Discover a dark mystery only a medium can solve. Explore the real world and the spirit world at the same time. Use your psychic abilities to solve puzzles spanning both worlds, uncover deeply disturbing secrets, and survive encounters with The Maw - a monster born from an unspeakable tragedy. The Medium is a third-person psychological horror game that features patented dual-reality gameplay and an original soundtrack.
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esse jogo eh incrivel e genial, essa gameplay dela poder ir pra outro mundo e ver espiritos é criativa pra cacete, valeu a pena cada hora gasta nesse jogo e a platina tb
So this is it, huh? The game that made everyone hate Bloober Team…
A limited time exclusive launch window title for the Xbox Series X/S, this was essentially the Polish studio’s big mainstream breakthrough moment. Unfortunately, despite receiving mostly solid critical reception upon release it wasn’t long before The Medium earned them the ire of the internet due to how certain elements of its story were perceived. Altogether turning the devs into the vilest villains of the horror gaming scene in the eyes of the public, while also damning their follow-up remake of the legendary Silent Hill 2 to the sad fate of everyone acting as if it’s a forgone conclusion that it will be terrible and likely being the highly probable victim of review bombing regardless of its actual quality when it does finally come out. Let’s not forget the additional shade that now gets thrown at their previous efforts as well.
Is all the anger and outrage justified though? Well, after having at last gotten to play and finish this for myself, it is in my personal opinion that the answer to that question is a resounding NO, not even remotely. From my perspective the experience has been the unquestionable subject of severe misinterpretation that’s gotten regurgitated to such a degree that the fallacies surrounding it are treated as legitimate fact by those too worried about being labeled insensitive online to look into the controversies for themselves. Nowhere to me is this more evident than in the bold accusation that the writers try to make you feel sorry for and sympathize with a pedophile child molester. Yes, they show the perpetrator did have a traumatic past, but not as a means of excusing him for his abhorrent actions. The proof of this is in how the protagonist still rightfully berates and condemns him after learning his history, as well as the chapter itself rewarding the player with a trophy dubbing the fiend “Unforgiven” upon completion.
The other main point of contention, the ending which supposedly tells people suffering from mental illness that they can’t get better and should just kill themselves, I also believe is a portion of the package’s narrative that’s been taken wildly out of context. It’s a standard trope of this genre in any format for its tales to be concluded with these type of overly bleak, “Kobayashi Maru” scenarios. I can’t begin to tell you the amount of otherwise great horror novels that have left me deflated for this very reason. Plus, I simply find it ironic that the same people who will often in the same breath criticize the storytelling here for lacking depth and being entirely surface-level to act like this particular sequence of events suddenly starts using heavy symbolism to deliver a harmful message, but if y’all really are determined to go down that route then let me provide another possible meaning. Maybe the moral is instead that they CAN be saved, but sometimes it takes individuals willing to shoulder a chunk of their burden to help them escape to the lives of freedom they deserve. That they’re worth rescuing even at personal cost. Nevertheless, I continue to feel there is no underlying deeper intent to this moment and that it should be viewed in the identical face value manner as everything beforehand for the Stephen King-esque “screw you, morbid wrap up” that it is.
Now, this may seem like a lot of talk dedicated solely to discussing aspects of the plot, but the dark story that isn’t afraid to venture into truly mature content does definitely serve as the primary driving force. The gameplay, which gives the initial impression of a PS2 era throwback due to the fixed camera angles, is competent yet largely nothing terribly exciting. For one, it’s linear to the degree of almost being on-rails outside of the final location set inside an underground fallout shelter that is a little bit more open-ended. Walking in two different planes of existence at once via the split-screen mechanic is a neat visual trick, although that’s all it ultimately amounts to because there’s no puzzle or action segment that ever utilizes it in a deep or intriguing way. Meanwhile, the abandoned vacation resort of Niwa is an undeniably fascinating and beautiful place to explore featuring stunning outdoor environments that called to mind the wonderful natural splendor of various state parks I’ve visited in real life, however it is utterly devoid of terror. This is a remarkably scare-free adventure thanks to Bloober falling into the old pitfall of confining enemy encounters exclusively to scripted chase and poorly explained stealth sequences, leading to an overall flaccid atmosphere completely bereft of tension since you always know precisely when you’re in danger or not.
