The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan Review
6.5. A creepy story based on a real, mysterious myth with good jump scares *MINOR SPOILER*
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan is a third person perspective survival horror video game by Supermassive Games and Bandai Namco Entertainment.
The Curator oversees the main story where you control five characters throughout the game, in a South Pacific Ocean spooky tale. Four college students; brothers Alex (Kareem Alleyne) and Brad (Chris Sandiford), Alex's girlfriend Julia (Arielle Palik) and Julia's brother Conrad (Shawn Ashmore), set out on an underwater diving expedition to a submerged WWII plane. Fliss (Ayisha Issa), is the captain of the Duke of Milan, the boat they hire for their search.
The group investigates the mysterious wreck, but events take a sinister turn when they encounter pirates and a huge ghost ship, causing them to lose their minds …
Quick time events and decisions made during each characters’ story arc are the main gameplay dynamics. You can choose to follow their “head” or “heart” via a moral compass device which appears when it’s time to decide, and your decisions affect the story’s outcome and fate of the characters. Decisions lead to different actions and consequences add tension, and there are various endings ranging from all alive, to all dead. I made it to the end only killing (accidentally) one character off.
They won’t all survive, or will they?
I enjoyed Man of Medan, I love this type of game and was especially excited that it was made by Supermassive Games (currently partnering with Bandai Namco Entertainment for this Anthology) who made Until Dawn, which was awesome.
It started well and I liked the opening 1945/47 section and the initial boat dive sequence, but this game’s story and gameplay aren’t as enjoyable as Until Dawn, which set a high bar for survival horror games. More interactive elements and quick time reactions to threats would improve the experience.
Gameplay is mainly set on the sinister ship, but it doesn’t have the same excitement and fluidity as Until Dawn did. The characters aren’t particularly likeable and there’s lots of walking around, either extra slow, or slow (‘fast’ walk). Getting stuck turning around in doorways, etc, is tedious. Action sped up near the end and it ended abruptly, but there are some good jump scares.
It can be played multiple times for multiple endings, and a “movie night” gameplay option to play with five players simultaneously in the same room, each controlling a different character, which is fun.The voice acting and motion capture is great, everything looked crisp and clear, apart from character’s mouths, which were weird and distracting at times.
The real myth the game is based on is creepy. In 1947, an SOS from an unknown source led to a ship, found floating in the Strait of Malacca. All crew aboard were dead with no obvious injuries. There are many conspiracy theories about this event - give it a google.
“All dead…I die…”