The Medium

 PC
User Score
7.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 801 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 501 out of 801
  2. Mixed: 131 out of 801
  3. Negative: 169 out of 801

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  1. Kharnivore2099
    Feb 1, 2021
    2
    A very disappointing title here. Performance issues abound and just a lack of any real coherent gameplay. Simply walk for long stretches of time, as the game refuses to let you run in many of the rooms, solving what can barely be considered puzzles. Then running away from things when it wants you to endure a chase scene, that almost feels like I'm playing Dragon's Lair again or thoseA very disappointing title here. Performance issues abound and just a lack of any real coherent gameplay. Simply walk for long stretches of time, as the game refuses to let you run in many of the rooms, solving what can barely be considered puzzles. Then running away from things when it wants you to endure a chase scene, that almost feels like I'm playing Dragon's Lair again or those terrible chase levels in games like the Lion King or Crash Bandicoot!. Enagements only become mildly challenging when the interaction mechanics of the game cause you issues. There are, irritating camera angles, a very narrow playfield because your display is split between two different world views...which inherently works against the game all thre way through. It's a bizarrely dreadful design choice, to say the least

    I'm a big fan of horror, old slower paced adventures and I can see what they were trying to do or achieve, but it's a tedious farce that isn't enjoyable to play at all. Regardless all the performance issues, there is just very little positive to say about it...other than it'll cost next to nothing to play on gamepass. You can't find much better games than this mess.    … Expand
  2. SpaceEquestrian
    Jan 30, 2021
    3
    Really wanted to love this game but it just sucks gameplay wise tbh.

    The good: - Interesting world. - Awesome artstyle/direction - Creepy Atmosphere - Split reality was a cool idea. - Fixed Camera angels - Story The meh: - Not really that scary - Plot holes in the story, and the ending was unsatisfying. - Constantly having to fight the controlls when the camera angels    Really wanted to love this game but it just sucks gameplay wise tbh.

    The good:
    - Interesting world.
    - Awesome artstyle/direction
    - Creepy Atmosphere
    - Split reality was a cool idea.
    - Fixed Camera angels
    - Story

    The meh:
    - Not really that scary
    - Plot holes in the story, and the ending was unsatisfying.
    - Constantly having to fight the controlls when the camera angels changes.

    The bad:
    - Game NEVER used the split reality mechanic to its fullest potential.
    - Unoptimized. HUGE framedrops for no reason.

    The awful:
    - Calling this a puzzle game is an insult to all puzzle games out there.
    - Game mechanics that are almost NEVER used (For example. Combining items, only used TWICE in the entire game)
    - Stealth, it just isn't good in the slightest.
    - Pretty much everything regarding gameplay is awful tbh.

    "The Medium is our biggest and most ambitious project to date!" - Bloober Team.

    i'm sorry but there's NOTHING ambitious with The Medium since you failed to even TRY to use the split reality mechanic to its fullest potential.

    3/10 Had potential but fell flat on its head.

    Do not recommend.    … Expand
  3. Lukitass
    Feb 1, 2021
    4
    No es AA es un indie.
    Gráficos 6 nada del otro mundo. Solo utiliza cámaras fijas con movimientos controlados, para ahorrar recursos. De esta forma, cualquier juego logra buena estética. Ya que no consume nada y pueden exprimir más cada hardware. Técnicamente es mucho menos que indie. Animaciones, malas, interacción con el entorno, inexistente, traspasa la hierba, no la mueve al caminar, es    No es AA es un indie.
    Gráficos 6 nada del otro mundo. Solo utiliza cámaras fijas con movimientos controlados, para ahorrar recursos. De esta forma, cualquier juego logra buena estética. Ya que no consume nada y pueden exprimir más cada hardware. Técnicamente es mucho menos que indie. Animaciones, malas, interacción con el entorno, inexistente, traspasa la hierba, no la mueve al caminar, es realmente malo el apartado técnico. La historia es correcta, pero mal contada. Ni llega a a ser un video juego. Ya que no podes siquiera tomar una decisión. Sólo tenes que ir viendo cóm
    o ocurren de manera forzada todos sus elementos. Aburrido como pocos. Until Dawn es 3 veces superior    … Expand
  4. Obdurodon
    Feb 22, 2021
    2
    The designers did a great job. The developers ... not so much. Almost refreshing, since the converse is far more common, but it still results in a poor experience. The controls are *very* primitive and laggy, and they're directional. The camera perspective changes every time you cross a tile boundary, so what used to be "forward" is now "left" etc. Very disorienting. Even basic explorationThe designers did a great job. The developers ... not so much. Almost refreshing, since the converse is far more common, but it still results in a poor experience. The controls are *very* primitive and laggy, and they're directional. The camera perspective changes every time you cross a tile boundary, so what used to be "forward" is now "left" etc. Very disorienting. Even basic exploration is a chore, and anything with even the slightest time element (e.g. an "out of body" experience) gets frustrating beyond belief. Apparently there are even more time-bound gameplay aspects like chases, and I literally can't imagine how those are even playable. It's a shame, because I feel that there might be a *great* game struggling to get out, but it's the most notable casualty in a grim game.

