The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan

 Xbox One
User Score
6.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 161 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 77 out of 161
  2. Mixed: 54 out of 161
  3. Negative: 30 out of 161
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  1. Xbox_Alive
    Sep 14, 2019
    8
    The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan is a Cinematic 3rd Person Horror Suspense Narrative with Story Altering descisions. Man of Medan is the first entry in the Dark Pictures Anthology, and a hell of a way to kick off a series. Intended to tie movie with game, Man of Medan is an interactive horror suspense movie. The interaction with the various characters is a mix of split secondThe Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan is a Cinematic 3rd Person Horror Suspense Narrative with Story Altering descisions. Man of Medan is the first entry in the Dark Pictures Anthology, and a hell of a way to kick off a series. Intended to tie movie with game, Man of Medan is an interactive horror suspense movie. The interaction with the various characters is a mix of split second descision making, reflex buttons, and exploration of the environments. I've played games where my choices "changed the game", but in this incredible narrative, your timed decisions could kill the whole crew, or get everyone out alive. Your every move can change the next moments of the game, or alter the entire story. The story keeps you on the edge of your seat no matter what it is you decide, filling every moment with tension. The ambient sound, blends perfectly with the music, and moves almost seamlessly form one situation to the next. I always looked forward to my moments with the Curator, to hear what he had to say about my decisions. The faces are incredible, and make you feel the characters emotion. The additional Curators cut adds higher stakes to your moves, and places you in different characters shoes for each of the scenes. I've done multiple plays, each time with several segments of the story playing out completely different. I am eagerly awaiting the next story to explore in the Dark Pictures Anthology, and I highly recommend this game to anyone that enjoys a good horror suspense movie.… Expand
  2. Joellemm
    Aug 23, 2020
    3
    I was going to give the game at least a 4 because of the mystery on offer, but the game's major story reveal comes and goes with no more than a whimper. I think the intent of the game's narrative is to make you feel interested in how many characters you can keep alive though all the predictable jump-scares and quick-time events. Of greater interest to me however, was how many characters iI was going to give the game at least a 4 because of the mystery on offer, but the game's major story reveal comes and goes with no more than a whimper. I think the intent of the game's narrative is to make you feel interested in how many characters you can keep alive though all the predictable jump-scares and quick-time events. Of greater interest to me however, was how many characters i could kill off. Preferably, in gruesome ways. Which it does allow for, so i guess i'm grateful for that. As an introvert who only leaves the house when he's run out of excuses, i might not be an expert on the average twenty-something, but i'm not convinced that they only speak in sarcastic quips. I hated the characters, i really did. I mostly chose the muted option when it came to dialogue, because the actual responses were so stupid most of the time. In terms of non-dialogue "gameplay", you get to walk around, and pick stuff up...really slowly. Also, the character's control like a tank. Finally, when the "horror" arrives, you'll be slightly more engaged, but not scared. The game isn't scary. As mentioned, they'll be the predictable jump-scare every now and then, just to remind you its a horror, but nothing genuinely scary. The game is mostly just dark, and boring.… Expand
  3. cem12
    Oct 1, 2019
    8
    Es un gran juego muy inmersivo, con muchos sustos y momentos muy tensos. La duración es bastante escasa 3h aprox, pero el precio es tambien ajustado a la duración. recomendable al 100%.
    Pros: Graficos, ambientación, jugabilidad, sustos.
    Contra: Duración
  4. Stoys
    Aug 19, 2020
    1
    i think this game is a disaster.
    the game starts off too wierd, and not in a good way. character animations and reactions are stupid.
    characters walks through objects and the way the entiire game is layed out is soo dumb! nothing i did not like any of it, until dawn was done in a much better way! and when you look at that and what this then techincally should be is better. and its not!    i think this game is a disaster.
    the game starts off too wierd, and not in a good way. character animations and reactions are stupid.
    characters walks through objects and the way the entiire game is layed out is soo dumb!
    nothing i did not like any of it, until dawn was done in a much better way!
    and when you look at that and what this then techincally should be is better. and its not!
    controllers are slow and clunky. and i hate how you interact with objects!
    story overall did not catch me either!    … Expand
  5. LordTiger
    Aug 9, 2020
    6
    Man of Medan is a cinematic interactive game with some horror elements.in this game, u control 5 characters and their survival depends on your choices.
    I expected a lot from story and character development but it fails in both categories. character development is so weak that u don't give a **** when a character dies.
    pros: + u can see characters feelings and relationship with each    Man of Medan is a cinematic interactive game with some horror elements.in this game, u control 5 characters and their survival depends on your choices.
    I expected a lot from story and character development but it fails in both categories. character development is so weak that u don't give a **** when a character dies.
    pros:
    + u can see characters feelings and relationship with each other in the menu
    +Shared Story and Movie Night modes which u can play with up to 5 friends with one controller.
    +Shawn Ashmore?
    cons:
    -overusing the jumpscares
    -short story and weak character development
    -fps drop now imagine this happens in annoying heart pulse QTEs.    … Expand
  6. snorkiss
    Jan 19, 2021
    3
    A real disappointment after Until Dawn. I got irritated trying to keep these annoying morons alive - 3 stars.
  7. captain19
    Sep 7, 2019
    10
    I am Not a Fan of they Horror Genre , because IT IS Gore and bloody corpses. But i so enjoy psychological Horror, wäre you have to think WHO you can Trust. so i was interested what Supermassive will Bring to THe table. And now all THe people have to Listen carefully because they Had Said that they Want to make Games which Shows all THe Iteration of Horror, so Not every Game is a SplitterI am Not a Fan of they Horror Genre , because IT IS Gore and bloody corpses. But i so enjoy psychological Horror, wäre you have to think WHO you can Trust. so i was interested what Supermassive will Bring to THe table. And now all THe people have to Listen carefully because they Had Said that they Want to make Games which Shows all THe Iteration of Horror, so Not every Game is a Splitter fest.

