Despite some technical hiccups, Man of Medan succeeds as an engrossing interactive thriller that will keep you on your toes for the duration of a couple of playthroughs. With so many different ways to play the game, alone or with friends online or locally, Man of Medan is an overall great horror experience.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan
Developer: Supermassive Games
Price: $30
Platforms: PS4 (reviewed), Xbox One, and PC
MonsterVine was provided with a PS4 code for review.
The horror genre is a vast and ever-expanding genre, both in the medium of video games and outside of it. Different things scare different people, but I think most would agree that the “home invasion” subgenre is particularly unnerving. Having a seemingly safe place be intruded upon by dangerous strangers is shocking and frightening; a fact that Supermassive Games knows well, and is happy to use (to great effect) in their latest project, The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan.
In Man of Medan, you play as a group of five young adults who are just the right amount of clichéd, while still staying tolerable and easy to empathize with. The cool and athletic Alex invites his dorky brother Brad to go on a deep-sea diving vacation with Alex’s fiancé, Julia, and her fratboy brother Conrad. Together with the boat’s captain, Fliss, the friends set out to sea with visions of treasure and relaxation in their heads. Their plans take a hard left turn when they encounter some abrasive fishermen who end up invading their boat in the dead of night. A series of player-driven events thrust the group into a terrifying supernatural mystery that could end up killing them all.
To get too deep into the plot would spoil the many twists and turns that the story can take, especially with how many different routes the narrative can follow. Depending on your choices, every main character could live or die. The entire time, an incredibly suave narrator called The Curator (played by Pip Torrens) gives you small hints while judging the morality of the choices you’ve made. It’s interesting to see his opinions on your choices in subsequent playthroughs, as the story can become quite different depending on your character fatality rate.
“I have to recommend you try a playthrough of “Shared Story” mode just to see how different it can be, though I’d say “Movie Night” mode could be the most fun.“
There are a lot of ways to play Man of Medan, depending on if you want to be spooked on your own, or with friends. I did one playthrough with my brother through “Movie Night” mode, where you and up to four others each pick a character or two and pass the controller around when the game prompts you to. “Movie Night” mode really sells the “horror movie” feeling on Man of Medan, so I’d recommend it if you have some friends that enjoy getting spooked with pals.
You can also play on your own, which is all well and good, but possibly the most creative way to play is “Shared Story” mode, which is when you play with one friend online. Because you play as different characters on different screens, you both play the game simultaneously. This means your friend might see something that your character can’t, or learn something that your character is kept in the dark about. Even the Curator has different dialogue for multiplayer mode, which shows that Supermassive was willing to go the extra mile to preserve immersion. I have to recommend you try a playthrough of “Shared Story” mode just to see how different it can be, though I’d say “Movie Night” mode could be the most fun.
The gameplay is primarily made up of walking around, picking dialogue options, and quick time events. Man of Medan is the embodiment of an interactive film, and I mean that in a positive way. Many of the choices are timed, which keeps you immersed during some of the more stressful decisions that you’ll have to make. The parts where you walk around are worthwhile as well, as you can find paintings that give you a look at possible future events (like the totems in Until Dawn), as well as notes and books that fill in the world of Medan. I actually solved the game’s main mystery a bit early using clues that were hidden around the game. I really like that Man of Medan is willing to trust players to put its world and lore together on their own, as it makes you feel like you’re truly involved with this frightful adventure.
Visually, Man of Medan looks stunning at most times. Some of the facial expressions made by the main cast dip into the uncanny valley here and there, which can be as eerie as some of the game’s environments. For the most part, though, the motion-capture performance is remarkable and incredibly realistic. This graphical quality does take a toll on your console though, as my basic PS4 would chug along and drop frames fairly frequently, which lead to the occasional missed quick time event. It’s frustrating to experience, especially when certain quick time events are tied to whether someone lives or dies.
The Final Word
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan is a thrilling and enjoyably frightening horror game that manages to be interesting when played alone, and fantastic when played with others. The characters are fun to follow, the story is intriguing and genuinely creepy, and the wide variety of story paths makes it quite replayable. Though its technical performance is frustrating and could stand to be better, Man of Medan is, overall, a great start for the Dark Pictures Anthology.
MonsterVine Review Score: 4 out of 5 – Good
