have been. There are also familiar survival-horror elements present: puzzles, scattered notes, a modest inventory system and monsters to dispatch. On paper, it sounds suspiciously like a proper game.
Gaming Hell
Unfortunately, Mortanis Prisoners struggles with almost every element of execution. Despite its horror aspirations, it manages the remarkable feat of being entirely devoid of scares. Not a single jump, jolt or even a polite shiver. Combat is clumsy, aiming barely exists, and movement feels oddly sluggish.
Technical issues don’t help matters. Enemies can attack through walls, occasionally spawn inside them, and the game has a habit of freezing or crashing entirely. Inventory navigation is awkward, puzzle clues are sometimes confusing, and the story – despite all those collectible notes – never develops beyond the simple idea that you are stuck in purgatory.
Final Judgement
Mortanis Prisoners has the bones of an intriguing concept, but very little flesh on them. Between the awkward controls, technical problems and a complete lack of genuine horror, it feels like a promising idea left unfinished. The morgue may be atmospheric, but the game itself feels clinically lifeless.
