Though it would be highly commendable if it could compare to a supreme Tough Act to Follow like Until Dawn, Supermassive Games' Man of Medan gives us a different, intriguing premise. However, it eventually runs out of steam. I love horror stories set in the middle of the ocean - it's a highly underutilised location for spooky shenanigans, so I was looking forward to see how Supermassive's capable hands handle this new setting. For the most part, they get the atmosphere right, but the scares are lacklustre.
Like in Until Dawn, you are given control over a variety of characters, who all look amazing thanks to the strides made in motion capture technology. The choices that you make intricately influence everything from their interpersonal dynamics to their very personalities, giving a huge number of branching story paths. There's fewer than in Until Dawn, but on the whole, all of these guys are more likeable and unique. It's a great experience to play alone or with some patient friends to play each individual character, the latter of which I find to be optimal.
After a rather awkward prologue set on the titular warship during World War II before everything goes to shit, the main present-day story sees our heroes meet on a small vessel, the Duke of Milan, to plan for some deep sea diving to explore some wrecks. After a long while of getting to know everyone, they are attacked by pirates and unexpectedly come across the Medan, still miraculously adrift after like 80 years. The ship is a greatly realised location, filled with claustrophobic areas that take advantage of the old-school fixed-camera perspective. It makes the ensuing psychological horror effective and believable.
However, there's an easily telegraphed reveal which I won't spoil that, quite frankly, ruins everything. None of the endings I found are particularly satisfying and feel rushed. Although, to be frank again, the game... just isn't that scary to begin with. None of the jumpscares or suspenseful moments really land. Man of Medan really pushes the anthology angle, what with it being part of "The Dark Pictures", but I feel that telegraphing eight games in this fledgling series was perhaps overambitious. We have a bland Horror Host character called the Curator of Stories (Pip Torrens) who intrudes on the story constantly despite having no thematic link to it whatsoever - it's just a mediocre rehash of Dr. Hill's role in Until Dawn. The name of the anthology series gives me flashbacks to the ill-fated Dark Universe franchise. It's not usually a good sign when studios get ahead of themselves like that, even when they have the talent.
A ghost ship that ran out of steam
Though it would be highly commendable if it could compare to a supreme Tough Act to Follow like Until Dawn, Supermassive Games' Man of Medan gives us a different, intriguing premise. However, it eventually runs out of steam. I love horror stories set in the middle of the ocean - it's a highly underutilised location for spooky shenanigans, so I was looking forward to see how Supermassive's capable hands handle this new setting. For the most part, they get the atmosphere right, but the scares are lacklustre.
Like in Until Dawn, you are given control over a variety of characters, who all look amazing thanks to the strides made in motion capture technology. The choices that you make intricately influence everything from their interpersonal dynamics to their very personalities, giving a huge number of branching story paths. There's fewer than in Until Dawn, but on the whole, all of these guys are more likeable and unique. It's a great experience to play alone or with some patient friends to play each individual character, the latter of which I find to be optimal.
After a rather awkward prologue set on the titular warship during World War II before everything goes to shit, the main present-day story sees our heroes meet on a small vessel, the Duke of Milan, to plan for some deep sea diving to explore some wrecks. After a long while of getting to know everyone, they are attacked by pirates and unexpectedly come across the Medan, still miraculously adrift after like 80 years. The ship is a greatly realised location, filled with claustrophobic areas that take advantage of the old-school fixed-camera perspective. It makes the ensuing psychological horror effective and believable.
However, there's an easily telegraphed reveal which I won't spoil that, quite frankly, ruins everything. None of the endings I found are particularly satisfying and feel rushed. Although, to be frank again, the game... just isn't that scary to begin with. None of the jumpscares or suspenseful moments really land. Man of Medan really pushes the anthology angle, what with it being part of "The Dark Pictures", but I feel that telegraphing eight games in this fledgling series was perhaps overambitious. We have a bland Horror Host character called the Curator of Stories (Pip Torrens) who intrudes on the story constantly despite having no thematic link to it whatsoever - it's just a mediocre rehash of Dr. Hill's role in Until Dawn. The name of the anthology series gives me flashbacks to the ill-fated Dark Universe franchise. It's not usually a good sign when studios get ahead of themselves like that, even when they have the talent.