    So on Xbox especially on the x THe Game Runs smoothly, cutscenes dont stutters. THe controls are THe Same as all THe Other Games, If you dont Like that, IT will Not Change, its their decision. Mo Cap is amazing along with THe audio, recommended with Headphones. THe single campaign is great, what really Shine is THe Coop Mode. And Here is THe Most Importamt hint i can give to Coop players. If you Always Hear, what your Partner is doing or saying via Headset, you Will Ruin THe Game for you. You have to Play sections of THe Game seperately without Listen or speaking with your Coop Partners. Every character in THe Game can survive THe whole Story or die. And this can Happen at various Spots in THe Game. Every Thing what you do, Pick Up or Not Pickup, discover, read, decide Matters. This Game has multiple endings and can all Combination of characters survive and die. And THe playability is there because there are many Secrets to find which rewards you with New cutscene and storypieces you didnt know THe First time. I was scared a Few Times in a good way. Maybe THe next Game is too scary for me because of Gore and bloody creatures. WE will See.    … Expand
  8. FantazticMrFox
    Sep 1, 2019
    8
    Game is a lot of fun with interesting characters. Well worth the low price point. Great experience.
  9. midniqht
    Sep 4, 2019
    8
    I love survival horror games, and this one is a bit different. That difference may impact the score for others, but I feel this is a solid experience. It plays more like a movie - the choices and overall story are the same each go around, but the impact and results differ depending on the choices you make. It gets better, IMO once you are on the big freighter boat, and not the diving boat,I love survival horror games, and this one is a bit different. That difference may impact the score for others, but I feel this is a solid experience. It plays more like a movie - the choices and overall story are the same each go around, but the impact and results differ depending on the choices you make. It gets better, IMO once you are on the big freighter boat, and not the diving boat, but every decision you've made to that point still matters. As for the scares, the boat is kind of atmospheric, but the game leans heavily on jump-scares, which I think were pretty effective. I didn't expect half of them, and I felt they were done well with low predictability.

    The mechanics are easy and the interaction is straightforward. My wife and I played this using the Movie Night (Don't Play Alone) option, and we loved both impacting the story and passing the controller whenever it was someone's character's turn. Highly recommend with co-op. Take it lightheartedly and not so serious - treat it like a B-horror movie with some interaction and don't get so bent up comparing it to other games, because it's kind of on its own here.

