Written by Alexander O. Cuaycong and Anthony L. Cuaycong
Title: The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan
Developer: Supermassive Games
Publisher: BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment
Genre: Action, Adventure
Price: $29.99
Also Available On: PS4, Steam
There's a huge lack of scary titles currently out on the market. Aside from the release of a few choice offerings such as the remake of Resident Evil 2 last year, the gaming landscape seems to have largely eschewed the genre; not many developers appear willing to try their hand at creating the next horror classic. Thankfully, Supermassive Games is not among them. From its humble beginnings making downloadable add-ons for the Sony PlayStation 3 platformer Little Big Planet in 2009, the independent company based in Surrey, England has come a long way; now, it's recognized as an award-winning creator of content that pushes the envelope.
Indeed, Supermassive Games has continually sought to challenge itself. In 2015, it came up with the surprise hit Until Dawn. The gaming equivalent of a slasher film gained critical praise for a unique capacity to combine engrossing storytelling with immersive gameplay. The product likewise spurred the developer to take the concept further, partnering with Bandai Namco in its intent to explore the boundaries of interactive horror. The result of the collaboration: a collection of eight standalone installments slated for release six months from the last.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan is the first of the eight titles to hit store shelves. Released on the PS4, the Microsoft Xbox One, and the personal computer via Steam last August, it's a grim tale focusing on the legend of the missing Indonesian ghost ship Ourang Medan, and of the five adventurous divers forced to survive within after having been taken captive by pirates in search of treasure. Throughout the interactive narrative, gamers are compelled to take control of the characters and make choices based on logic or emotion, or both, with the consequences of the choices accordingly changing the flow of the story.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan relies on a simple premise to push forward, but structures the plot as to produce multiple endings based on the gamers' decisions. The characters themselves evolve based on the aforesaid decisions, with developments then affecting interpersonal ties. Once in a while, it employs formulaic elements and comes up with stilted dialogue. For the most part, however, it succeeds in building up tension and creating an atmosphere of uncertainty critical to immersive survival horror. For all its cliched beats, it invariably feels in touch with what its audience wants, and manages to hammer home the point that all actions have reactions with aplomb.
As with Until Dawn, The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan, there is causality to every single choice. From the outset, the story takes shape in accordance with the decisions of gamers, down to what words they opt to have their characters say in a given conversation. Some decisions can prove beneficial as a whole, while others may be fatal. An untimely (and sometimes unfair) demise isn't uncommon, and the story doesn't stop with the death. Rather, the loss is acknowledged, and the narrative continues to be shaped — until, that is, all characters are dead, or the mystery of Ourang Medan is solved.
Standard quick-time events and exploration segments pad the gameplay, and while they feel a bit intrusive at times, they admittedly help frame the story. In this regard, The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan benefits from its excellent rendering on the Xbox One. It runs crisply and smoothly, with little to no stuttering — a technical feat considering that the environments look unnervingly lifelike. The music and voice tracks are likewise spot on, helping provide an appropriately suffocating atmosphere, especially as it ramps up to its climax.
To be sure, The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan isn't without its flaws. Along with good points, it has also borrowed some of Until Dawn's bad ones. For instance, it forces gamers to empathize with largely unlikable characters; the investment of time and effort can be undervalued given the borderline-abhorrent personalities involved. Moreover, occasionally stiff and awkward motion-capture movements — while amounting to nitpicks in the grand scheme of things — draw gamers out of the otherwise-immersive experience.
Given the narrative structure, The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan works best with cooperative play, which has gamers spending much of it separately in the leadup to the denouement. In this regard, the destination becomes less important compared to the journey. Of the various endings, the worst ones reveal nothing of value about the overarching story, while the best one comes off more like a sucker-punch twist than a truly satisfying payoff to five hours or so of gameplay. Admittedly, its replay elements — repeating it to make different choices and see different outcomes — form part of the main attraction. Because it fails to give a satisfying conclusion even at its finest, though, it winds up being betrayed by the extremely high expectations it had set for itself.
On the whole, The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan gives the series a promising start. It offers a superior multiple-player run-through, its flawed story notwithstanding. It could have been much, much better, however, were its endings, and its characters, a little more fun, a little more interesting, and a little less random. Which, in a nutshell, makes it more of a promise than a fulfillment of one. Knowing Supermassive Games, better titles lie ahead.
THE GOOD
- Good premise with great buildup and great atmosphere
- Choose Your Own Adventure type of survival horror, with the story integrating gamer actions well
- Outstanding cooperative gameplay
THE BAD
- Unsatisfying endings
- Unlikable characters.
- Occasionally stiff movements
- Quick-Time Events feel like padding sometimes
RATING: 7.5/10
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