The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan

Man of Medan is an absolutely brilliant take on the interactive horror genre, with excellent acting and story telling, amazing visuals and plenty to warrant multiple plays. The fact that you can now also do this with friends adds to the experience greatly, lending an extra air of uncertainty to proceedings. Some slight technical and presentation issues aside, I’m glad that more people get to experience Supermassive’s work. Here’s hoping the rest of the anthology can keep up the good work.

Man of Medan is one of those near must play titles, and I can’t wait for the next instalment in The Dark Pictures Anthology.

Man of Medan shows a lot of promise for The Dark Pictures Anthology. I never thought it was too difficult, and the scares really did get me a few times as well as my friends. Some may say it is too short, but I think it was the perfect length for the story and the great thing is, we’re getting a new story and game in less than a year. Fans of horror and adventure games will have a blast here. Any fan of Until Dawn should not worry, this one lives up to the hype.

Supermassive Games delivers a compelling and intriguing horror-thriller adventure, with a great atmosphere and plenty of story branches based on player choices. We would have loved more tools to enable branches exploration, like a choices map or the ability to skip already seen cut-scenes, but it's definitely a great start for this new anthology games series.

Though much shorter and not quite as compelling as its predecessor Until Dawn, Man of Medan maintains the guts of the excellent interactive horror format. Its smart multiplayer modes, complex sub-plots, branching paths and assorted endings make it a blast for movie nights and a great start to a promising anthology.

The horror genre is a tough nut to crack, but Man of Medan proves, once again, that Supermassive Games is truly the master of video game horror. I’m more excited than ever to see what the rest of the Dark Pictures Anthology will hold.

If you are looking for a different experience, a slow game and some doses of horror we recommend you take a look at this Man Of Medan because it is a good title, different and fun to play alone or in company.

A little sedate, but a finely crafted slab of horror for those who enjoy cinematic games. [Issue#182, p.83]

Man of Medan doesn't have the most terrifying nor the most interesting horror story, but the exploring the alternative scenarios to keep all your characters alive and the Co-op component gives some value to the experience with the potential to present something better with its next horror story.

Man of Medan isn’t the success that Until Dawn was, and it represents a big step back in terms of player interaction and storytelling, but it’s still a thrilling horror experience that made me scream, laugh, and want to jump right back in for a second or third playthrough to see if I could keep everyone alive.

Man of Medan lacks the campy charm of Until Dawn, but still offers an unnerving horror adventure with consequences that felt directly linked to my actions. If you can get through its slow beginning twice, playing through with a co-op partner is a blast as you both properly explore its many branching storylines.

The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan keeps alive the "interactive horror movie" proposal that gave Supermassive Games such good results with Until Dawn. However, this new adventure falls short in every sense, but mainly the narrative.

While the story didn’t live up to expectations, the actors' performances are fantastic as Man of Medan delivers its quota of horror tropes in chapter one of The Dark Pictures Anthology.

Visually a great "slasher" horror with an incredibly branched story. Shame it has cheap jumpscares, short play time and stiff controls with frequent QTE moments. If you use horrors to relax, this game is for you. [Issue#298]

One look at the score and you might feel that the The Dark Pictures Anthology has a long road ahead to prove itself, but as is the case with the anthology format - it’s one spectacular or memorable story away from becoming a cult or out-right classic. The format, setting, technology, craft, and interactivity on display in Man of Medan bodes well for the future. What we’ve got here, although replayable, doesn’t quite invoke the sense or feeling or general incentive for you to go back to re-watch or re-play. A so-so debut for a promising series.

As a fan of Until Dawn, Man of Medan certainly scratches a similar itch and has moments that remind me of the PS4 exclusive. The multiplayer modes are a welcome addition, making Man of Medan into a bit of a party game in a way that I would never have expected going in. Unfortunately, the host of technical issues really impact the fun here, in a very negative way. So, provided these things can be fixed, then I would say Man of Medan is worth your time. However, I would absolutely hold off on a purchase until we hear of or see improvements down the road.

Man of Medan is a game we want to love – for all of its B-movie nonsense and cookie-cutter characterisation, there’s a “so bad it’s good” vibe that would be entertaining for playing in couch co-op. Unfortunately even this slight praise is undermined by some frustrating gameplay and a host of easily avoided accessibility issues. Players will probably find themselves rattling through the game just to see things through, and might even get a kick out of tweaking some outcomes – but the first Dark Pictures tale is unlikely to linger in the memory for long.

A great game held back by numerous technical problems. The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan promises another great experience in the vein of Until Dawn, but at least on the standard console is too stuttery to play. Much of the content will be inaccessible due to these performance issues. If you have an enhanced console definitely check it out, but unless it receives a patch it can scarcely be considered playable.

Man of Medan is quickly overtaken by a very average writing quality and an abominable technical level synonymous with jerks and other constant freezes.