    I'm excited to see where this anthology goes. I love the curator and the very crypt-keeper-like feeling of the narration.    … Expand
  10. Natedogggg22
    Oct 27, 2019
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Overall a very enjoyable game, for a game that promotes itself as in the horror genre it is a little light on this especially in the early sections it does build well though and I think is well paced. You certainly have a lot of choices with very meaningful choices. I’ve played through a fair few and some open up very interesting avenues you can shut off completely if you make another choice. I would think if you only played it once then some of these decisions would make a big difference to how enjoyable you found the story - in particular you can get one of the main characters to escape at a fairly early stage, which has a big impact on the rest of the story. I’m looking forward to the next one.… Expand
  11. Psychodan29
    Aug 30, 2019
    10
    Playing this with my fiancé. Having a blast. Love the story! Very interesting plot. Fun jump scares. Looking forward to the other games in the series.
  12. that_paulrus
    Sep 3, 2019
    2
    For Until Dawn Fans:

    Man of Medan is a disappointing leap back from Until Dawn in almost every way. The animations somehow look worse than a game from years ago, the voice acting is cringworthily bad across the board, the controls are clunky and janky, and the characters are paper thin compared to Until Dawn. I've been looking forward to this followup for years; I love playing    For Until Dawn Fans:

    Man of Medan is a disappointing leap back from Until Dawn in almost every way. The animations somehow look worse than a game from years ago, the voice acting is cringworthily bad across the board, the controls are clunky and janky, and the characters are paper thin compared to Until Dawn. I've been looking forward to this followup for years; I love playing decision-based games like this with my SO. But we both could barely make it through Man of Medan. There are also extremely frustrating moments where you have to make life or death decisions based on what is obvious to the player via dramatic irony but the character has no idea, so if you enjoy any form of role playing in your game you have an intractable dissonance. There are no actual scary scenes, only weak, repetitive jump scares. The dialogue sounds like it was written by an outdated AI. And I have to say it again, but the acting is high school theater level.

    Overall, Man of Medan is far less well thought out and executed than Until Dawn. I don't know if the devs put their C team on this project or what, but it's a mess. Maybe this episode is an unfortunate fluke and the upcoming episodes will be a return to form. I hope so.    … Expand
  13. MartyTk
    Aug 30, 2019
    9
    Satisfied wit the pricing and contents. I expected Until Dawn atmospheres but, it is a bit different from UD in many aspect, mainly the location, story and location is based on the ghostly story on the ship. I have finished 1st round, and I will be starting second round to see extra scenes. Next story’s teaser trailer was revealed, I believe the series will continue from now on and toSatisfied wit the pricing and contents. I expected Until Dawn atmospheres but, it is a bit different from UD in many aspect, mainly the location, story and location is based on the ghostly story on the ship. I have finished 1st round, and I will be starting second round to see extra scenes. Next story’s teaser trailer was revealed, I believe the series will continue from now on and to become more popular. Anyway, it is reasonable pricing to play!… Expand
  14. Fillipi
    Sep 2, 2019
    1
    Jogo genérico de terror, não dá muito medo campanha muito curta, simplesmente chato e cansativo,nada de novo Gameplay fraca e também,alguns bugs na versão do xbox one
  15. AnnicaJ
    Sep 12, 2019
    10
    High replayability, interesting story with multiple endings. A couple of good jump scares and an over all creepy feeling. Nice first chapter, I hope we'll get more of these.
  16. adidab14
    Aug 25, 2020
    7
    I'll echo the sentiments of many of these other reviews. They're spot on for the most part, maybe a little too harsh. This game has MASSIVE potential. It's basically a "choose your own adventure movie" and when I started it I was really into it and surprised by how interested in the story I was. The characters aren't that fantastic, but certainly not terrible, and the setting (a hugeI'll echo the sentiments of many of these other reviews. They're spot on for the most part, maybe a little too harsh. This game has MASSIVE potential. It's basically a "choose your own adventure movie" and when I started it I was really into it and surprised by how interested in the story I was. The characters aren't that fantastic, but certainly not terrible, and the setting (a huge derelict WWII boat) is just awesome. It looks surprsingly good and plays pretty well, albeit pretty clunky, very reminiscent of old resident evil days, with just a few frame drops here and there and some stuttering at parts, but not unbearable.
    The main problem with this game is the incredibly abrupt and lazy ending. It REALLY seems like they ran out of time and just had to end it prematurely. I felt like the story was only just starting before it was over. I'm not going to really touch on the decision/repercussion system. Yes, there will be decisions you make that have very grave consequences, you will be upset because you thought you made the right decision and it turned out to be wrong. The thing is, there are no right or wrong decisions really, you're just basically discovering a story. From that perspective, I found it to be much more enjoyable. That being said, some of the branching storylines are pretty lame.
    The other problem I have is a small one. The only real gameplay in this is the quicktime events. I don't have a huge problem with them but there are times where you think you need to just press a button and it turns out you need to mash it and that little misunderstanding resulted in a character dying in more than one instance for me. It's a small problem but it can have really big consequences.
    Overall though, this isn't a bad game at all. The atmosphere is fantastic, the scares are pretty good, although I would have liked to see more of them, and the story is gripping until it's very abrupt and random end. It's just a few small tweaks away from really being a great game.    … Expand
  17. CRedfield
    Sep 18, 2019
    8
    If you can immerse yourself into trying to give your best guidance / decision making for the 5 characters in order to have them survive this thrilling trip, then you'll have a hell of a time filled with a more detailed story than the predecessor "Until Dawn" had and an overall intense experience.