    P.S. I know this is not a AAA title, budgets are limited, etc. But the implementation is *bad*. I've seen student projects that had smoother and more natural movement. It feels like a slow emulation of something written for another platform, even when it's running natively on current-gen hardware. Just make it *playable* and you'll have plenty of grateful fans.    … Expand
  5. Deox_
    Mar 4, 2021
    0
    Grałem około dwie godziny, gra nie utrzymała mojej uwagi, akcja za wolno się rozpędza. Duchowa wizja jest bezużyteczna, przechodzenie pomiędzy światami jest słabo wykorzystane. Zagadki są banalnie proste i nie wymagają od gracza żadnego myślenia, wydają się być wepchnięte na siłę żeby wydłużyć czas gry. Akcja dzieje się w Polsce ale jedyne polskie napisy w świecie gry znajdują się naGrałem około dwie godziny, gra nie utrzymała mojej uwagi, akcja za wolno się rozpędza. Duchowa wizja jest bezużyteczna, przechodzenie pomiędzy światami jest słabo wykorzystane. Zagadki są banalnie proste i nie wymagają od gracza żadnego myślenia, wydają się być wepchnięte na siłę żeby wydłużyć czas gry. Akcja dzieje się w Polsce ale jedyne polskie napisy w świecie gry znajdują się na puszce karmy dla kotów i w formie smaczków, takich jak bestia z Wadowic haha bo wiecie papaj. Studio się obsrało i usunęło ten napis w jednej z aktualizacji. Polecam jak macie problemy z zasypianiem, wstęp ulula was do snu w 10 minut.… Expand
  6. KenjiFox
    Feb 1, 2021
    1
    This game is a buggy mess, one that is more frustrating to play than anything else. Any suspense or horror comes purely from the AWFUL controls. The camera switching is the most scary thing in the game.
    It's sad since the game is quite interesting when you can find the next bit of story, you certainly want to see what happens next. This serves to make you torture yourself as you slog    This game is a buggy mess, one that is more frustrating to play than anything else. Any suspense or horror comes purely from the AWFUL controls. The camera switching is the most scary thing in the game.
    It's sad since the game is quite interesting when you can find the next bit of story, you certainly want to see what happens next. This serves to make you torture yourself as you slog through the physical impasses that the game presents by way of wonky controls that are never consistent, and scripted events that either kill you or jar you from whatever you were actually trying to do.

    The game is gorgeous sometimes, and in the fleeting moments when you are not being confined to near identical looking labyrinths of meh, it can be stunning even. Some of the beginning sequences such as walking down a trail through a forest will make you stop and wish you could look around. Did I mention this plays from a fixed/on rails camera perspective like Resident Evil? Not my thing at all to be fair.
    I played on PC with the graphics maxed out. The game ran smoothly for me (as well it should with my computer!) except for a few of the split screen moments. Strangely, it was a game engine issue when it dropped from my monitors refresh rate of 150 to about 30. No matter what settings I changed in the game from minimum to maximum, it was always locked at a low FPS in these particular split scenes, and it was no faster at 720P minimum than 1080P Ultra. Too many draw calls perhaps? I didn't run it in DX12 with raytracing, so maybe it would have been different if I had.

