The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan

 PC
User Score
6.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 344 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 143 out of 344
  2. Mixed: 134 out of 344
  3. Negative: 67 out of 344

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  1. PenetratorGod
    Sep 1, 2023
    6
    Slightly above average story and gameplay. Game offers nothing special. Replayability is not very good.
  2. jelikey
    Aug 29, 2023
    6
    If you enjoy bad horror movies on netflix, you might enjoy this one.

    For hardcore/horror gamers.. don't. Awful jumpscares, extremely annoying characters and absolutely absurd writing for the dialogues. The game is 4 hours long and feels like 2 of those should be scraped off, bad pacing, bad story. It's just decent graphics and thats it.
  3. AgentLvi
    Jun 18, 2023
    7
    Decent game. The story is so --so, scoring is great, visual is decent, and the voice is also great
  4. Babutto
    Apr 23, 2023
    7
    Pros.:
    - Decision making.
    - Legit story.
    - Moderate length.

    Cons.:
    - Glitches.
    - Empty world. Too scripted.
    - Too obvious.
  5. Reviewer13
    Feb 5, 2023
    6
    Clumsy game controls, an incredibly boring story, weak and cringy dialogue, no likeable characters whatsoever. I'm only scoring it as high as I am due to it being very well presented in both sound and visuals. They really dropped the ball on this one but I am still keen to see what else they deliver in the future.
  6. Pmstz
    Feb 3, 2023
    5
    Average/ok game
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
  7. WHITESIXOMAR
    Jan 17, 2023
    7
    Despite its shortcomings, Man of Medan is still a fun experience. As a show of the potential for the Dark Pictures Anthology, the game is largely a success, but as a first episode, it leaves much to be desired. It’s a flawed but promising start for what’s to come. Supermassive Games has fulfilled its mission of perfecting the formula of heavily constrained gameplay and very low interactionDespite its shortcomings, Man of Medan is still a fun experience. As a show of the potential for the Dark Pictures Anthology, the game is largely a success, but as a first episode, it leaves much to be desired. It’s a flawed but promising start for what’s to come. Supermassive Games has fulfilled its mission of perfecting the formula of heavily constrained gameplay and very low interaction with the world, by placing the focus on the impact of making dialog choices, and how you react to quick time events (QTE). This takes away interactivity but provides unprecedented agency. is a true evolution of the interactive movie genre, and horror fans owe it to themselves to climb aboard. It’s a proper debut to the anthology series. It has the spooks, fun cast, and unforgiving consequences like we experienced in Until Dawn.… Expand
  8. Gyorgg
    Dec 29, 2022
    6
    Its a decent experience if you can get it for under 10 bucks but it doesnt warent anything more than a 6/10
  9. Davidnotavailab
    Nov 5, 2022
    5
    The story is not climatic at all, some decisions dont matter at all and it results in the same outcome, there are bassically 2 endings. Even on the boat theres no point in fighting olson, even if u win or lose that encounter same outcome. It would ve been cool if u could ve gone on the ship and they came to found u after restrained them or something on the ship. Idk just ideas, very shortThe story is not climatic at all, some decisions dont matter at all and it results in the same outcome, there are bassically 2 endings. Even on the boat theres no point in fighting olson, even if u win or lose that encounter same outcome. It would ve been cool if u could ve gone on the ship and they came to found u after restrained them or something on the ship. Idk just ideas, very short game and doesnt have much replayability options.… Expand
  10. Top1saraya_
    Oct 16, 2022
    5
    ---------------------
    / My score - 5 /
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  11. rezo_21
    Oct 11, 2022
    7
    ====================IIIIIIIIII GAME SCORE : 70 IIIIIIIIII====================
  12. george_bondo
    Jul 24, 2022
    7
    this game is just perfect with that beautiful music , characters and atmosphere
  13. Polthank
    Jun 24, 2022
    7
    Sumamente divertido , buen diseño de personajes . sustos garantizados , repercusión en la toma de acciones etc
  14. TEG_17
    May 9, 2022
    6
    Оценка после первого прохождения в одиночку, думаю в будущем пройти в компании. Так вот: кинематографическая графика, все довольно красиво. Сценарий простенький, но другого я не ожидал, так что это меня не расстроило.
    Из минусов то, что большую часть геймплея ты перемещаешься по кораблю и читаешь записки, что не очень увлекательно, но так как игра короткая, дошла до меня эта мысль уже к    Оценка после первого прохождения в одиночку, думаю в будущем пройти в компании. Так вот: кинематографическая графика, все довольно красиво. Сценарий простенький, но другого я не ожидал, так что это меня не расстроило.
    Из минусов то, что большую часть геймплея ты перемещаешься по кораблю и читаешь записки, что не очень увлекательно, но так как игра короткая, дошла до меня эта мысль уже к концу игры, а так держала в напряжении.
    В общем для интерактивного кинца пойдет, свою задачу выполняет.    … Expand
  15. TCM_Crash
    Mar 2, 2022
    7
    ---{ Graphics }---
    ☐ You forget what reality is
    ☑ Beautiful ☐ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☐ Very good ☐ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☑ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Story }--- ☐ No Story ☐ Some lore ☐ Average ☑ Good ☐ Lovely ☐ It'll replace your life ---{ Game Time }--- ☐ Long enough for a cup of    ---{ Graphics }---
    ☐ You forget what reality is
    ☑ Beautiful
    ☐ Good
    ☐ Decent
    ☐ Bad
    ☐ Don‘t look too long at it
    ☐ MS-DOS

