The Medium

There’s always two sides to a story, and you only know half until you see The Medium to its conclusion. Rather than winning, The Medium is meant to be an experience, which it more than succeeds in. With a deeply immersive narrative and symbolism throughout, it never wore out its welcome with its 8-10 hour length and will be one of those games that I’ve been thinking about long after its credits rolled. The Medium truly is something unique and special.

The Medium is Bloober Team's next big step. With its marvelous design and accurate portrait of History, Bloober Team surprises us with a new take on psychological horror and familiar drama. By far, its one of the darkest and most beautifully written stories you can find on Xbox.

The Medium is an incredible journey, a necessary game that stands as one of the exponents of the genre. A dramatic story that you won't want to miss.

Eventually The Medium's narrative threads begin to weave together, even connecting to the original goal of discovering Marianne's origins. The promise that everything somehow connects in some unforeseen and fascinating way is a thrilling reason to see the game all the way through. The connections to real-world events of Polish history make many of the revelations even more poignant--even if the supernatural aspects are fictional, it's deeply unsettling to think about how some of the evil present in this game did actually occur. And to that end, The Medium's conclusion sticks with you; it's one last horrifying reminder that trauma may not define a person, but it can have consequences we can't even begin to foresee if it's not adequately dealt with and simply left to fester over time. I can't say I enjoyed the ending to The Medium, but I am deeply satisfied with how it sets up the inescapable nature of its horrifying conclusion.

The Medium on Xbox is the game fans have been waiting for. A dark, mature, scary, visually appetizing next-gen delight with a gripping story, it is one to not miss if you are a fan of psychological horror. Above all, this feels like an experience that really shows the chops of the Series X, and will likely serve as a benchmark title going forward, especially if the few remaining technical issues are patched.

In an era where everyone wants a new Silent Hill, The Medium is launched. This game by Bloober Team goes out of its comfort zone and shows us on a silver platter what the storage speed of the Xbox Series X | S can offer. Sure, it's not a perfect game, even the number of puzzles is questionable, however, the narrative is fresh, the use of split screen as a mechanic is something technologically remarkable, and the overall experience delivers when it comes to scaring and entertaining the audience.

Don't expect a horror game but a paranormal adventure, one that will intrigue and surprise you with some of its mechanics. A noteworthy and attractive experience that, maybe because of that, feels a little too short.

The Medium is an absolutely chilling romp, and considering it’s an Xbox Game Pass Day One title, there’s literally no reason not to give it a go if you’re a member of the service. While the story could be a lot simpler, this is definitely a horror experience I won’t be forgetting anytime soon. I’ve been waiting a long time for Bloober to finally nail down true horror, and The Medium is a wonderful example of how to do scary without relying on cheap tricks. If you’re a fan of Silent Hill, Clock Tower, Haunting Ground or even if you just want to test out the capabilities of the latest Xbox consoles, The Medium is a must-play.

Bloober Team's most ambitious game convinces with a deep and intriguing story, a visually fascinating world and original gameplay mechanics merged with classical adventure tropes. It shows the polish developers' inexperience in real-time character animation and stealth mechanics, but it's overall a very good and worthy experience.

The Medium will not be the best psychological horror game in the world, but it engages like few others. Bloober Team once again raises a bar that dropped somewhat after Blair Witch and presents us at times two games in one, with quite effective mechanics despite its simplicity. A great gift for Xbox Game Pass subscribers who will enjoy it from day one.

The Medium is one of the best horror games I have played in a long time. Between the 2 worlds that have been created and the outstand sound score, Bloober Studios have absolutely smashed this out of the park. The fact that this game will be in Game Pass on day of launch is incredible and should make it a must download for anyone with a subscription.

With The Medium, Bloober Team proves once again that their imagery for the conception of horror stories has no limits. The Polish studio enters into the new generation of consoles through the front door with a split-screen ghost story that fans of the genre will love. Its simple gameplay makes it accessible to everyone, and that makes the game even better.

The Medium's story may be the best I've ever experienced in a horror game, the way everything is tangled and interrelated is impressive not to mention the mind provoking puzzles and the immersiveness of the world.

The Medium is without a doubt Bloober Team's biggest game to date, and it is easily one of its best. The story is captivating as are its characters, and the uneasy journey you take through it feels much like if Stranger Things was set in the Alan Wake universe.

Some random good points I noted were the music, which worked nicely to add to the atmosphere. Great voice-acting and writing, excellent graphics, so an all-in-all solid presentation that deserves a hat tip. Great checkpointing, a nice mixture of puzzles and exploration, and a good pace overall as well that compels you to play this game to completion in just a couple or few sessions. In sum, The Medium is a great game with a few quirks, and it’s the best from Bloober Team to date. Available on Game Pass, it’s well-worth playing through as it makes for a nice early next-gen experience.

The Medium scores particularly well with its story and gripping atmosphere, but does not reach that class in terms of gameplay.

Despite clunky animations, repetitive gameplay and some technical issues with the Xbox Series X version, I completed The Medium twice. Its dual-reality design, art direction and brilliant soundtrack often made me stop to take in a view or relish the music. Its mature story and atmosphere reminiscent of Silent Hill helped a lot too. [03/2021, p.40]

The exclusive Microsoft - The Medium is yet another significant milestone in the catalogue of psychological horror games from Bloober Team, which is increasingly becoming one of the best studios in this area. Without hiding where it comes from, it's an experience horror fans won't want to miss, no matter how short. The duality approach is interesting and has enormous potential. I hope that the Bloober Team will get to work on it again and develop it more in-depth.

The Medium may not be a flawless 9th generation experience, but it's a great alternative for those who miss the Silent Hill series, thanks to its great story and wonderful music.