    It's the opportunity to play a really good mystery thriller instead of just watching a    If you can immerse yourself into trying to give your best guidance / decision making for the 5 characters in order to have them survive this thrilling trip, then you'll have a hell of a time filled with a more detailed story than the predecessor "Until Dawn" had and an overall intense experience.

    It's the opportunity to play a really good mystery thriller instead of just watching a movie. The different outcomes of various decisions make it very re-playable. Of course lots of the tension goes out of the window, after you get to know the twists and situations.    … Expand
  18. PALInMETACRITIC
    Sep 9, 2019
    10
    Love the storytelling, your choices will lead you to different ending,
    also the graphics is great, enjoy it a lot.
  19. Broyax
    Apr 10, 2020
    0
    Ce truc fait penser aux jeux en FMV (Full Motion Video !) des années 90 avec scénario bidon obligatoire et des pseudo-choix parmi des dialogues complètement crétins, écrits par des stagiaires et/ou des étudiants recalés à Télérama et Positif ! sauf que la vidéo a été remplacée par des "images de synthèse" (un terme un peu pompeux ici, vu que si graphiquement parlant c'est propret, y a pasCe truc fait penser aux jeux en FMV (Full Motion Video !) des années 90 avec scénario bidon obligatoire et des pseudo-choix parmi des dialogues complètement crétins, écrits par des stagiaires et/ou des étudiants recalés à Télérama et Positif ! sauf que la vidéo a été remplacée par des "images de synthèse" (un terme un peu pompeux ici, vu que si graphiquement parlant c'est propret, y a pas de quoi se pâmer non plus...).

    Quoi qu'il en soit, on se croirait dans un Harlequin filmé ou une Telenovela sur un bateau ou bien au mieux (ou au pire...) dans un Scream particulièrement mauvais (si tant est que ça soit possible, bien entendu...). Bref, une sorte de truc pour les ados pas réveillés et facilement épouvantés... ou trop abrutis de cannabis pour se rendre compte de quoi que ce soit. A moins que ce ne soit un mélange des deux...