    I stopped short of completing the game, at least for now. When you die due to a bug only to find that the nearest "checkpoint" is a long boring sequence back with lots of talking and artificially slow walking before even getting another chance at the quick time(ish) event the game requires to continue, the only emotion the game causes is RAGE by the third time.
    I'm upset since I wasted so much of my time and effort against the controls only to be insulted by the extremely poor checkpoint placement on top of it having been a bug that killed me in the first place. (very VERRY mild spoiler? maybe? The event in question involved grabbing and moving an object. To the devs, incase it was a bug that can be fixed; It was a cement mixer. You know the one. It could _NOT_ be moved.) If I could just watch this game play itself, I would. It DOES have an interesting story, nice visuals, and honestly great sound design.

    I would recommend skipping this game and going straight to your favorite online video site to watch a playthrough instead. I'm the type of gamer who is straight up allergic to spoilers, I NEVER look at videos before playing a game I am interested in. I don't like how hard companies have to try and pitch their games these days to the point of spoiling them themselves in fact. I've never recommended someone watch a play through of any game until this one, and generally frown upon those videos since they could be damaging to the game developers. In this case though I really think it's the better way to experience this one. :/ I might return to it and complete it some day, but definitely not today.
    As I mentioned above, I don't watch videos on things if I know I am interested in them heavily, such as a sequel to a game I loved. While this was not such a game, in this case I saw some media when it was first shown at e3 or whichever trade show it was first shown off at. I thought it looked really cool from the initial presentation, but I don't remember any indications that it was fixed camera, and worse, really poorly implemented fixed camera.
    Devs, make the horrible joystick direction lock handicap a toggle please? Actual gamers like myself who instinctively correct the joystick orientation do NOT like being constantly thrown into the wall by your built in baby system that lets you keep holding the joystick the same way after a camera change as you were before it. When you do need to make a slight adjustment after, the game then updates your direction to the one your joystick is actually at. Given how painfully slow the character turns around, this makes you slowly walk into a wall, then slowly scrape along as you S-L-O-W-L-Y turn around, just to go back the way you were already trying to go. No doubt while something is actively chasing you. :) I am very thankful I played this through Game Pass. I would have been extremely disappointed if I had spent any money on this game. I can justify my Game Pass cost with many other titles and completely omit this one from its value in my head thankfully.

    Three stars for cool idea and nice visuals, one ultimate star because the former positives to the game only serve to be the carrot on the end of the self torture stick.    … Expand
  7. Saijax05
    Feb 3, 2021
    0
    Невероятно скучная игра , с неплохой идеей , но отвратительной реализацией
  8. DetectiveAce
    Feb 1, 2021
    0
    Not a minute worth of playing. Just cheaply made. People call this the new silent hill. I call them fake gamers.
  9. SRPixel
    Feb 2, 2021
    1
    This game is very... Medium.
    The characters don't feel anything, they just say **** over and over again.
    The game is pretty, but the game-play is very repetitive.
    I think i will forgot about this game existence in a month or two.
  10. beria_the_bolsh
    Jan 30, 2021
    2
    They tried. If you're looking for a nice looking, easy walking simulator with a spooky ghost story that won't break your brain and get you some 'feels' this is it. If you're looking for a serious game of the likes of Silent Hill keep looking then.

    Technically it is a nice looking project. Story and gameplay wise, not so much. First - the game is a third person 'walking simulator' as in    They tried. If you're looking for a nice looking, easy walking simulator with a spooky ghost story that won't break your brain and get you some 'feels' this is it. If you're looking for a serious game of the likes of Silent Hill keep looking then.

    Technically it is a nice looking project. Story and gameplay wise, not so much. First - the game is a third person 'walking simulator' as in the game has no gameplay. At all. It just lets you click on stuff in a determined order. Second - the story has some good elements but overall the pacing is all wrong, writing is average, dialogues are ok, the monologues are downright terrible (and the protagonist comments on stuff quite a lot).

