The Dark Pictures Anthology Man of Medan Review
Our Verdict
Man of Medan tells a familiar story in a fascinating manner, and even moreso with a partner.
PC Gamer Verdict
Man of Medan tells a familiar story in a fascinating way, and fifty-fifty moreso with a partner.
Need to know
What is it? A cooperative slasher movie where anyone can die.
Expect to pay: $30/£25
Developer: Supermassive Games
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Reviewed on: RTX 2080, i9-9900k, 32 GB RAM, SSD Multiplayer: 2-player co-op
Link: Steam
Man of Medan, the get-go entry in Supermassive Game'south Dark Pictures Album, isn't particularly scary. If information technology were a movie, it'd be the kind that releases direct to video, 1 of those schlocky DVDs lining the convenience store displays blimp between the trail mix and sunglasses. The usual graphic symbol archetypes are there: the nerd, the hunk, the blonde, the stranger, the horny creep that no one should put upward with but practice considering at to the lowest degree ane expiry should exist cathartic. Queue upwardly the ghost ship, murderous pirates, and cheap leap scares galore.
Every bit a film, it would be fun, but familiar and forgettable. Y'all have to accept a taste for it. Merely as co-op adventure game, Man of Medan is unparalleled.
Man of Medan plays a lot similar Supermassive's previous PS4 exclusive, Until Dawn. Think of information technology like a movie where you accept control of 1 character at a time, oscillating between action scenes cleaved up by quicktime events and dialogue choices. Occasionally there's a pocket-sized stretch of exploration where y'all're given some time to look for story clues, weapons, traps, and soak in the setting. It'south very Telltale (RIP).
Except this fourth dimension, function-playing stupid adults in a dangerous state of affairs together is officially supported, both locally and online.
Early into my online co-op playthrough, when my coworker Joanna and I manage to coerce our transport captain into letting us explore a sunken plane at the bottom of the Pacific, we don't play two characters in the aforementioned scene. We play two characters in different scenes running simultaneously.
I have over Julia and Alex's scuba-diving scenario. As a young couple haunted past the spectre of marriage, every chat tests Alex'southward insecurity in their relationship. Playing Julia, a free spirit with rich parents, I reject Alex's probing questions and stick to the matter at hand: the skeletons chilling in the plane's apace disintegrating chassis.
I brew Ten as part of a surprise quicktime upshot to avert cut my exposed thigh on a jutting slice of rusted metal. Joanna laughs at my shrill yip over Discord. Much later I'll yell "LEECHES!" louder than I ever have and Joanna's laughter will rise to meet it. The jump scares might exist cheap and plentiful, only with a friend they're also hilarious, assuming you lot're non on the receiving stop.
Meanwhile, Joanna'due south playing as Captain Fliss, cooly rejecting Conrad the Creep'south every pickup line. (In my 2nd solo playthrough, they become to second base. I was curious!) But I just know what Joanna tells me, then when she says a boat is chop-chop approaching our own, I showtime to worry. I really beginning to worry when the boat speeds off and drags the diver line across the front end of the plane, knocking the cockpit clean off.
We're the hot people rescue force playing what essentially amounts to phone and two adventure games simultaneously.
Imagine how I feel when I see two explosions up summit every bit I surface. Do I swim up and adventure giving Julia the bends or stay cool and depressurize with her neurotic boyfriend? At least he didn't only ask Julia to marry him this time around. The adjacent playthrough, he does, and I send Julia paddling to the surface ASAP. No cheers, pal.
It'southward my plow to listen to Joanna panic and explain what's happening while juggling her own potent dialogue choices or quicktime events—I'grand in the dark. Somewhen Joanna gets some vital info beyond that informs my next motility. We take our fourth dimension to depressurize, but in my next solo run I requite Julia the bends on purpose. So I make her drink beer. Things don't terminate well for Julia without Joanna's moral guidance.
Alone, I'm a nihilistic monster. Together, nosotros're the hot people rescue force playing what essentially amounts to telephone and two adventure games simultaneously. Information technology's a tense, hilarious combo.
Use that framework to even more threatening and complex scenarios. Rather than human relationship bug, condom diving protocol, and mystery explosions, information technology's all vengeful men with knives, grim spectres, and the kind of monsters you may or may non look to detect on an abandoned ship with a nighttime history. Things become messy.
Information technology'south a fascinating way to experience a story together, where y'all can steer relationships and the action based on what you've observed and what you've shared.
One-half of Man of Medan keeps Joanna and I separated, playing unique, interconnected scenes at the same time. And based on the clues our characters discover, the decisions we make for them, and which discoveries and decisions nosotros choose to share, nosotros're able to both avoid disaster and steer headlong into it. To make things trickier, not every character's perspective is completely reliable, not every successfully tapped-out quicktime event is a win, and not every noble choice leads to a noble outcome. Picking up on lilliputian details pays off in that outset run.
It's a fascinating way to experience a story together, where you can steer relationships and the action based on what you've observed and what you lot've shared, articulated by extremely punishing quicktime events. And yeah, punishment is good in a schlocky B-flick, but sometimes those quicktime prompts are downright unfair.
Deaths aren't always as civil as the movies brand them, occasionally coming out of nowhere due to a unmarried missed push printing. Our playthrough's hero died considering of a misread and over again in the same spot on my solo venture (but with a different hero). Some quicktime events just crave quick button presses, while others require rapid button mashing, and both look way also similar to parse in a pinch.
At least the deaths are pretty. Human of Medan is a graphical stunner supported by unnerving voyeuristic camera angles. Realistic animations with syrupy controls mimic the vulnerable, clumsy nature of each character, though it's all occasionally compromised past questionable facial tics. Supermassive nails teeth simply not how the muscles around them piece of work. Look a few strained, uncanny smiles.
It'southward not equally fun as co-op, just Human of Medan is still spooky and surprising alone, replacing friends with intel. In solo and pass-the-pad play, pausing displays tools for analyzing choices, relationships, grapheme traits, and clues for steering the narrative in new directions—helpful stuff. I wish information technology was bachelor in online co-op too, for the more studious and patience team, merely I can see how it might mess with the period. I enjoyed relying purely on i another to piece our story together anyway.
While my solo story concluded with a completely different cast and lasting consequences, I don't accept much desire to poke effectually the aforementioned three-ish hour long B-film scenario to see every potential effect. The characters are as well cliched and the plot too simple to brand it worth the close study. I've seen Scream 3 one time and that's enough.
But equally an ambience experience played over time, Homo of Medan's variability is wide enough to return to for the social feel. I'g excited to play information technology with more than friends, to see whether anyone tin scream "leeches" louder than me, to see who they're happy to off and who they desire to relieve. What kind of incompetent hot people death-cocktail tin can we make together, I wonder?
The Dark Pictures Album
Homo of Medan tells a familiar story in a fascinating way, and even moreso with a partner.
Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/man-of-medan-review/
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