    ---{ Gameplay }---
    ☐ Very good
    ☐ Good
    ☐ It's just gameplay
    ☑ Mehh
    ☐ Watch paint dry instead
    ☐ Just don't

    ---{ Story }---
    ☐ No Story
    ☐ Some lore
    ☐ Average
    ☑ Good
    ☐ Lovely
    ☐ It'll replace your life

    ---{ Game Time }---
    ☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
    ☑ Short
    ☐ Average
    ☐ Long
    ☐ To infinity and beyond

    ---{ Price }---
    ☐ It's free!
    ☐ Worth the price
    ☐ If it's on sale
    ☑ If u have some spare money left
    ☐ Not recommended
    ☐ You could also just burn your money    … Expand
  16. folmas
    Oct 31, 2021
    6
    Plot is okey, but characters arent bright, their relationship not such meaningful as in another series. uncomfortable camera and hard reaction test, which do not allow you to just investigate story.
  17. Grombl
    Oct 13, 2021
    5
    Perhaps it works better on PS4Pro or PS5 but on PS4 it works terrible. Several crashes, textures are loading on the go so first few seconds of the scene are some low poly meshes. The controls are horrible, everything is just so clumsy. I liked Until Dawn a lot, it had some problems as well but overall it was a great game But this one was simply poorly implemented and it does not work well.Perhaps it works better on PS4Pro or PS5 but on PS4 it works terrible. Several crashes, textures are loading on the go so first few seconds of the scene are some low poly meshes. The controls are horrible, everything is just so clumsy. I liked Until Dawn a lot, it had some problems as well but overall it was a great game But this one was simply poorly implemented and it does not work well. Too bad... I hope Little Hope works better… Expand
  18. DelPieroRUS
    Jul 4, 2021
    5
    Графика красивая, а все остальное - ужасно. Если ожидаете чего-то наподобие Until Dawn - будете разочарованы.