    Tout est donc téléphoné et très générique, une sorte de super foire aux clichés dont la jouabilité (?!) se résume à de sales QTE pourris et à orienter nos "playmobils" imbéciles dans des décors aux caméras fixes ! Stupide et prévisible, mal écrit et faisant la part belle à la diversité en majorité très visible, ce truc est un étron à éviter !    … Expand
  20. Jozef
    Sep 4, 2019
    10
    Great game by Supermassive Games, as always. A must play if you like horror movies!
  21. Mindkiller7522
    May 12, 2021
    6
    1/2/21-1/3/21 100% Story

    I figured I'd give this a shot considering it was short. It turned out to be compelling enough to get through the four hour story and keep everyone alive. A bunch of kind -of adults set out on a boat for some diving and treasure hunting, only to be swept up in a mess with some pirates and a derelict military ship with some ghost business going on (kind-of).    1/2/21-1/3/21 100% Story

    I figured I'd give this a shot considering it was short. It turned out to be compelling enough to get through the four hour story and keep everyone alive.

    A bunch of kind -of adults set out on a boat for some diving and treasure hunting, only to be swept up in a mess with some pirates and a derelict military ship with some ghost business going on (kind-of).

    The overall tone of the game was great, but the story was a little predictable and lackluster. You are responsible for jumping from character to character and making decisions to (hopefully) keep everyone around until the end of the game. It's a little tough to judge because everyone's experience can be so different. Certain characters can die early or be absent for other reasons from the story, causing major changes throughout.

    The character models and the acting were terrible. Each actor's face falls right in to the uncanny valley and never climbs out. The dialogue is very unnatural and cringe-y. It would have been a real struggle to play any longer than I had to with these guys.

    Most of the positive thoughts that I had while playing where when the game reminded me of Until Dawn, but that game was way better. I do like the Curator character being kind of a “Crypt Keeper” of the series, though. That is a clever idea on it's own.

    Not sure if I'll be on board after this one. I played the demo for “Little Hope” and it seems to share the same problems as this one. We'll see where it goes from here.    … Expand
  22. tdebug
    Nov 5, 2021
    4
    Rather short and unrewarding gameplay. You can miss one button press and that will change the story completely. There is no "save" and you cannot replay chapters even after you finish the game and I don't see it fun enough to replay the whole game if you just want to replay 1 or 2 episodes. There is no difficulty change option and I also tried to disable button press timeout inRather short and unrewarding gameplay. You can miss one button press and that will change the story completely. There is no "save" and you cannot replay chapters even after you finish the game and I don't see it fun enough to replay the whole game if you just want to replay 1 or 2 episodes. There is no difficulty change option and I also tried to disable button press timeout in accessibility option, but it had no effect at all. Its not that I dislike this kind of games, but I mainly play those for a story and not because I am enjoying reputedly pressing buttons. Might be fun to play once if you get it with real big discount or from game pass. Definitely not worth paying the full price.… Expand
  23. 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
  24. TeddyKristensen
    Sep 30, 2019
    9
    Got a couple of jump scares from the game so that's great. What was promised was delivered, good job
  25. Yabs
    Dec 11, 2021
    8
    Thrilling game. Man of Medan looks incredible on my 1080p with Xbox series S system. Setting the lighting as recommended really adds to the spooky environment of the game. As to not spoil the game... I'd highly recommend acquainting oneself well with the Xbox controller A, B, X, Y. I found often my inexperience with the controller led to outcomes I did not want, nor was there any save /Thrilling game. Man of Medan looks incredible on my 1080p with Xbox series S system. Setting the lighting as recommended really adds to the spooky environment of the game. As to not spoil the game... I'd highly recommend acquainting oneself well with the Xbox controller A, B, X, Y. I found often my inexperience with the controller led to outcomes I did not want, nor was there any save / way to replay a particular scene.
    I felt the character development well done considering the game play time. Though some aspects of the game (character relations) does not seem like it would affect the outcome of the game albeit marginally. Therefore this dynamic, I'd opine, was unneeded or could have been more thoroughly implemented.
    Overall, I've enjoyed it for the 4 hours it took me to play through, I'm anticipating one more play through to get a different end game outcome.    … Expand
  26. antoniomit
    Aug 8, 2020
    10
    Me encanta este juego, hay algo de la vieja escuela como los primeros Resident Evil que me gusta mucho, mas juegos asi por favor
  27. Bugalugs213
    Sep 3, 2019
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Easy to get into, a good cast of characters and some cheesy bad guys kept me interested. Didnt really have a lot of jump scares, i was expecting more on that front.
    Its a short game but has lots of replay value.
    Well worth the price and its a good sign for the next few games in the series.    … Expand
  28. BradMorgan
    Nov 30, 2020
    6
    A fun interactive story that kept my attention until the end. I liked the jump scares and scenes where quick time events and choices actually had consequences in the story. Unfortunately, the real climax in the story failed to materialize and the ending was disappointing.
  29. SenorKoquonfaes
    Nov 14, 2019
    5
    Having never played through "Until Dawn" since it was a Sony exclusive (settled for watching multiple play throughs on Youtube instead), I was pretty pumped when they announced that this game would be multi-platform. "Until Dawn" was one of the games that convinced me that interactive storytelling games with a branching narrative and choice and consequences was a viable form of video gameHaving never played through "Until Dawn" since it was a Sony exclusive (settled for watching multiple play throughs on Youtube instead), I was pretty pumped when they announced that this game would be multi-platform. "Until Dawn" was one of the games that convinced me that interactive storytelling games with a branching narrative and choice and consequences was a viable form of video game entertainment.

