User reviews

'The Dark Pictures: Man Of Medan (2019)' is the first of eight (planned) games in an anthology series from the makers of 'Until Dawn (2015)', followed by 'Little Hope (2020)' and the upcoming 'House Of Ashes (2021)'. It's a narrative-driven adventure game in which you take control of five characters and, in turn, try to help them survive the events they're forced into. It's a choice-based experience that mostly consists of dialogue options, quick-time events and split-second decisions. There are segments in which you walk around the environment in a more traditional manner, finding secrets to flesh out the story, but most of the thing is like an interactive cut-scene. That's not a bad thing, though; it's the style of the game. Though it's sometimes a bit clunky (both narratively and mechanically), it's ultimately an atmospheric and engaging experience. The piece nails its realist aesthetic, with nuanced animation bringing to life the motion-capture performances that drive each character. The game's choices feel like they have impact, even if some are inevitably red herrings, and the action/ suspense sequences get you on the edge of your seat. The ending is a bit of a let-down, primarily because it feels a bit rushed and underwhelming (there's no major climax, really). Plus, some of the characters' reactions to certain events - including deaths - are unbelievably subdued. Having said that, the game is enjoyable pretty much all the way through. It allows you to uncover its mystery, which is satisfying; however, the characters never confirm their own theories, which is unsatisfying. As you can see, the piece is a bit of a mixed bag, but it's entertaining and that's the most important thing. It also features an apparently fantastic co-op mode that I haven't had a chance to play myself. In the end, it's a solid narrative adventure. 7/10.

I was VERY skeptical about this game! Kind of like when I played Until Dawn for the first time (and ended up loving it!) Medan Of Man wasn't perfect or anything THAT DEEP but it won me over in the end! It was fun, had some good scares and some subtle choices that had MAJOR consequences! Looking foward to the next one! Wow!

Five friends set sail on a holiday diving trip with a rumoured WWII wreck to find. As the day unfolds and a storm rolls in, their trip soon changes into something much more sinister. Who will live? Who will die? It's down to you. Can you save them all?

Man of Medan kicks off The Dark Pictures Anthology elegantly and subtly chilling with a solid, entertaining horror experience from Supermassive Games. Whilst the game isn't as emotionally impactful as Until Dawn, and the characters not nearly as interesting and fleshed-out the game makes up for with gripping, beautiful, and giddily silly horror. Technical issues, a rushed story, and a confusing approach to player choices halt the game from reaching the same levels as Until Dawn. Overall, Man of Medan is a fun, entertaining horror experience but I'm hoping Supermassive Games can scare up something a little more substantial for future The Dark Pictures titles.

I have the "Until Dawn" video-game and I haven't played it yet, so the Man Of Medan is my first time with this developer and I have to say, it's a very competently made horror / mystery game.

I began playing it around 12am in the morning and kept playing it till 6am in the morning on the weekend, not a lot of video-games can keep you engaged for this long, it had a certain charm to it that kept me going through it relentlessly.

I am definitely looking forward to playing "Until Dawn" now, not only that I am looking forward to their next ini the series.

I would recommend it to everyone who likes story based video games, with a mystery / horror element to it, whether you ended it liking it up or not, is your personal taste, but as a video-game, it really hit good with me, plus it has multiple endings which would keep you engaged for a long time.

I first played the game by myself and I thought it was ok, but super short. Then I got a group of my friends together and we played it and we had a great time. Playing with friends you can either see them fail or have a great time yelling at each other to press buttons faster and make different choices. After Until Dawn it's definitely a let down but I don't mind that this is becoming an anthology series.

The game is good don't get me wrong, but it isn't like Until Dawn. In Until Dawn you became very attached to the characters, which is something Supermassive missed the mark on here. The story of Until Dawn also felt longer and developed characters more. Personally I think using more established actors would have helped make people more involved with characters. Part of what made Until Dawn feel amazing was you had NO IDEA what was going on, while Man of Medan feels a bit too straight forward. The nice thing about Until Dawn was that it was drawn out for suspense, while Man doesn't have as much. Another problem was that Man felt really confined and direct , oppose to the dark and long forest trails in Until Dawn which could harbour collectibles in any corner. On the positive note the graphics were cleaner especially on PC and the multiplayer movie function was a great idea (albeit needs a little tweaking). In the end the game is good and fun to play, but don't expect any GOYT edition. In the future Supermassive needs to work on character development, a more open feeling environment, and return to the horror movie cliches that we all know and love.

