A big thank you to the hardworking folks at Bloober Team who came in clutch at the last minute to make this review possible, this game almost flew under the radar for me and I’m glad it didn’t! There are two sides to everything, even our world in The Medium.
The Medium takes place in 1999 in Poland and players play as Marianne, a woman who has the gift of being a medium, someone who can communicate with spirits of the dead as well as those from the spirit world which she can travel to. Marianne is called by a mysterious man to go Niwa Workers’ Resort, an abandoned Soviet-era resort. Once Marianne enters the grounds of the resort, it becomes clear to her that something VERY wrong happened there.
Now onto the game itself! The Medium’s controls, look, and feel is very reminiscing of the old school survival horror games, in this case, Silent Hill (which was a big inspiration for the game), the third person views are stuck that way and it helps add the suspense you would want in a horror game. The controls are surprisingly simple and easy to remember which is nice for when things get, shall we say…intense.
When it comes to sound I highly recommend using headphones to get the full experience! The sound design and voice acting are good with Troy Baker voicing our otherworldly antagonist. The soundtrack is amazing and no wonder with the combined powers of Arkadiusz Reikowski and the legend himself Akira Yamaoka adding atmosphere to this game!
The gameplay is pretty amazing and unique! What makes this game interesting to me is the split-screen effect for when Marianne is in both the material and the spiritual world usually involving puzzles in one of these realities that affect the other. There are times you have to sneak past enemies and use special powers to protect yourself from spiritual baddies.
The game is very atmospheric and the graphics really help sell the unease you feel as you explore. I love the feeling of being creeped out over nothing which then puts me in a false state of security which is then destroyed by a well-placed jumpscare!
Overall The Medium feels like the old school horror games (most of us) have grown up with but brought into the modern gaming world on the latest systems. The buildup of suspense pays off with good jumpscares all while intertwining it in the middle of an otherworldly Noiresque tale that keeps you going.
This is by far one of the most interesting horror games I’ve played in a while and I really hope a trend can get started with bringing back the kind of horror games that rely more on atmosphere and setting the tone rather than just constant in your face scare that gets old fast and ends up being more annoying than anything. On my scale of 1-10, I don’t know how else to say this and be convincing, The Medium is a 10, I could not really find anything wrong about it, the art is amazing, the soundtrack puts you into the game, the storytelling is compelling, the gameplay is unique, and when the scares do come up you feel a little more alive afterward.
The Medium is out now on Xbox Series X/S and PC.