    I love the idea of stumbling upon an abandoned WW2 freighter — whilst dealing with modern day pirates trying to rob you — and unravelling the mystery of the ship and what happened to the crew members. I love that the story, at first, seems to have a paranormal undercurrent, combined with navigating through the dark, decrepit, and sometimes claustrophobic environments. It helps create a sense of tension and unrest. As the characters explore the ghost ship, the game initially leads you to believe that something onboard is causing them to all slowly lose their grip on reality and start hallucinating. (I.e. one of the characters pulls back a curtain covering a small shrine and then has a decapitated, rotting human head drop down in front of their face, only for the game to reveal that is was a silver-plated flower pot, or something.) The main characters eventually learn what's actually happening with the ship and it's the Occam's Razor Principle in full effect.

    The game has replay value, with it being a branching narrative with choice and consequences, along with trying to see how many characters you can keep alive or kill off, depending on your choices.

    What I disliked about the game is a bit of a longer list. Everything about this game feels like a lesser version of "Until Dawn": Fewer protagonists, less fleshed out character personalities/traits, a less expansive world, a shorter play time and weaker facial animations.

    The facial animations all have Mass Effect: Andromeda syndrome where it looks like the characters are trying to kill you with their gaze and they don't seem to really emote anything, even in high stress, high danger situations.

    The frame rate chugs concrete at certain points of the game, even though there never seems to be much going on. There was one instance during the final combat encounter where I got hung up on one frame for a solid 2 seconds before the game proceeded as it should. Some of the textures seemed low quality as well. At one point, I was inspecting a damaged life boat and the texture on it was so blurry, I assumed it just didn't load at all and moved on. This might not be a problem on PC, but it shouldn't be that bad on console hardware either (played this on a vanilla Xbox One).

    The characters don't seem to really evolve beyond the introductory part of the game, where each character's traits are laid out for you. They can go through some crazy **** but it doesn't really seem to affect them all that much.

    The game relies heavily on cheap jump scares (a dead body falls out of a locker or a pipe bursts and starts hissing steam), to the point of being a nuisance. It doesn't add anything scary or horrifying to the game.

    I feel like if this game was just a "stand alone" title, as oppose to being a part of an Anthology, maybe the developers would've had more time to expand on the story and character arcs as well as fix any optimization issues. At the end of the credits, there's a teaser trailer for the next game in the Anthology: "The Dark Pictures: Little Hope" with a release date of 2020. At this point, I hope it's towards the end of 2020 because it's clear that Man of Medan was a little underdeveloped and could've benefitted from a few more months of polish. I hope the next game can improve on Man of Medan's shortcomings.

    Overall, Man of Medan was a game that was trending towards fantastic for me, but there was just so many other issues that dragged it back down. Thankfully, it's not a full priced "triple-A" game, which kind of saves it a bit.    … Expand
  30. Filmanwalt
    Oct 25, 2021
    5
    Very interesting "horror" story Game to play in KOOP. The Multiplayer part is very well integrated and the Game is all in all a good one. The Gameplay is very simple but its more about your decisions in certain situations.