Following up from the smash-hit that was 'Until Dawn', Supermassive Games turned to the independent route and created their own "make your own path" horror game franchise, commencing with this very game. However, Until Dawn is the best and worst thing for this game - best as it simply wouldn't exist without Until Dawn but worst as it led everyone to wrong expectations, everyone expected another slasher story but that's not what this is - this is a ghost story.

The plot of the game is somewhat well-crafted as dives into interesting themes such as: paranoia and disenfranchisement of cultures following WW2, however the ambitious over-focus on alternating pathways with no thought of plot armour for specific characters in certain situations (which allowed Until Dawn to have a naturally flowing plot/pace no matter what you've chosen) is gone now - often leading the ending chapters of the game, especially the epilogue, to feel rushed, clumsy and unfinished. The big plot twist simply does the game no big favours, while it is clear what they were trying to aim thematically (with it presumably being a metaphor for how we create our own fears of a past we didn't witness), it simply doesn't work as good as just having a traditional ghost story would have done for this plot. It is also worth noting that despite there being so many ways for the lead protagonists to die, the actual feeling of trying to make the characters survive the night is gone as the game makes it really easy for the player to save them all.

However, on a gameplay aspect, I have no huge quarrels with the game apart from the fixed angle perspectives making it occasionally difficult to navigate your way through the ship. The character models and environments are all beautifully designed, perfectly convey accuracy while creating a perfect atmosphere for the game, the ship literally feeling dead and lifeless which is very apt, as well as some eye-catching aesthetics. Sadly, the facial motions of the character models are nothing to write home about as they are often very hit-or-miss which doesn't compliment the actually decent voice acting on display.

Overall, Man of Medan is a decent launching pad for the franchise and while the it isn't Supermassive Games' strongest, it is an enjoyable experience nevertheless.

If you are a fan of horror movies and games with a story ... well you are in the right place then. Now I understand that some people do not consider this a game. Pushing buttons to progress the story and walking from time to time (finding clues of the story along the way). But at least here you can walk around, there are FMV games that are just video after video (I like them too, just saying).

The story is rich and complex and to actually understand all of it, a number of playthroughs have to be made! And I made more than just a number of ... although that doesn't make much sense I reckon ... what would be more than a number of playthroughs? Anyway, the game is rich and detailed and gives you moral choices and lets you be whoever you want to be. You can play all the characters at one point or another ... and you really are the mastermind of the story that is evolving in front of you.

After Until Dawn and the success of it, this is a beginning of stories that are connected through a story teller. Until Dawn had the psychologist to guide you through ... this has a mysterious figure talking to you from time to time ... I can't wait for the next games this has to offer ... love it to say the least. Great acting, script and editing.

While it is not clear from one playthrough, the plot uses the gameplay to involve the player in the story and its consequences in a remarkable way. I found it moderately enjoyable the first time through the story, and found it to be much better than I initially thought after seeing clearly how the pieces fit together.

The game is too short, to be so expensive. In 3-4 hours the game ends.

It wouldn't be fair to bash this game for not being as good as Until Dawn, but it's hard not too when seeing how big of a step down this is from Supermassive's previous game. Like it's predecessor, Man of Medan's characters rely on you to keep them alive by making choices that will determine their fate. Like Until Dawn, this game lets you discover clues and secrets along the way that will help you piece together what's really going on. The totems also make a return, only this time in the form of paintings.

Instead of Wendigo's and their vengeful human brothers, this game's protagonists face what seems to be a ghost ship and a band of angry fishermen (or pirates, the game isn't really clear on that.) I almost preferred the mystery behind this game and the setting was a nice change from the snowbound ski-lodge of Until Dawn. I'm terrified of anything underwater based, but thankfully there's not a lot of scares here that rely on a fear of the deep.