The beauty is both bright and dark, delivering not only one atmosphere to appreciate but two. While the story can be a bit confusing and hard to follow, it still manages to at least put an idea in your head that you can work with. There are a few areas that seem to go on a bit too long but maybe that’s just because I played it twice. The lack of extras and chapter select is especially unfortunate because of there being so many collectibles. It’s a very unique game that has excellent voice acting and terrific music and sound effects. Only a few times did I see stuttering and sometimes there were weird light issues. The things I think need improvement happen to have a very big impact for me when it comes to an overall package. Otherwise, everything else was really well done.

The Medium boasts an engaging narrative plus clever gaming dynamics and while it starts slow, the ending builds to an impressive crescendo of unexpected surprises. So if you like to be surprised, don’t keep reading the reviews or watching Youtube videos because this is one game that must be experienced without coming in with any prior knowledge as you twist your way through of both the land of the living and… the dead!

The real strength of The Medium is the novel way it uses split-screen gameplay to tell a single-player story. Numerous video games have used split-screens for multiplayer in the past, but The Medium is the first one I know of which extensively uses the technique for a single-player tale.

A psychological thriller with an impressively ambitious gimmick and some old-school leanings, The Medium crafts a gripping narrative with loads of atmosphere in an experience that’s unmissable for genre fans, even if frustrating design occasionally undermines the tension.

With creepy puzzle moments throughout, The Medium pulls off a dual-reality puzzler with precision. The game looks magnificent, with impressive lighting and shadows courtesy of RTX, though the Xbox Series X version suffers from occasional stutters and hitches, as well as level of detail pops. More classic dread than jump scares, it delivers on its promise of horror served two ways, making it unique and a must-have for horror fans, even if it's a little lighter fare.

The Medium is a pretty fun horror game, but it lacks must of the values of series like Silent Hill.

The Medium is one of the most gorgeous horror games I've ever played. Its detailed environments, compelling characters, and unique setting make it a must-play for psychological horror fans.

Layers of Fear showed early promise, Blair Witch demonstrated that Bloober could resurrect a dormant movie license to great effect, and Observer saw the studio successfully turn its hand to cyberpunk horror. The Medium is a similarly excellent game, serving as further proof of the developer's horror expertise and its credentials as an exciting creative outfit.

The Medium is a short game that does not offer much in terms of replay value. Normally this would be a serious problem, but The Medium is available through Xbox Game Pass, and so its short length isn't nearly as pressing of an issue. It's short but mostly sweet, and will definitely appeal to fans of classic survival-horror games. It's easily Bloober Team's best game yet and something Xbox Series X owners should check out as soon as they can.

Brilliantly paced and palpably tense, The Medium is a psychological horror adventure that’s all thriller and no filler.

The Medium is a very good horror narrative game, despites somes riddles that may be too simple, and the dual reality mechanics may not be as original as expected.

The Medium provides the best classic survival horror experience through modern gameplay systems that I have played in quite some time. It does this all without relying on action and gore but instead builds its excellence through atmosphere, environments, and narrative. There's some refinement that could help the overall experience, but this is a gripping adventure whether you're in reality or the spiritual plane.

The dual-reality mechanic goes just about far enough to keep its slowest gameplay moments interesting, and paired with a fantastic narrative and exceptionally eerie atmosphere, it's an easy recommendation for fans of Bloober Team's work in the past and the horror genre in general.

The Medium is a strong outing for the team at Bloober. It is easily my favorite game they have released to date. The eerie soundtrack and locales set the mood nicely. The story is interesting, and I loved the duality in the puzzle-solving.

The Medium builds upon a lot of gameplay gimmicks and ideas that aren’t always used to their full potential, but when they do work, they work incredibly well. Controlling main character Marianne as she jumps between worlds is both engrossing and exciting in practice, and the game’s main location serves its job as a setting for horror masterfully most of the time. This is a game that definitely could have been better—but which is also better than a lot of other horror games that don’t take such daring risks.

The Medium is an interesting mystery narrative adventure that, unfortunately, simplifies everything it does so much that dissolves the promised horror. It is very enjoyable and we’ve had a great time with it, but it handholds the player so much that they have barely any time to think or feel fear.

The Medium didn’t manage to become a spiritual successor to Silent Hill, but it’s still a significant step forward for Bloober Team. [Issue#252, p.50]

The Medium is an artistically inspired and technically interesting horror game, almost entirely based on narrative. With a slow pace and a few really interesting puzzles, the game focuses on the evil atmosphere of the double world. Those who expected a broader adventure may be disappointed.

The Medium relies mainly on the intense atmosphere. The detailed environments are amazing. But The Medium is also just too short, too easy and a bit too predictable to be named the new Silent Hill. Moreover, we can expect more from a "real" next-gen game.

The Medium is Bloober's most ambitious game, with good history and puzzles, although also with some poor mechanics.

If it is not quite the great game that we could have hoped for, The Medium is nonetheless an endearing adventure, which can be enjoyed with pleasure. Finally, despite some very real efforts (RTX and HDR in particular), the technical aspect is more of an AA budget than AAA.

Because of its macabre nature, The Medium won’t be for everyone — and certainly isn’t a killer Xbox app — but it’s definitely worth a try if you’re an Xbox Game Pass subscriber.

As a whole package The Medium is very much a story of compromise. For all its successes in visual storytelling and interesting setting, it’s collared by poor pacing and dated game design. Still, it’s well worth a look for history buffs and those fascinated by the unknown. So what lies beyond? It’s still up for debate. In the present, The Medium offers an intriguing possibility to puzzle on.