The Medium

The Medium is a psychological horror, where the player becomes a woman named Marianne, able to perceive the spiritual world. The protagonist is trying to solve the mystery of the death of a child. The game was developed by the Polish Bloober Team studio (creators of Observer, Blair Witch and Layers of Fear series).

Plot

The Medium takes place in the 1990s in Krakow (the studio's hometown) in the abandoned Hotel Niva, based on an actual hotel from that city, called Hotel Cracovia. The main character is Marianne, the eponymous medium. The heroine experiences visions showing death of an innocent child and decides to solve this mystery.

Gameplay

The Medium takes direct inspiration from games such as Silent Hill , or the Fatal Frame series, for example by setting the camera in predefined fixed angles, rather than traditionally using the first, or third person perspective. In terms of gameplay, it focuses on exploring locations, solving puzzles and dealing with various hazards, in particular a monster called The Maw. Marianne's keen senses help her find clues – she can hear the "echo of emotions" bound to an object, and overhear snippets of past conversations spoken in particular places.

Dual World

The game uses an interesting mechanics of shifting between two worlds – thanks to her supernatural skills, the protagonist is able to perceive the spiritual world and interact with it. At certain moments, the heroine can move there, or function in both worlds at the same time – on those occasions, the game uses a split-screen of sorts, displaying the regular and spiritual version of the reality simultaniously. Marianne can also briefly depart her body and travel freely in the spirit realm, which is often key in solving puzzles and opening passages. Marianne also possesses several other supernatural abilities, such as surrounding herself with protective cover that hinders other spirits, or sending out waves of energy able to harm them.

Notably, the game's visuals are strongly embedded in the works of a surreal Polish painter, Zdzislaw Beksinski.

The Medium is exclusively single-player. The backbone of the game is the campaign.

Music

The soundtrack was composed by Akira Yamaoka, known to many players as the composer of the score to Silent Hill series, and Arkadiusz Reikowski, who also scored previous games from Bloober Team. Mary Elisabeth McGlynn, who collaborated with Yamaoka on the soundtrack to Silent Hill, scored the vocal performance.

Languages

The Medium is available in 10 languages: English, French, Italian, German, Polish, Spanish, Japanese, Portugese, Brazilian Portugese, Russian, and Simplified Chinese. The English version features actor Troy Baker, a notable video-game voice actor.

Last updated on 07 January 2021