Speaking of the scares, the game fell flat more than once. The majority of them are so predictable or in-your-face that they just aren't scary. I remember the apprehension of simply turning a corridor in Until Dawn, but Man of Medan was a breeze to get through, beyond a few cheap jump-scares. Also, once the mystery begins to unravel, it becomes pretty obvious what's going on so it's not hard to know what decisions to make to keep people alive. The quick time events seemed to be the only points in the game that ran smoothly, with a lot of the cut scenes and movement segments taking a while to focus and feeling a little unresponsive.

Character-wise, this game really isn't too great. Julia is pretty horrible and I was tempted to just kill her off for the sake of it. Her brother, Conrad, was by far the best and was actually pretty funny. Brad and Alex felt far too cliché and their dialogue was cringe-worthy at points. Finally you have Fliss, the outsider so to speak, who's treated pretty unfairly by the others at first. With Man of Medan, I had no problem keeping all the characters alive and the clues gave the mystery away early enough that the only real danger is the quick-time-events. The best new addition to the game is the Curator, he's no Peter Stormare that's for sure, but he's still ridiculously cool and I thought it was pretty neat how he popped up in the background of the story - I look forward to seeing more of him in Little Hope.

I'm still a big fan of the overall concept of this game specifically and the mystery is well-thought out at least. An interactive-horror anthology series is honestly a dream come true so I feel a little bad rating this so low, but knowing what Supermassive are really capable of, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. Another opening rendition of O Death carries over from Until Dawn, only this time a more rock-fuelled version that feels just a little too "Mall-Ninja" for my liking.

All in all, this is still a decent experience and if you really wanted to, you could finish it in one sitting. I'd recommend playing the shared or party versions with other people as it makes games like these a lot more fun. If you liked Until Dawn, you'll still like this, just don't expect it to be nearly as atmospheric or scary.

The game starts with an interesting story. The atmosphere is also always convincing. Good graphics, good soundtrack. Actually everything you need for a solid story game, isn't it? I played it through to the end with a friend. We both had a lot of fun and were well entertained. Yes, the camera is sometimes a bit annoying, but it adds to the oppressive atmosphere. Even the characters were introduced well and were interesting. But then? Then suddenly it was over. My friend and I asked ourselves: That's it? It took us just over 2 hours to complete our playthrough. A second playthrough alone took just over 2 hours again. Two hours? Is that all for the price? We were very disappointed.

As much as until dawn was a great game and this is in the same universe they are different games and I think people should stop comparing them. They are different so people should start treating the games as different things. It must be so hard to follow on from until dawn but I think they have done really well under the the distributors have done a really good job. This whole idea of comparing them seems like a really stupid thing to be very negative about.

Until Dawn is still better by a long shot in every sense of the word even the graphics are better than this game you can't invest in any of the main characters and the best part of this game is the end game credits

This is an amazing game that has a really awesome story, it's obviously not going to live up to Until Dawn but it remains fresh! I love the game and I think you will enjoy it!

Unfortunately, this game sucks. The game is glitchy in some scenes. It's too dark, and everything looks the same. It's a boring story with bad writing, and uninteresting characters.. the "twist" of the story is VERY predictable, and makes the game pointless once you know what's going on. Honestly, if you want to play this game thinking it will be like "Until Dawn" just know this game is very boring, and nowhere near as good. The acting is bad at times. The whole game is on the ship, and everything looks the same! The hallways and rooms all look the same which makes it confusing/ boring to walk around the ship. A lot of the game is just walking very slowly around the ship with nothing happening! The character walks SO SLOW. There's a faster walk, but it's still too slow and a joke..

Unfortunately, all of the people giving this game a bad review are telling the truth.. don't waste your time buying this game. Instead, play Until Dawn for a better interactive horror game experience..

While this game is far shorter than Until Dawn, and you play as less characters (only 5 instead of 7), it's still a well thought out game. As with Until Dawn, this game is based on a folklore; and same as Until Dawn - there's a twist. The twist isn't as good as Until Dawn's, but personally I liked it. Everyone is rating this bad because they don't actually understand that this game is based on a folklore of the Ghost Ship called Ourang of Medan, a ship that supposedly existed in 1947 where the crew died under mysterious circumstances. If you have already played this game, I would recommend researching into the tall tale of the Ourang of Medan. If you haven't played the game yet, I would most definitely give it a shot and then look up about the ghost ship. A lot of the secrets you find in the game (without spoiling much *cough*SOS message*cough*), reportedly actually happened. To me, that's what makes this game so much scarier is that it's based on a story that many pertain to be true (however, it may be a hoax). Like I said, play the game and look up the ship to find out how accurate the creators were to this folklore as they were in Until Dawn, it's actually quite interesting.

