Review for The Medium. Game for PC and Xbox Series X, the video game was released on 28/01/2021
Regardless of personal tastes or the opinion that you can make of the latest work of Bloober Team, The Medium will surely be remembered as it represents the first watershed title between old and next-generation at Microsoft. Available on PC and exclusively on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles, the Polish team has therefore chosen to release their work on the new Microsoft home console (available on day one on Xbox Game Pass) because, as explained on several occasions , it would have been impossible to make this particular gaming experience on machines that lack the hardware power of the next-gen.
Ma The Medium also represents an important turning point for the development team itself: not only for the stylistic change with the passage from the first person to the third person but, even more predominantly, because the huge investment of resources and means is evident - think for example of the important marketing campaign culminating with the release of a trailer live-action - which have been put on the plate around this ambitious project.
A gift or a curse?
For those who have had the opportunity to play the previous Bloober Team titles (Layers of Fear and its sequel, Observer etc.) it will be almost natural to identify common narrative elements also in The Medium. This time, however, the team from Krakow, in the writing phase, wanted to broaden the range of their themes by touching and integrating them into the main plot, elements of Polish history and culture. So here's what the events that see Marianne as protagonist will intertwine with characters, events and situations all united by a common element: the Niwa resort.
This fictitious imposing structure abandoned after a terrible tragedy, almost a symbol of post-communist Polish decay, will be the backdrop to our explorations for most of The Medium's duration. Here we will go after the protagonist, given the last farewell to the tutor Jack who has just passed away, receives a phone call from a mysterious character, Thomas, who is aware of his powers as a medium.
In fact, the title opens with a mournful event that immediately makes things clear: in The Medium the themes of death and spirituality will be central. The plot structured by Bloober Team is interesting and unravels in the final stages of gameplay in a convincing way, although it is evident that some sub-plots are touched, and then left in abeyance or abandoned. This is evident above all when we find ourselves exploring the dilapidated structure of the Niwa and then abruptly veer, in a pressing and decidedly more convincing way, towards the epilogue of Marianne's events.
Survival horror?
Horror title in third person but which intelligently passes to the first person during the analysis of objects and points of interest, strongly characterized by puzzles and exploration typical of adventures on tracks, also presents some (but very few) elements that can lead it back to experiences more "survival" in the strict sense. However, it would be wrong to compare the Bloober Team title to productions such as Resident Evil of the original saga or Silent Hill, because The Medium is a production based more on storytelling than action.
Certainly it is possible to find references and tributes to the Capcom title but it is above all to the Konami horror that The Medium seems to turn its gaze, perhaps thanks to the gray atmospheres, the double dimension and the "in the dark" phases in which a torch will allow us to make our way through the gloomy corridors of the imposing resort.
In terms of gameplay, the title is both classic by Bloober standards but also original: the exploration, the reading of documents, the research of key objects and the enigmas represent the classic elements of the production while the phases in which we will move Marianne between reality and the spiritual world are the real novelty of the title. These game phases, dual-reality gameplay, will take place on a split screen and will be active only in some key situations in which the protagonist will be called to "split" by a presence or an extrasensory event.
So simultaneous movement will be the key to solving puzzles or making our way into otherwise inaccessible areas. In this regard it will be possible to completely detach oneself from the body in order to be able to move freely in the spiritual dimension, albeit with a time limit marked by the fading of the "medium" Marianne, in order to reach otherwise impassable areas and thus be able to open the way also in the material world. Light, symbolically, has always represented good and will be a source of energy that Marianne can draw on and exploit to defend herself from the threats that will haunt her in certain phases of the game.
A dark scrutiny
If Marianne represents good and light, evil is revealed by a monstrous entity, eager to "wear" the medium, and that he will hunt us down in some sections of the game where we can only escape them through stealth movements, holding our breath and hiding. The fighting is absent - but besides, except for our nemesis, even the enemies - and we will have no weapons on our side. However, the medium will be able to evoke a defensive aura to escape the threats of the spiritual world while in the advanced stages of the game it will be possible to use the environment and the light to our advantage to inflict substantial damage.
The fulcrum of the title, in terms of gameplay, remains once again the resolution of the puzzles that will differ in difficulty and complexityà: from the simple search for a key object to the activation of sequences through the spiritual world and reality. We can find very few "complex" puzzles, able to stop the player for a few minutes, but in general the gameplay is designed to focus once again on the narration and the discovery of an intimate and engaging story. Could more have been done? The answer is certainly yes as, once the title is over, which lasts about 8-10 hours at the first run, it will be very difficult to find new incentives to face a second game, except to complete the objectives and reach 1000G on Xbox.
On a graphic level The Medium was created using the Unreal Engine 4, used by the Polish team also in previous productions such as the recent Blair Witch. Visually the title is very nice on Xbox Series X and boasts a native 4K resolution with a framerate lock at 30fps, questionable but justifiable choice for the management of the split screen sections of the gameplay. There are no slowdowns and the title runs smoothly in the phases in which we will move Marianne simultaneously between the two realities, however in some situations you may notice some uncertainties in the few “action” phases due to the changes of shots.
The Medium presents a classic fixed camera with its pros and cons: a choice dictated by the particularity of the title and which, alternatively, would not have allowed easy simultaneous maneuvers between the two game worlds. The fixed camera, however, is well designed and the shots return a convincing cinematic cut, while revealing its limits in the few action phases in which we will have to escape our "nemesis".
Bloober Team's work boasts an exceptional composer, well known to Silent Hill fans, among the credits of the soundtrack: Akira Yamaoka joins Arkadiusz Reikowski to sign the musical component of The Medium. The hand of the Japanese artist is felt, but in general the work of the two composers is appreciable and underlines all the phases of the game in a subtle and intimate way, guaranteeing an added value to the production and whose culmination is the evocative final piece "Voices ”In which the beautiful voice of Mary Elizabeth McGlynn can be appreciated. As for the sound sector, we can only confirm the skills of the Polish team in accompanying, and this time with less “jump scare” audio boost, their titles with credible and evocative effects.
The Medium does not present truly terrifying events but still manages to keep the player in a state of constant tension thanks to the ambient audio that accompanies us, together with Marianne's dialogues and thoughts, for the entire duration of the exploration of Niwa and its surroundings.
The Medium is certainly the most ambitious and expensive work of Bloober Team, supported by an excellent marketing campaign and a watershed at Microsoft between old and next-gen. Are we facing a memorable title? Without prejudice to the particular style, with the possibility of passing from one reality to another, and the presence of the great Akira Yamaoka to evoke the memories of the former Silent Hill, this is unfortunately not the case. Despite this, The Medium is a well-written horror adventure, albeit with some flaws, and represents the summa of the works of a small Polish team that proves that it can now aspire to high-caliber projects. Those who approached The Medium with false expectations, attracted by its being included at the launch in the Game Pass and by a possible old-school survival horror, may have been disappointed or will have discovered, in a pleasant way, a different gameplay but which still manages to arouse vivid emotions. In this, an applause goes to Bloober Team, an independent studio but now a veteran of the genre, but from here on it is good to think about a change of course and the possibility of being able to dare more and express other types of gameplay.
► The Medium is an Adventure type game developed and published by Bloober Team for PC and Xbox Series X, the video game was released on 28/01/2021