    A lot of people compare it to Silent Hill. Apart from general horror genre and fixed camera views there is nothing similar between the two games. The Medium has nice visuals but the feel is not dense or suffocating or even scary (not at all) as Silent Hill could do. The only emotions the game could bring up in me towards the end was of boredom and frustration (especially from the slow walking and running animations - it took forever to get anywhere). The gameplay is non-existent, the difficulty is laughable, the puzzles are "old school" as in a click on this before you bring the object from five meters away here to continue". Even good old Resident Evil could do better.

    As in Bloober's previous games the idea is there and it's not really a bad one. The execution is a hit and big miss.    … Expand
  11. Loaiy_
    Feb 2, 2021
    0
    This game is a joke, i have nothing else to say


    The gameplay is weak and the puzzles is baby level
  12. icegrandpa
    Feb 3, 2021
    0
    great game, music, story, graphics.
    sad part is that has no value to replay it.
  13. deathstramding
    Feb 22, 2021
    0
    a stupid bug-filled production story, not interesting, although it is a special game, I had fps drops, damn you
  14. Capybarin
    Feb 14, 2021
    2
    How about render 4 screens next time? I've heard that there's a PC that can run it still. You can do better next time. Have you ever run performance tests before release?
    Why do you decide to shrink both worlds instead of just switch between them? Maybe two screens should be must have to play? Along with 3090?
    Well music and artwork are awesome, I'll give you that.
  15. healthguy69
    Feb 5, 2021
    2
    Terrible gameplay, uninteresting characters, pretentious poetry style voice over (seriously bloober stop doing this), anything remotely interesting is a rip off of silent hill and not in cool homage kind of way but in an unimaginative lazy kind of way. Beautiful graphics do nothing to help this lackluster effort.
  16. Zeev82
    Feb 1, 2021
    1
    Nie ma miejsca w grach na kodziarska propagandę. ***** medium. Tyle w temacie
  17. Gronbar
    Feb 4, 2021
    1
    Terrible optimisation on PC, fps can drop to 4-5 for about half a minute when entering new room or inspecting objects almost unplayable. Flickering textures, slow object load time. Story is only medicore. Wait for optimisation patch or forget about this game.
  18. Kunray
    Mar 6, 2022
    1
    This games art style is awesome. It’s got a great soundtrack. Is both beautiful and creepy, but mostly charming. Please continue developing this game!
  19. MasterBen85
    Feb 7, 2021
    2
    Performance Horror aber kein Horror Game, Langweilig, lohnt nicht!

    Mein PC hat einen I7 9700K, 16GB G-SKill Ram, RTX3080, M2 SSD. UND ES IST NICHT FLÜSSIG spielbar! Selbst Cyberpunk läuft dagegen wie Butter in 1440P mit RayTracing alles auf High! Die Performance des Spiels wird um so länger man es spielt immer schlechter. In den ersten Szenen lief es mit knapp 100FPS alles auf High    Performance Horror aber kein Horror Game, Langweilig, lohnt nicht!

    Mein PC hat einen I7 9700K, 16GB G-SKill Ram, RTX3080, M2 SSD. UND ES IST NICHT FLÜSSIG spielbar!
    Selbst Cyberpunk läuft dagegen wie Butter in 1440P mit RayTracing alles auf High!

    Die Performance des Spiels wird um so länger man es spielt immer schlechter.
    In den ersten Szenen lief es mit knapp 100FPS alles auf High mit Raytracing.
    Richtung Ende hatte ich öfter 20-30FPS bei manchen Rätzeln in der nah Ansicht kurze Drops auf 2-3FPS für 10 Sec. Danach wieder 60-70FPS.

    Horror ist für mich Resident Evil 2,3,7 usw. Evil Within. Aber das hier ist echt langweilig.
    Laufen... Taste drücken... laufen... ein Gespräch anhören oder ein Zettel lesen. Kurz vor einen Monster in Deckung gehen weiter laufen.