    Good in visuals and horrible in all other aspects. If you expect that this game will be as good as Until Dawn you will be dissapointed.
  19. jnamichalik
    Jun 24, 2021
    7
    Nice game, but really short. I know it is meant to be repeated to check multiple outcomes but even though I expected a longer story. The graphic however are stunning:) And there are few moments that I actually got scared and jumped from a chair, which is not so common and easy to do, so huge applause for that. I love it that you create a story based on your own choices, but I think it wasNice game, but really short. I know it is meant to be repeated to check multiple outcomes but even though I expected a longer story. The graphic however are stunning:) And there are few moments that I actually got scared and jumped from a chair, which is not so common and easy to do, so huge applause for that. I love it that you create a story based on your own choices, but I think it was done way better in Until Dawn.… Expand
  20. SuperkenGaming
    Feb 15, 2021
    7
    The Dark pictures Anthology Man of Medan
    Deserving more love
    Man of Madan is the first in a standalone series of horror games from the team that brought you Until Dawn. And I love what this series is doing, its givingyou bite sized interactive horror experiences. Man of Medan is only about 3 and a half hours long, but for good reason, this is a game all about consequence. 5 kids go    The Dark pictures Anthology Man of Medan
    Deserving more love
    Man of Madan is the first in a standalone series of horror games from the team that brought you Until Dawn.
    And I love what this series is doing, its givingyou bite sized interactive horror experiences.
    Man of Medan is only about 3 and a half hours long, but for good reason, this is a game all about consequence.
    5 kids go for a dive, things happen, next thing you know youre on a ghost ship and trying to escape.
    Much like Until Dawn, you control each of the 5 characters… Though this is more than just an interactive movie.. as all 5 vcan die, you can awkwardly misstep and that’s the end for yourcharacter, there is no last second heroic save you can expect from movies and that’s what makes supermassive so unique with what they deliver.. youre choices and actions have consequence.. where the game falls flat though is in its story, there isn’t much o a mystery to solve here, theres word on this mist that makes you go crazy, but its more so just an escpe the shi[ alive story, nothing pulling you through other than that… but it still manages to do well enough to make you want to go back and do things differently if you do lose a character, which is what a game like this needs to do, it needs to want you to go back and choose different paths, I just wish things were more interesting, though there is only so much you can do with a ghost ship, but at the same time, not enough was done with this ghost ship. They played with the idea of seeing the ship and ghosts form different time periods, and I would’ve loved to see them play with this more..
    Overall though, Im happy with what Supermassive Games seems to be doing with this series, it’s a fresh take on the horror genre, no more finding missing doorknobs and valves for 10 hours, just a to the point story of try to keep everyone alive..
    AI give The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan
    a 7/10    … Expand
  21. gotterpotter56
    Feb 7, 2021
    7
    Не плохое кинцо. Один раз можно пройти- а так не очень уж и интересно, игра быстро наскучивает.
  22. philzlz
    Feb 5, 2021
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have never played Until Dawn but heard good things about it, so I decided to give this a try. The game is VERY short (my first playthrough took me around three and a half hours. First impressions were pretty bad (the soldier intro after world war 2), the sound mixing didn't sound right and animations were wooden. The game picked up once you got to the main characters but the tanker does not make for nice gameplay. Hallway after hallway, similar rooms and textures made it feel quiet repetitive.

