Preview: A New Level of Horror in Man of Medan

Recently I had the opportunity to go hands on with Supermassive Games upcoming title, Man of Medan; the first title in The Dark Anthology Pictures series.

During the preview I got roughly 90 mins with the game which allowed me to check out what looked like the opening sequence, the characters we will be exploring and the new shared story mode which allows you to play through the narrative with another player.

Even though I got 90 mins in, I was only allowed to showcase roughly 25 mins of it which you can see in the video below.

Man of Medan follows the horrifying journey of Conrad, Brad, Alex Julia and Fliss as a hamless boat trip quickly turns into an experience I'm sure they will never forget. We are also introduced to the Curator, a mysterious, timeless entity that follows your story and drops you subtle clues which you can pay attention to or ignore.

For those who have played Until Dawn, you will feel very at home with Man of Medan in terms of gameplay, however the developers have mentioned that there are way more branching story lines in the upcoming game which massively increases its replay-ability factor.

Visually the game looks amazing and can be played in Ultra HD. The capture of course does not show this due to its limitations, but characters looked lifelike and the environments were really well detailed further enhancing the scare factor.

Its always worth taking your time and exploring your environment as there are secrets hidden all over the place. During my time on the boat I came across pictures that give you a small glimpse into what lies ahead although it is unknown how far into the story it is, lets just say the vision wasn't a pleasant one.

You will definitely get your jump scares and moments of peace, but one gameplay mechanic that caught my attention is when you have to match your button press to your character's heart beat. At certain points you’ll need to stay calm and ensure your character stays that way too as Iit can be the difference between escaping the situation or losing your head. 

Touched on earlier is the Shared Story Mode where you can play online with another friend. The interesting thing here is that the choices you make affects you both and is definitely a first for games in this genre. You can play through scenes from a different perspective to the single-player experience and this time your choices spell consequences for everyone.

When this was announced to us at the preview, I'm sure everyone in the room was quire surprised by it as mentioned earlier, it definitely isn't something that has been done before. Even when I was done with the 90 mins it was great to discuss with my partner and others who played about their experience and the choices they made.

Another new addition is Movie Night Mode where you can Play locally in a group of up to 5 players with one controller, each taking charge of the decisions and choices of one of the five characters. There are a lot of individuals out there that enjoy watching games as much as playing them and this could be perfect for them or even a large group stream. The most intriguing part would be the decisions you make, whether for you own benefit or the group.

I'm excited for the upcoming release as what I've seen so far has definitely boosted my confidence in the game. The Dark Anthology Pictures seems to be quite the ambitious project, but after seeing what was presented in Man of Medan, I'm sure the team will knock it out of the park.

Man of Medan is schedule to be released on August 30th for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC.

For more information on The Dark Anthology Pictures or Man of Medan, check out the official website here https://www.thedarkpictures.com/

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