    Hatte mir viel mehr erwartet. Aber das Spiel motiviert überhaupt nicht zum weiterspielen. Habe es trotzdem hinter mich gebracht. War im Gamepass dabei. Gekauft hätte ich es mir nie mals!!!

    Ich hoffe das Spiel wird noch optimiert!

    Einer der schlechtesten Spiele die ich je gespielt habe.    … Expand
  20. Daedalus77
    Jan 30, 2021
    0
    It's **** I do like horror/puzzle games and this one doesnt have neither. You just walk, solve some super easy dumb puzzles, look at your cellphone while you walk some more.... The story is a mess, gameplay is non existant. Just keep away from this, youll Just throw your time away.
  21. Steyraus
    Jan 29, 2021
    0
    These xbox fanboys and corupt reviewers that are review boosting the Medium are hurting gaming. They are increasing the likely hood of us not getting good Horror experiances like we use to . The 6 year old Untill Dawn and 10 year old Fatal Frame 4 on the Wii U were infinity better games than the medium and were along the same vein of game. If trash like the Medium gets review boosted , weThese xbox fanboys and corupt reviewers that are review boosting the Medium are hurting gaming. They are increasing the likely hood of us not getting good Horror experiances like we use to . The 6 year old Untill Dawn and 10 year old Fatal Frame 4 on the Wii U were infinity better games than the medium and were along the same vein of game. If trash like the Medium gets review boosted , we will continue to get buggy, low performance old outdated in every way horrorwalking simulators. Games that are glorifed bad story books and barly interactive. For the True horror game fans this future is the real horror, how can games that are decades old like Sillent hill, Fatal Frame and OG Resident Evil still be considered the best in the genre. Only Capcom are making serious strides to bring back horrors hay day, out of all the studios out there only one is on the right track. Because cheap, quick to develop walking simulators are low cost and low risk.
    A seasoned gamer will recognise the Medium as a low effort , cheap and Nasty experiance with in 20 minutes of seeing this game running. Unfortually most reviewers are casuals and noobs.
    Another cheap quickly developed Brain dead game from blooder studos . Another game with almost no mechanics or gameplay or interaction . Another game was little bugs and graphical glitches And bad animations . Another game with some stupid narrative that's popular with games journalists right now. Another game games journalist rate highly but gamers can't stand.    … Expand
  22. TomasLacerda
    Feb 1, 2021
    2
    Bad optimization, with or without Ray Tracing. The difficulty level of this game is borderline insulting, it's just too basic. The puzzles are really basic, everything is given to you. The gameplay is awful. How somoene approved this? The animations are dead aweful. I honestly can't understand how people are loving this game through the roof. Her movement is really 2015, the stuck camera,Bad optimization, with or without Ray Tracing. The difficulty level of this game is borderline insulting, it's just too basic. The puzzles are really basic, everything is given to you. The gameplay is awful. How somoene approved this? The animations are dead aweful. I honestly can't understand how people are loving this game through the roof. Her movement is really 2015, the stuck camera, how easy everything is... don't waste your time. It's overrated.… Expand
  23. rronenn
    Jan 30, 2021
    0
    This game is an original concept, and executed flawlessly. Perhaps the best aspects of the game are the references to popular genre defining titles like Silent Hill 2, Resident Evil, and The Evil Within. The story alone deserves a 10, but with putting other aspects into play, it simply cannot achieve that score. Running on a RTX 2060 with 16gb RAM, and a 1920x1080 aspect ratio, the gameThis game is an original concept, and executed flawlessly. Perhaps the best aspects of the game are the references to popular genre defining titles like Silent Hill 2, Resident Evil, and The Evil Within. The story alone deserves a 10, but with putting other aspects into play, it simply cannot achieve that score. Running on a RTX 2060 with 16gb RAM, and a 1920x1080 aspect ratio, the game can not run smoothly on high settings. It really impacts the score. Even though 2021 just started. This concept is original and should be a GOTY contender.… Expand
  24. fist13
    Feb 2, 2021
    0
    I wanted to like this game, but... Nope.
    The characters writing killed it for me.
    They are just... Bland and generic, and this is a game about paranormal stuff.
    They had the potential to make good characters.
    They try to make you care about them, but the characters don't care about whats happening.
    Everything feels forced.
  25. Justbuggy
    Feb 2, 2021
    1
    I played free to play ¨RPG maker horror games¨ that had a better plot than this.
    And those games are usually made by one person.
    I'm just so disappointed.
    Just go play ¨ib¨
  26. lNeo15l
    Jan 29, 2021
    4
    Jogo multiplataforma padrão game pass AA, estúdio pequeno e com baixo orçamento.
    Jogavel e de simples jogabilidade, tentou se inspirar em jogos antigos trazendo alguma nostalgia.
    Poderia ter uma melhor otimização, mas como o estúdio é pequeno acabou não conseguindo desempenho estável nos momentos que temos as duas telas. Xbox Series X 900p e no Xbox Series S 648p. Não tem com dar    Jogo multiplataforma padrão game pass AA, estúdio pequeno e com baixo orçamento.
    Jogavel e de simples jogabilidade, tentou se inspirar em jogos antigos trazendo alguma nostalgia.