    Now this is a game to be played multiple times but after my first playthrough I didn't feel the urge to. The story is pretty lackluster and once you understand what's going on the sense of danger disappears. I still had fun for a few hours but can not recommended this at full price.    … Expand
  23. thenthomwaslike
    Jan 17, 2021
    7
    It was much better than I was expecting. It's obviously gorgeous to look at, a little stiff to control, but that stiffness in controls doesn't hurt your chances at a good experience. It was sufficiently scary, but those scares were jump scares most of the time. The "keep calm" rhythmic heartbeat mechanic worked well to building tension and the mysteries were very cool. I hope we can getIt was much better than I was expecting. It's obviously gorgeous to look at, a little stiff to control, but that stiffness in controls doesn't hurt your chances at a good experience. It was sufficiently scary, but those scares were jump scares most of the time. The "keep calm" rhythmic heartbeat mechanic worked well to building tension and the mysteries were very cool. I hope we can get more lore relating to what happened on this ship in the future installments. I got a "bad ending" and it was still satisfying.… Expand
  24. VOGN1TE
    Oct 30, 2020
    5
    Playing this game with big expectation -at least It'll on par with Until Dawn.
    But, it's really far. The lore actually is pretty great, but the story, very standard.
    Characters, not interesting. It's not like Until Dawn with lot of memorable characters. Is it scary? No. It just give me some jump scare. But that doesn't make the game scary at all. I didn't find this game to have    Playing this game with big expectation -at least It'll on par with Until Dawn.
    But, it's really far. The lore actually is pretty great, but the story, very standard.
    Characters, not interesting. It's not like Until Dawn with lot of memorable characters.
    Is it scary? No. It just give me some jump scare. But that doesn't make the game scary at all.
    I didn't find this game to have replayability feel, except you gonna play it with your friend.    … Expand
  25. watchm824
    Aug 24, 2020
    7
    I love interactive films. Man of Medan is not a bad game. And everyone who likes this genre should definitely play it.
    But for some reason the plot didn't catch me. And only one of the characters I liked. All the others were indifferent to me.
    Still, Until Dawn I liked more.
  26. Adriano023
    Jul 28, 2020
    5
    Compared to Until dawn this game , this story is too predictable and boring... I already know what is going to happen in the beginning of the story
  27. Alexb1096
    Jul 24, 2020
    5
    ITALIAN:
    Bella idea ma realizzata malissimo, e soprattutto mi aspettavo molto di più da un gioco che pesa 70 Gb.
    AUDIO E GRAGICA: Tutto buono ma non degno di nota, le animazioni sono un po' macchinose e in generale risulta un po' anonimo. Il doppiaggio (io l'ho giocato in italiano) è buono anche se non eccezionale, ma soprattutto sono i dialoghi in sé ad essere osceni. Le frasi    ITALIAN:
    Bella idea ma realizzata malissimo, e soprattutto mi aspettavo molto di più da un gioco che pesa 70 Gb.

    AUDIO E GRAGICA:
    Tutto buono ma non degno di nota, le animazioni sono un po' macchinose e in generale risulta un po' anonimo.
    Il doppiaggio (io l'ho giocato in italiano) è buono anche se non eccezionale, ma soprattutto sono i dialoghi in sé ad essere osceni. Le frasi spesso sono del tutto irrealistiche (a volta le risposte non sono pertinenti con le domande), così come l'atteggiamento dei personaggi.

    GAMEPLAY:
    Quello che dovrebbe essere il punto di forza diventa l'aspetto peggiore del gioco.
    Io l'ho giocato con altri miei 4 amici, utilizzando la tastiera del mio PC, e l'idea di poter giocare a turni è molto interessante. Quello che invece è pessimo è il movimento dei personaggi (troppo lento, macchinoso e impreciso), così come le inquadrature delle scene (simile ai primi Resident Evil) che vogliono ricreare uno stile cinematografico ma finiscono per essere fastidiose.
    Inoltre i quick time events sono adatti allo stile di gioco, però a volte sono inadatti alla situazione e quindi difficilissimi da fare e prevedere.

    STORIA:
    Storia interessante ma andando avanti sembra che i personaggi non apprendano le cose che noi giocatori gli facciamo trovare nel livello, rimanendo molto tempo a cercare di capire di qualcosa che noi abbiamo già appreso (soprattutto leggendo lettere e quaderni sparsi per la mappa).
    Bella invece l'idea dei quadri sparsi per il gioco che rivelano delle possibili situazioni future.

    VOTO: 5/10    … Expand
  28. Nameless2131
    Apr 14, 2020
    6
    story is trash
    but overal its fun to play co op with friends for just 5 hour
  29. AstiX
    Apr 8, 2020
    6
    The story is alright even though it's a generic horror cliche, the acting is decent, but you have so little control over your characters that you're basically watching cutscenes 70% of the time. Even when you do get to play every action you make is soooo slooooow. If I hadn't been playing with a friend I might've fallen asleep.