    The main thing horror isnt really that good, mostly these parts are jump scares, but you never feel very frightened. The facial expressions are sometimes way over the    Very interesting "horror" story Game to play in KOOP. The Multiplayer part is very well integrated and the Game is all in all a good one. The Gameplay is very simple but its more about your decisions in certain situations.

    The main thing horror isnt really that good, mostly these parts are jump scares, but you never feel very frightened. The facial expressions are sometimes way over the top and some graphic issues coming along.

    Sad is that the game is very short and u cant really connect to the characters.    … Expand
  31. Ekon
    Nov 3, 2021
    5
    Increase the brightness bar a few notches before starting this game because most of the story takes place in nearly total darkness aboard a derelect freighter in the dead of night. This is a bleak, ugly and dreary game with vaguely interesting characters and a plot that borders on the ridiculous. Four friends charter a boat from a very hostile female captain and explore a sunken heavyIncrease the brightness bar a few notches before starting this game because most of the story takes place in nearly total darkness aboard a derelect freighter in the dead of night. This is a bleak, ugly and dreary game with vaguely interesting characters and a plot that borders on the ridiculous. Four friends charter a boat from a very hostile female captain and explore a sunken heavy bomber somewhere in the Paciific. Four hostile guys in a motorboat harass them and anchor close by. If you can believe it, the friends and nasty captain go to sleep with the criminals a hundred yards away! Amazing. Of course the hostiles board and capture everryone as they sleep and then find the derelect frighter in search of gold. All they find are lots of ghosts. Anything is better than this.… Expand
  32. PaulKorsky
    Apr 27, 2020
    9
    Прекрасный атракцион который держит в напряжении практически всю игру. Невероятная графика , приятная актерская игра , и отличный саспенс. Один из немногих хорроров что смог меня напугать. Разве что небольшие технические недочёты вырывали из погружения, но удовольствия от игры мне не испортило. Тольеоизза , этого 9 , а не 10 баллов , отлично, браво!Прекрасный атракцион который держит в напряжении практически всю игру. Невероятная графика , приятная актерская игра , и отличный саспенс. Один из немногих хорроров что смог меня напугать. Разве что небольшие технические недочёты вырывали из погружения, но удовольствия от игры мне не испортило. Тольеоизза , этого 9 , а не 10 баллов , отлично, браво!
  33. KlaatuHorror
    Aug 18, 2020
    6
    Muy buen juego, aunque algo corto. Se puede rejugar las veces que quieras. Falla quizás en unos personajes algo pobres y sin mucho carisma.
  34. cyklopPL
    Nov 23, 2020
    6
    A true 6/10 game.

    On the surface the game looks really nice, gameplay is similar to Until Dawn (quick time actions, deciding on the dialogues and in important moments under pressure which way to go etc.). However, the game takes around 4h to beat. Moreover, as many other ppl mentioned already - the story feels well paced till 3/4, and than boom, fast forward and you are watching the    A true 6/10 game.

    On the surface the game looks really nice, gameplay is similar to Until Dawn (quick time actions, deciding on the dialogues and in important moments under pressure which way to go etc.).

    However, the game takes around 4h to beat.
    Moreover, as many other ppl mentioned already - the story feels well paced till 3/4, and than boom, fast forward and you are watching the end credits. Last 1/4 of the game feels rushed.

    Also the story overall is not that great and consists of noticeably less big moments/big choices that will change the plot going forward.

