The Medium

The Medium is an enjoyable survival horror that's held back by a lacklustre narrative and a signature mechanic that never reaches its full potential. Even with Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka's score ringing across the twisted soviet world, Bloober Team's latest project pales in comparison to the legends that came before it.

The Medium is a really good horror adventure with some stand out ideas and excellent presentation. It makes the most of its influences to create an atmospheric and involving narrative, but its wider context as a next-gen exclusive may lead many to expect it to be a grander step forward than it is. Taken on its own merits, and particularly for genre fans, this is a genuinely great game and I look forward to replaying it to take in all the amazing details and touches that I may have missed first time through. With some questions left unanswered, I hope it does well and develops into a franchise.

A lack of exclusive titles for Xbox Series X|S has put an overly harsh spotlight on The Medium, and I hope it won’t result in unfair criticism. No, this isn’t a production up to the level you might expect from Naughty Dog or The Coalition. This is an indie game that’s performing on the biggest stage, and for the most part it’s put on quite the show.

Of course, it helps that it easily has what one can say will be some of the year’s best visuals, as well as an eerie soundtrack featuring the likes of Akira Yamaoka. The Medium is a quick yet astonishing trip through a pair of engrossing worlds where practically every element comes together nicely, and it’s all worth taking some looks at.

Bloober Team does well to keep things taut all the way to the end, but there's a frustrating amount of untapped potential beneath its gameplay gimmicks and art direction.

A third-person horror game that's elevated by some of the sharpest writing and acting in the genre.

Yes, Marianne's world is one of duality - good and evil; heaven and hell; life and death - there is little negative to weigh down Bloober Team's lofty ambition. Even though it substitutes scripted scares for an unsettling atmosphere instead - something I fear not all fans will be happy with - The Medium is the studio's most successful, accessible offering yet, and a sign that Bloober continues to improve, mature, and innovate. I cannot wait for its next terrifying adventure.

The Medium isn't even really a horror game, despite the setting and themes, and lacks any scares bar an early cheap jump. For a studio so focused on creating psychological horror it's hard to see this mildly spooky action-adventure as anything other than a misstep.

Even while taking notes, the story became difficult to follow. It took me 12 hours over three nights to play, and towards the finale I was astounded by how a game so short could feel so long. This certainly is a game of two worlds: one very beautiful and one very empty, unfortunately leaving us with a game that is all skin and no spirit.

Some of the best horror games of the last decade have offered combat-free frights. After all, abandoned buildings are scarier when you can’t push back against the shadows. However, The Medium’s lack of combat highlights the challenge of letting atmosphere and puzzles carry a horror experience. The idea of exploring split realities is neat, but Bloober Team needed another gameplay hook to hang its hat on, because this horror show is a bit shallow.

The Medium uses a unique reality-shifting ability to bring a new dimension to some tried-and-tested genre puzzle-solving mechanics. It presents an intriguing mystery to unravel and adds a tangible sense of urgency to your investigations by placing a truly memorable villain hot on your heels. It isn’t able to play with perspective as effectively as some of Bloober Team’s other work, but it’s brilliantly paced and palpably tense. An absorbing and nerve-racking journey from the shriek of its first jump scare to its very last gasp, The Medium delivers a psychological horror adventure that’s all thriller and no filler.

My favorite part of The Medium ended up being its "semi-fixed cameras," which blend old and new design philosophies in a way that seems genuinely palatable in 2021. That's the real achievement here. I can easily picture a more well-rounded sequel happening, and for what it's worth, I hope it does.