The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan Reviews
If you like other choose-your-own-adventure games like Until Dawn, Life is Strange, and Detroit: Become Human, there’s definitely fun to be had here, but it is a flawed experience compared to other recent efforts.
Man of Medan keeps afloat thanks to an atmosphere full of charm, sufficiently original multiplayer gameplay, and a valuable sense of investigative discovery that supports the limited exploration.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan is a solid beginning to what I hope becomes a memorable selection of virtual horror outings. The setting here didn't do much for me if I'm perfectly honest, but the memorable characters, razor sharp pacing and well-placed scares make it excellent fun with a few friends by your side.
Until Dawn follow-up Man of Medan has amazing ideas in the cooperative space but collapses under the weights of performance issues.
Just like Until Dawn before it, Man of Medan is a knowingly schlocky and incredibly fun horror movie in video game form, tailor-made to bridge the gap between those two mediums. It's never truly terrifying, but always edge-of-your-seat thrilling right through to what can be quite an abrupt ending. As jarring as that may be, it's a great way for Supermassive to leave players wanting more and ultimately keen to check out additional short-form, budget-priced entries in the intriguing Dark Pictures Anthology.
While Until Dawn was a serving of shlocky horror served up with a self-referential grin, Man of Medan has less personality, in part because it's a smaller slice of story. That said, its online modes will be game-changers for the rest of the series.
One hopes Man of Medan will function similarly to a mediocre TV pilot for a series that only later finds its footing.
Man of Medan is a promising start to the Dark Pictures Anthology. I'd be happy to play more of these b-horror movie simulators, full of pretty people desperately trying to survive.
Man of Medan brings a strong multiplayer focus to the cinematic horror of Until Dawn.
If you are looking for a different experience, a leisurely game and with some doses of terror we recommend that you take a look at this Man Of Medan because it is a good title, different and fun to play alone or accompanied.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
When played with a group of friends The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan is an undeniably fun experience. However, the main story and core game feel rather skeletal when not being filled out by the real-world flesh and blood of your nearest and dearest. Bugs and performance issues constantly nag, but the real disappointment is that as a horror story Man of Medan is not even close to being as smart or fun as its predecessor. I hope the next entry in The Dark Pictures anthology can recapture the gore and glory from Until Dawn.
With more instalments to come in the Dark Pictures universe, there’s definitely space for improvement. And if the entire package is aiming to build on the surprising success of Until Dawn, it needs to make some adjustments.
Failing to deliver as an effective horror story, Man of Medan is interminably slow to get started, and when it does, the narrative and performances prove more laughable than scary. The best kind of horror is the stuff that really gets under your skin, but sadly, this barely even pricks it. A soggy first chapter in The Dark Pictures Anthology, Man of Medan is best left on the seabed to rust.
Man of Medan isn't a bad story, adventure game or honestly experience, it just has plenty of ways to improve. Between a slow burn leading to a quick fizzle at the end and performance issues, it's the type of experience that really requires a love for the genre or experience to have. You just have to ask yourself how much do you want to explore a largely linear world with seemingly limited choices to fight a threat that might not even exist and see how many of your friends make it out alive.
While the story didn’t live up to expectations, the actors’ performances are fantastic as Man of Medan delivers its quota of horror tropes in chapter one of The Dark Pictures Anthology.
Supermassive's next step into horror starts strong.
Man of Medan is a stellar example of how to push boundaries and innovate within genres that seem restrictive at first glance.
Despite it’s shortcomings, the game is still somewhat entertaining, and I’m hoping Supermassive will knock the next entry of this spooky anthology out of the park.
I’m not entirely sure Man of Medan is the absolute strongest example they could have put forward to launch what they hope to be an ongoing successful series.
The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan pales in comparison to Until Dawn in practically every way and only surpasses it in its amount of jankiness.