Overall, these shortcomings do cause The Medium to seem it would be more accurately called The Middling at points. Regardless, I’d say it’s still worth a look for those who find the concept compelling, and not only for the vague Silent Hill flavored vibes that include Akira Yamaoka helping with the soundtrack and bringing Mary Elizabeth McGlynn along for another selection of those stellar haunting vocal tracks she’s the queen of either. When the credits began to roll I was left with the unmistakable impression that the most common grievances leveled against this are the result of theories spouted by some YouTuber, social media influencer, or popular gaming journalist whose views were far too readily embraced by their followers. Thus, while I am totally willing to admit my takes might be exactly as wrong as I view theirs to be, my goal with this review is to with any luck convince others to not merely side with the general consensus because of super vocal X/Twitter users or gaming media sites. It irks me to constantly see so many adopt a lemming mentality and automatically jump onto slander bandwagons without checking things out for themselves beforehand or because they went into them with the preconceived notion that they already knew what the creator’s were trying to impart. In conclusion, I urge you to not be sheep and blindly follow the herd. What I’ve hopefully been able to show is that in instances such as this there’s a high chance they aren’t grazing in the right pasture.
7/10
A limited time exclusive launch window title for the Xbox Series X/S, this was essentially the Polish studio’s big mainstream breakthrough moment. Unfortunately, despite receiving mostly solid critical reception upon release it wasn’t long before The Medium earned them the ire of the internet due to how certain elements of its story were perceived. Altogether turning the devs into the vilest villains of the horror gaming scene in the eyes of the public, while also damning their follow-up remake of the legendary Silent Hill 2 to the sad fate of everyone acting as if it’s a forgone conclusion that it will be terrible and likely being the highly probable victim of review bombing regardless of its actual quality when it does finally come out. Let’s not forget the additional shade that now gets thrown at their previous efforts as well.
Is all the anger and outrage justified though? Well, after having at last gotten to play and finish this for myself, it is in my personal opinion that the answer to that question is a resounding NO, not even remotely. From my perspective the experience has been the unquestionable subject of severe misinterpretation that’s gotten regurgitated to such a degree that the fallacies surrounding it are treated as legitimate fact by those too worried about being labeled insensitive online to look into the controversies for themselves. Nowhere to me is this more evident than in the bold accusation that the writers try to make you feel sorry for and sympathize with a pedophile child molester. Yes, they show the perpetrator did have a traumatic past, but not as a means of excusing him for his abhorrent actions. The proof of this is in how the protagonist still rightfully berates and condemns him after learning his history, as well as the chapter itself rewarding the player with a trophy dubbing the fiend “Unforgiven” upon completion.
The other main point of contention, the ending which supposedly tells people suffering from mental illness that they can’t get better and should just kill themselves, I also believe is a portion of the package’s narrative that’s been taken wildly out of context. It’s a standard trope of this genre in any format for its tales to be concluded with these type of overly bleak, “Kobayashi Maru” scenarios. I can’t begin to tell you the amount of otherwise great horror novels that have left me deflated for this very reason. Plus, I simply find it ironic that the same people who will often in the same breath criticize the storytelling here for lacking depth and being entirely surface-level to act like this particular sequence of events suddenly starts using heavy symbolism to deliver a harmful message, but if y’all really are determined to go down that route then let me provide another possible meaning. Maybe the moral is instead that they CAN be saved, but sometimes it takes individuals willing to shoulder a chunk of their burden to help them escape to the lives of freedom they deserve. That they’re worth rescuing even at personal cost. Nevertheless, I continue to feel there is no underlying deeper intent to this moment and that it should be viewed in the identical face value manner as everything beforehand for the Stephen King-esque “screw you, morbid wrap up” that it is.