    Speaking of playing with a friend, the co-op is so weird.    The story is alright even though it's a generic horror cliche, the acting is decent, but you have so little control over your characters that you're basically watching cutscenes 70% of the time. Even when you do get to play every action you make is soooo slooooow. If I hadn't been playing with a friend I might've fallen asleep.

    Speaking of playing with a friend, the co-op is so weird. Most of the time you're separated and playing in entirely different locations interacting with different characters. Online voice chat with your partner will be mostly silence, because there's very little actual "cooperation" that'd require you to communicate.    … Expand
  30. Jamejarrs
    Nov 15, 2019
    7
    I loved Until Dawn and was excited to give this game a go. While the DNA can certainly be felt in places, it doesn't quite live up to its precedent. It does make some improvements to their formula, such as getting rid of the much dreaded "Stay Still" for a rhythm game that feels more skill-based as opposed to hoping the game doesn't think you nudged the controller.

    First of all, the    I loved Until Dawn and was excited to give this game a go. While the DNA can certainly be felt in places, it doesn't quite live up to its precedent. It does make some improvements to their formula, such as getting rid of the much dreaded "Stay Still" for a rhythm game that feels more skill-based as opposed to hoping the game doesn't think you nudged the controller.

    First of all, the game is shorter, lending itself more toward replaying for alternative choices, and I think the wealth of choices and outcomes is a huge plus in this game's favor.

    I started a second playthrough and it's impressive just how much character interactions can change based on past decisions, while the personality trait system of Until Dawn felt superfluous at times, you can feel its influence in moments. Saying something brash can make your character act more confident later on, as opposed to if you chose the other option and your character might approach the same conversation/scenario completely differently.

    Another neat moment I had was after finishing the game, I replayed the final chapter hoping to make a decision that would lead to something very specific happening. I was surprised when what I wanted to happen didn't happen at all simply because of one small thing I didn't do earlier, and I got to see a scene that a lot of people probably won't see playing through the game naturally.

    The main thing holding me back from an 8/9 score is the story, you will probably solve the game's mysteries long before the characters do. The characters can be hit or miss - Fliss appears to be the fan favorite and I can see why.

    Additionally there are small technical problems that might frustrate you such as dark, almost monochromatic environments where it can be hard to find your way forward. There were also a few times my character would attempt to walk forward and get caught on some part of the environment and I'd have to wiggle them off.

    Over all, I say that if you're a fan of Until Dawn or narrative-based games in general, it's worth a try especially if you can get it on sale. I will most likely be playing the next game in the anthology when that comes out.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

43
#43 Most Discussed PC Game of 2019
100
#100 Most Shared PC Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 23
  3. Negative: 1 out of 23
  1. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Oct 11, 2019
    80
    Despite completely original story, Man of Medan feels more like an Until Dawn expansion pack than game of its own. It also is noticeably shorter and less varied, although still fun to play. [Issue#240, p.32]
  2. PLAY! Zine
    Oct 8, 2019
    80
    Man of Medan is the first entry in what should be a series of horror games based on urban legends in the Dark Pictures Anthology. It combines all the classic elements from choice and consequence adventures and puts them into an uneasy environment, where nobody of the main characters is safe. It has flaws in the terms of camera and exploration features, but it can be a very solid beginning to something new in the horror gaming genre.
    Read full review
  3. Adventure Gamers
    Sep 20, 2019
    80
    While predictably light on actual gameplay, Supermassive’s kick-off to their Dark Pictures Anthology is a welcome return to form that ticks all the right boxes for a scarily good time. Whether alone or with friends, raise the sails and weigh anchor aboard Man of Medan’s ghost ship if you dare.
    Read full review
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