The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan Reviews
After the release of Until Dawn, many were excited for what Supermassive would tackle next. The first installment in The Dark Pictures Anthology called Man of Medan won't appeal to everyone. It still has believable and realistic characters attempting to survive a horrible situation. With multiple avenues of success and failure. But the narrative takes a while to get started and the movement of the characters when exploring can feel like they have a force field around them. Regardless, Man of Medan excels at delivering an uneasy and tension-filled horror adventure.
Bad acting and not that great of a story plus some control issues, really feels like at least one or two steps down from their previous successful game. If Supermassive Games wants to make The Dark Pictures Anthology a great franchise, they need to make big changes because Man of Medan leaves a lot to be desired.
Review in Persian | Read full review
The shorter narrative and anthology presentation suits the title better than a standalone full-priced title
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan is a must-play for anyone that appreciates horror gaming at its finest, for anyone that enjoys picking away at how a game is put together, for anyone that's got even a passing interest in finding the best storytelling vidoegames have to offer.
Despite having a decent story-line and a well-structured choice system, Man of Medan is a typical narrative experience ruined by a medley of messy controls. It does not present you with any moral dilemma, however, it may bring about horrifying premonitions. Therefore, one must tread carefully on uncharted territory and ponder whether probing deeper will have any inadvertent consequences.
Despite some technical hiccups, Man of Medan succeeds as an engrossing interactive thriller that will keep you on your toes for the duration of a couple of playthroughs. With so many different ways to play the game, alone or with friends online or locally, Man of Medan is an overall great horror experience.
Looking back at it, Man of Medan isn’t the awesome successor to Until Dawn we wanted, but it’s a good step to delivering that successor. While it inherits a similar structure – and it’s bizarre performance issues – it just isn’t as enthralling as what came before. Some routes are disjointed and the cast and environment aren’t as interesting as the sassy clique that fought off the Wendigos, but it’s still a strong horror experience that makes for a fantastic co-op experience. The look on your friend’s face when you accidentally kill his character is one you’ll never forget.
Man of Medan is basically the same as Until Dawn, just featuring a different coat of paint and a bit shorter and adequately priced. Supermassive Games have delivered exactly what they've promised and from that point of view, it's hard to be disappointed.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Sure, Man of Medan has a few rough edges, but it’s a confident first step in a new series of games. It keeps the core of what made people love Until Dawn and breathes fresh life into it by adding more depth to the branching narrative system, and including an excellent multiplayer side. A little more polish and a bit more bite to the game’s finale would be nice, but this is still a hugely entertaining slice of interactive horror that brings the thrilling uncertainty of other people’s decisions to the murder party.
It may be clever, scary and intriguing, but Man of Medan rarely reaches the heights of its stablemate and elder sibling, Until Dawn. Perhaps its a case of difficult second album syndrome, or more likely, it’s just too weighed down by the tropes and trappings associated with the genre. (And the sooner Supermassive ditches its penchant for fourth-wall-breaking, creepy old narrators, the better.)
Supermassive Games have managed to again tap into what makes a good horror tale. If you can forgive some of its cheesy narrative moments and glitches, Man of Medan shows promise for a future franchise. You just have to play with a friend to fully appreciate it.
The concept behind Man of Medan does not reach its full potential in the singleplayer mode due to the short play time, missed meaningful turning point opportunities and a lot of technical issues but manages to do a lot right in the different multiplayer parts of the game. If you are looking for a good horror evening with friends in front of the TV or online you should give Man of Medan a chance.
Review in German | Read full review
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan presents some amazing steps forward in the narrative adventure genre made by Supermassive Games. They have truly outdone themselves with their attention to story development and overall design.
Hopefully, Supermassive Games can learn from what went wrong here and apply it to their next projects.
Man of Medan is a solid horror experience that relies on the strengths of the developers' past success. It's admittedly trashier than its campy predecessor, but the prospect of playing through it with friends feels like the ultimate evening of entertainment. A great mix of creepiness, suspense, and just the right amount of genre silliness.
While it lacks the scare factor, the concept of a horror anthology series with co-op multiplayer is pretty unique and executed in a great way. The writing is rather weak for this first entry but the gameplay with its branching narrative offers sufficient replay value.
Man of Medan offers an interesting horror story with a unique way of cooperative gameplay, but it should offer more interactivity and more replayability.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Man of Medan is a thrilling introduction to this new anthology and while the buildup is somewhat slow and the ending was an anticlimax, everything in between was a treat and proves yet again that Supermassive has a good grip on the horror genre.
There are some issues in Man of Medan than could be fixed via updates, but this doesn't change the fact that the characters don't have any charisma. However, the story can get the players involved and make them scared to death.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
And the best part is that Man of Medan has so many choices that I can go back, and play something completely different.