    Poderia ter uma melhor otimização, mas como o estúdio é pequeno acabou não conseguindo desempenho estável nos momentos que temos as duas telas.
    Xbox Series X 900p e no Xbox Series S 648p.

    Não tem com dar uma nota maior que 6, neste caso fanboy detectado.
    Também não tem como ser menor de 2.    … Expand
  27. Andres_ftw
    Feb 12, 2021
    0
    Overall a terrible game, the gameplay is so boring I fell asleep a couple of times, the characters walk and run like they are f*ckin elders. The FPS is an absolute joke, the graphics are meh. Is this supposed to be the new Silent Hill?? LOL Another Microsoft exclusive that belongs in the thrash
  28. ShelbyShark
    Jan 31, 2021
    1
    Скучная, кислая, медленная, тягомотная, топорная анимация идиотское управление! Пробовал на халяву через game pass, никому не рекомендую покупать это говно. В моменты когда экран разделяется охото ржать! Будто ГГ ловит белку!!! С такой убогой анимацией смотреть на это тошно!Скучная, кислая, медленная, тягомотная, топорная анимация идиотское управление! Пробовал на халяву через game pass, никому не рекомендую покупать это говно. В моменты когда экран разделяется охото ржать! Будто ГГ ловит белку!!! С такой убогой анимацией смотреть на это тошно!
  29. Loxer
    Jan 29, 2021
    0
    Das Spiel läuft hier schon besser als auf der Series X und macht auch wenn es optisch jetzt nicht der Hit ist schon mehr her.
    Aber das es am PC besser läuft ändert nicht viel an der Katastrophe von Steuerung und der lahmen Story nach nicht mal 9 Std war ich fertig .
    Musik war super aber hilft auch nicht wenn der Rest echt mies ist .
  30. Mau316
    Jan 29, 2021
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Mucho mejor que en la versión de la xbox, pero lentisimo, aburrido y no asusta ni a un bebe. Next.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

13
#13 Most Discussed PC Game of 2021

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 49 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 49
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 49
  3. Negative: 1 out of 49
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Apr 12, 2021
    60
    The Medium is a psychological thriller with various simple puzzles, a whiff of horror and music like from Silent Hill. As a result, you will play the game mainly because of the storytelling and for its atmosphere. [Issue#310]
  2. Riot Pixels
    Apr 1, 2021
    69
    The Medium deftly ties all loose story ends and shows impressive art direction, but it lacks wholeness. The game feels like an artist who has too many ideas at the same time; he would grab a brush, then a pen or a piece of coal… but still cannot finish his masterpiece.
    Read full review
  3. Cubed3
    Feb 25, 2021
    80
    The Medium isn't an unflawed masterpiece. It's got some performance issues on PC and some jankeyness in unexpected places. However it has got this absolutely unique horror atmosphere, beautifully crafted worlds and some absolute heart-string pulling story moments. This is a successful return of the "horror adventure" game style from those golden oldies everyone fondly remembers. Bloober Team has done an outstanding job making this title and it's one hundred percent recommended to all fans of horror.
    Read full review
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