Now, this may seem like a lot of talk dedicated solely to discussing aspects of the plot, but the dark story that isn’t afraid to venture into truly mature content does definitely serve as the primary driving force. The gameplay, which gives the initial impression of a PS2 era throwback due to the fixed camera angles, is competent yet largely nothing terribly exciting. For one, it’s linear to the degree of almost being on-rails outside of the final location set inside an underground fallout shelter that is a little bit more open-ended. Walking in two different planes of existence at once via the split-screen mechanic is a neat visual trick, although that’s all it ultimately amounts to because there’s no puzzle or action segment that ever utilizes it in a deep or intriguing way. Meanwhile, the abandoned vacation resort of Niwa is an undeniably fascinating and beautiful place to explore featuring stunning outdoor environments that called to mind the wonderful natural splendor of various state parks I’ve visited in real life, however it is utterly devoid of terror. This is a remarkably scare-free adventure thanks to Bloober falling into the old pitfall of confining enemy encounters exclusively to scripted chase and poorly explained stealth sequences, leading to an overall flaccid atmosphere completely bereft of tension since you always know precisely when you’re in danger or not.
Overall, these shortcomings do cause The Medium to seem it would be more accurately called The Middling at points. Regardless, I’d say it’s still worth a look for those who find the concept compelling, and not only for the vague Silent Hill flavored vibes that include Akira Yamaoka helping with the soundtrack and bringing Mary Elizabeth McGlynn along for another selection of those stellar haunting vocal tracks she’s the queen of either. When the credits began to roll I was left with the unmistakable impression that the most common grievances leveled against this are the result of theories spouted by some YouTuber, social media influencer, or popular gaming journalist whose views were far too readily embraced by their followers. Thus, while I am totally willing to admit my takes might be exactly as wrong as I view theirs to be, my goal with this review is to with any luck convince others to not merely side with the general consensus because of super vocal X/Twitter users or gaming media sites. It irks me to constantly see so many adopt a lemming mentality and automatically jump onto slander bandwagons without checking things out for themselves beforehand or because they went into them with the preconceived notion that they already knew what the creator’s were trying to impart. In conclusion, I urge you to not be sheep and blindly follow the herd. What I’ve hopefully been able to show is that in instances such as this there’s a high chance they aren’t grazing in the right pasture.
7/10
1-2 mechanikai elem ugyan bukdácsolt, de a kettéosztott világ összhangja, vizuálja, a Silent Hill-t idéző esszenciális atmoszféra, az ötletes fejtörők, a csavaros, szövevényes berántó sztori, Yamaoka mesteri komponálásai fantasztikus élményt adtak. Akarom a folytatást!
A unique horror game with a style of play not seen by many others in the genre. Playing between 2 different worlds in the same environment while having events in one altering the other makes puzzles feel well thought out and exploration interesting. That being said, The Medium feels more like a thriller at times rather than true horror as the enemies in this game rarely pose a threat and when they do, walking past them is more than enough to get by. The music is atmospheric yet generic at the same time and the story starts to nosedive in the latter third of the game before tying up neatly at the end. I would recommend this to all horror fans to look at the ideas it has but there are better horror experiences out there, even from Blooper Team
The gimmick was neat
It sucks seeing a game I was genuinely excited to play take such a sharp turn into the mud, but The Medium feels like a tech demo for their dual-reality format that forgot everything else needed to make the game worth your time. And it sucks because the dual-realities is such a neat concept and Bloober Team does a lot of great things with it, but it is absolutely wasted on an unbearably bland protagonist, a sluggish and lethargic plot, and a crash landing of an ending that does not respect the journey the player took to get there.