The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan Reviews
A fun and deeply scary game - and the multiplayer needs to be experienced.
Man of Medan takes players through an epic choose your own horror adventure. Whether you're a fan of horror, or a fan of having a friend around to hide behind Man of Medan is an incredibly fun game. Supermassive's approach to divergent story and story secrets rewards players for pushing themselves to experience the Man of Medan in a number of ways.
Although it doesn't quite hit the heights set by its inspirator Until Dawn, Man of Medan is a positive debut for the Dark Pictures Anthology thanks to an excellent narrative
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan offers up fun frights and a solid choice-based horror experience - especially when played with others on the same couch.
I feel like I've ripped on Man of Medan a lot which is odd considering I actually enjoyed it. Sadly, you can't help but compare it to Until Dawn which quite frankly did everything better. Man of Medan is over far too quickly and doesn't have the same impact of Supermassive's previous entry. It is, however, a short but sweet enjoyable romp which is way better when played with friends.
Man of Medan combines a strong cast with a memorable story, interesting choices, and co-op play to create an excellent interactive horror movie.
Overall I really enjoyed Man of Medan though and I’m looking forward to replaying it—and to whatever comes next for the series, as it’s pitched as an anthology.
The first game of The Dark Pictures Anthology is a step backward for the genre. The game needs a re-work especially in the structure of QTE and choices, but at this price and with multiplayer modes the overall value is good.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Despite how negative I may have seemed there, I do genuinely want The Dark Pictures Anthology to continue and succeed (the game even seems to tease the next entry in it, seemingly already in the works), as I loved Until Dawn and would love to see more similar experiences from Supermassive. But despite having the same solid mechanics as its big brother, Man of Medan starts the anthology off on a thoroughly "meh" note, thanks its unimpressive, poorly-constructed story.
A so-so debut for a promising series.
It is obvious that Man of Medan's gameplay inherits from Until Dawn, but the online multiplayer mode is impressive and interesting. Beside that, it is a underwhelming game with a bad story-telling pace.
Review in Chinese | Read full review
Although there were some cringy-dialogue options and I feel as if I spoiled the entire mystery by asking the curator for advice, I enjoyed my time playing through the story and trying to escape with as many – or as few – survivors as possible.
It’s not until you start playing around with the possibilities of the online co-op mode, and going over and over the different choices, that it offers pleasures in the complex calculations of its Butterfly Effect system. The fun lies more in the thought experiment of reflections on its myriad mechanics, and not in the murky depths of its spooky seafaring setting.
Supermassive Game's high concept - an anthology of horror stories - is off to a great start with Man of Medan. We don't get nearly enough horror that aims to be thoughtful like this. The challenge will be to make sure that each game in the series is different enough to reflect a different approach to horror, but things are off to a good start.
While relatively shorter than Until Dawn, The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan still manages to deliver a worthwhile romp through a supernatural horror film.
The horror genre is a tough nut to crack, but Man of Medan proves, once again, that Supermassive Games is truly the master of video game horror. I’m more excited than ever to see what the rest of the Dark Pictures Anthology will hold.
The Dark Pictures - Man Of Medan takes a while to get going, but eventually the scares start kicking in, and it's a lot of fun screaming alongside your friends. This is a game that's meant to be shared and is a blast to play in groups. A promising start to the horror anthology that will hopefully only get better with subsequent entries.
In a hard way, The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan is a good game with some undeniable issues in pacing the third act of the story and some framerate drops. A B movie-like Videogame, which gave you a good jump scares, simple but lovely characters, and a standard story. But in a simple way, if you enjoyed Until Dawn and want to play a more focused and shorter version of that with some changes, Man of Medan is a 30$ game that you will like it, but probably not more than what you expect.
Review in Persian | Read full review
All in all, The Dark Pictures Anthology: Episode 1 - Man of Medan is a worthy follow-up to Until Dawn. It hits a lot of the same notes, and it's clear the developers understood the group appeal of watching-slash-playing a cheesy horror film with friends. There are still some weak points, but Man of Medan shows a willingness to learn from the previous game's mistakes and leaves us curious to see the next part of the anthology.