Do not expect another "Until Dawn".

Camera angles are a mess, as are some controls. Story is mediocre and lacks any real depth. Replay value is low, because the extremely predictable "twist" completely ruins the entire atmosphere and therefore the game itself. Towards the end, technical issues are frequent and character building is revealed to be a big joke.

Still, the acting is okay and it is entertaining enough to pick up if it is ever on sale for under ten bucks.

After the unspectacular Playstation VR game ''The Inpatient'' and the boring interactive Playstation 4 game with PlayLink feature ''Hidden Agenda'', I'm glad to announce that British video game developer Supermassive Games is back in the game with the release of ''The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan''. Just like this company's greatest success, the horror video game ''Until Dawn'' released four years ago, this is an interactive game. You can play five different characters and their survival depends upon the decisions you take throughout the game. The game can be played individually, by multiple players or online. This survival horror game is supposed to be the first in an anthology of eight games. The next entry in the franchise, titled ''Little Hope'' is supposed to be released in spring 2020. A new game is supposed to follow about every six months. I could see this become my favourite video game franchise ever if the series continues to keep the momentum of this first installment.

This story revolves around five characters stranded on a mysterious ship that disappeared in the Pacific Ocean after the end of the Second World War. Positive leader Alex, his shy brother Brad, Alex' adventurous girlfriend Julia and her quirky brother Conrad travel to the South Pacific Ocean for an illegal underwater diving expedition as they try to find a plane wreck at the bottom of the ocean. Their headstrong captain Fliss criticizes the group for its carelessness but accepts to help since she is in desperate need for money. Things turn sour when a group of pirates attacks them and attempts to find gold on a nearby ghost ship. Once the five lead characters and the pirates enter the ship, they realize that its crew died terrible deaths. The five lead characters must take the right decisions in order to avoid the same fate.

On the positive side, this game is very atmospheric. The opening hour isn't particularly gripping but serves to introduce the different characters efficiently. Once the characters arrive on the ghost ship, the atmosphere gets more intense and never lets go until the very end. The challenge level in this game is quite difficult. I played this game twice and only one character survived after my first try while nobody survived during my second attempt. The game has a lot of replay value as the story is quite variable. Characters can die or survive in many different ways and there are lots of secrets to be discovered throughout the game. These secrets will also unlock additional video clips which are very interesting to watch. The graphics and sound aren't as sharp as in ''Until Dawn'' due to a lower budget but they are overall still above average. The soundtrack of the game is outstanding and the title song ''A Conversation with Death'' by American doom metal band Khemmis is a very positive surprise. The song fits the game and its atmosphere and it's awesome to hear some great metal music in a video game.

The game also has a few downsides. The controls are complicated and lacking fluidity. Instead of entering a room, a character might hit a wall and you have to move very carefully. The different quick-time events are particularly challenging as you almost always make mistakes and end up in very dangerous situations.

The length of the game might seem like an initial disadvantage as it takes roughly five hours to complete it. However, the game has such a high replay value that you will spend many more hours playing this game. Plus, the game's price is very appropriate with around forty Canadian dollars plus taxes.

In the end, ''The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan'' is an outstanding survival horror game that convinces with intense atmosphere and great replay value. It leaves you wanting more and the next entry in the franchise with ''Little Hope'' can't come soon enough. The first trailer already looks quite promising and gives you Silent Hill and The Blair Witch Project vibes. Give this overlooked new game a try and enjoy it alone at night or with a couple of friends. The game is available on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

This game was a mess of glitches, uninteresting dialogue, and poorly timed jump scares. The game finally starts to gain traction and suddenly ends. We didn't even finish the game because it glitched and couldn't pass it. We looked up the ending and found that we were one decision away from the end, when we felt as though we had at least two more hours of playtime. I don't know how else to explain this game. Just don't buy it.