    I can not see anyone paying the full price and enjoying this title, but in GamePass or maybe at a deep deep sale this can be treated as a movie. I completed this game at once in around 4h and I do not regret the time spent, however I feel like the game had much more potential if the story would go in another direction and the game would take twice as long to beat. Shame...    … Expand
  35. jyd1626
    Jan 21, 2021
    7
    Good game, however not really scary, it's a Good gamepass experience, however not so much to buy it separately.
  36. aelinae_g
    Dec 16, 2020
    9
    Excellent jeux dont l'atmosphère est unique. Les graphisme sont beau l'intrigue est juste dingue je recommande c'est une pépite . A voir ce que va donner le prochain épisode.
  37. Dracosoul
    Aug 20, 2020
    5
    If you enjoyed Until Dawn, well this isn't even close to as good as that was. A few lame jump scares, some glitchy screen scenes, seems like they took a step back on this one and got lazy.
  38. Ericattack
    Sep 29, 2020
    7
    It starts very good, but than I lost interest because of the repeating ship scènes. And there was way to much reading with the papers you find, so at some point i stopt reading them.
    Overall worth playing.
  39. Andreasisback
    Sep 23, 2020
    9
    Consiglio di giocare questo gioco insieme ad un amico comunicando attraverso le cuffie. La prima cosa che risalta all'occhio sono le telecamere fisse, all'inizio danno la sensazione di essere catapultati in un videogioco datato, ma andando avanti ho iniziato ad apprezzarle sempre di più, credo che proprio queste siano una chicca dato che l'effetto dato è molto cinematografico. Le scelte eConsiglio di giocare questo gioco insieme ad un amico comunicando attraverso le cuffie. La prima cosa che risalta all'occhio sono le telecamere fisse, all'inizio danno la sensazione di essere catapultati in un videogioco datato, ma andando avanti ho iniziato ad apprezzarle sempre di più, credo che proprio queste siano una chicca dato che l'effetto dato è molto cinematografico. Le scelte e le relazioni tra i vari personaggi possono cambiare le sorti dell'intera vicenda, dando "la penna" che scrive la storia in mano ai giocatori. L'ambientazione è molto interessante: una nave militare in coordinate sconosciute in mezzo al nulla. Aspettatevi di essere confusi, ma sempre con la voglia di cercare di capire cosa diavolo stia succedendo in quel posto maledetto.… Expand
  40. Dalex11
    Oct 19, 2021
    5
    Игра середнячок, не запоминается. Сюжет заканчивается резко, после прохождения остается чувство что игра не доделана
  41. Slckaer
    Jan 17, 2022
    7
    The game looks very nice on series X. The ending is maybe a little crap but I don't want to give any spoilers. Also it's a short game.
  42. Ray6701
    Sep 3, 2021
    10
    Just amazing action and fun to play with friends and super scary and everything
  43. mlnsn
    Jul 15, 2021
    6
    Gameplay : 6/10
    Design (video + audio) : 7/10
    Story : 5/10
    Technical aspects : 7/10
    Repeatability: 5/10
  44. WendyStamps
    Sep 5, 2021
    10
    Awesome game dude I love it so much more than you even think I love it to hell
  45. BoobLover309
    Sep 8, 2021
    8
    I just finished my playthrough. It was an amazing game with a great story. A short one too so if you dont have much time this game would be great for you, only thing i didnt like is how quick time events can change the entire outloook of a game.
  46. Daniel2009
    Jan 6, 2022
    10
    Awesome game it's amazing graphics and interesting characters and so entertaining
  47. neomoonsevin
    Apr 11, 2023
    7
    This game looks rushed and the characters look abit off like something's missing from the animations can't put my hand onit but it something horrible about this Shawn Ashmore looks strange on this but looks 700xs better on quantum break either way it's a ok game I will still add to my owned list
  48. Joe2539
    Jan 3, 2023
    10
    Very Good Good Good Good Good Good Good Good Good Good Good Good Good Good Good
  49. Dani1907
    Jun 24, 2023
    10
    Me encanta la historia del barco fantasma SS Ourang Medan, creo que sin duda merece la pena
  50. M1sfiT
    Sep 3, 2023
    5
    Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaameeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!!!!!!!!!

Awards & Rankings

28
#28 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
69

Mixed or average reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 21
  3. Negative: 3 out of 21
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 28, 2020
    60
    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]
  2. Official Xbox Magazine UK
    Oct 12, 2019
    70
    A little sedate, but a finely crafted slab of horror for those who enjoy cinematic games. [Issue#182, p.83]
  3. Generación Xbox
    Sep 18, 2019
    76
    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.
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