The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan (PS4)

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From Supermassive games, the developers of Until Dawn. The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan

Release August 30th



My copy turned up a day early so I've managed to have a very quick go this evening. There was a day one patch of about 3 gig.

My early impressions are that it's very similar to Until Dawn, which for me is a very positive thing as I really loved that game. The titles had a connection to Until Dawn that I liked.

I've not come across them yet but 'totems' are back in the form of 'pictures', to give clues on future events and how to proceed.

There's also a character who talks to you directly between scenes, similar to the psychiatrist in Until Dawn, sadly not portrayed by the brilliant Peter Stormare this time. I was happy however to see that Larry Fessenden is involved again as a writer, not sure if he's also plays a character yet.

In the very short time I played, there seemed to be a lot more choices available to make. Character trates are back but I don't know if they will have more baring on the gameplay this time.

Because this one is multi-platform we seem to have lost the 'do not move' with the light bar indicator. It has been replaced with a heart beat mechanic where you press X in time to a heart beat graph. I much prefered Until Dawns way of doing it. The touch pad was also unused in the brief time I played.

I'm happy with what I played so far and I'm looking forward to putting more time into it.
 
Apparently there is a coop mode where you can all pick a character and you get to control them when they star in a scene. I think we'll do that in our family when we get round to playing this. We all enjoyed Until Dawn, but you had 3 people over your shoulder telling you what to do. This simple coop mode solves that, should be fun..
 
Apparently there is a coop mode where you can all pick a character and you get to control them when they star in a scene. I think we'll do that in our family when we get round to playing this. We all enjoyed Until Dawn, but you had 3 people over your shoulder telling you what to do. This simple coop mode solves that, should be fun..

Yes when you begin theres two options, single and multiplayer. I'm more of a single player as I like to play horror games in the dark with headphones, so doubt I'll try the multi, though I can imagine it'll be a good laugh.

Simply Games sent me a pre-order code, though not sure what it does. There was also a code in the box that mentioned it could be redeemed for points, no idea what that was either.
 
I am planning on getting this today - anyone know if it can be played by a single player?
 
Why was I not aware of this game before today? :facepalm:

Can't recall Sony profiling it at any games conference, which is odd given the success of Until Dawn
 
Wow what a disappointment, I had completely dropped off of this game and have only just picked back up and completed it.

As a massive Until Dawn fan I was really looking forward to this, but it's average at best.

It feels like 4-5? or so hours of being funnelled down similar looking dark corridors picking up the odd document with boring text written on it.

Decisions often seemed pointless and half the time I was just randomly selecting as wasn't really sure what I was aiming for.

It seems more of a game of trial and error, intended to be played multiple times in order to force the correct path. Thing is most of it's so boring that I doubt I could be bothered to sit through it again.

Graphics haven't improved much over Until Dawn and that's really old now. There was constant texture pop in and I'm playing on a Pro. You can also easily tell where scenes are knitted together.

I really wanted to love this so am really gutted about how much I didn't.
 
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Wow what a disappointment, I had completely dropped off of this game and have only just picked back up and completed it.

As a massive Until Dawn fan I was really looking forward to this, but it's average at best.

It feels like 7 or so hours of being funnelled down similar looking dark corridors picking up the odd document with boring text written on it.

Decisions often seemed pointless and half the time I was just randomly selecting as wasn't really sure what I was aiming for.

It seems more of a game of trial and error, intended to be played multiple times in order to force the correct path. Thing is most of it's so boring that I doubt I could be bothered to sit through it again.

Graphics haven't improved much over Until Dawn and that's really old now. There was constant texture pop in and I'm playing on a Pro. You can also easily tell where scenes are knitted together.

I really wanted to love this so am really gutted about how much I didn't.
I only made it onto the ship then stopped playing, luckily I had rented it so didn't loose to much.
 
I only made it onto the ship then stopped playing, luckily I had rented it so didn't loose to much.

It really doesn't get any better from where you played, just more of the same. There's nothing particularly memorable in there so you definitely made the right choice.

My deaths and the ending came out of nowhere, I presume I got one of the worst endings yet I kind of feel it was out of my hands, certainly on a first playthrough.
 
It really doesn't get any better from where you played, just more of the same. There's nothing particularly memorable in there so you definitely made the right choice.

My deaths and the ending came out of nowhere, I presume I got one of the worst endings yet I kind of feel it was out of my hands, certainly on a first playthrough.
What did it for me was when
your characters are stood like 2 to 3 feet away from your captures and they talk in normal voices trying to make escape plans. It happened twice, first on the smaller boat when your all bound up in the wheel house section and then again when your put in that first room on the ship.
They don't even react to it, they just let you get on with it. It might sound a stupid thing but it really put me off wanting to carry on playing it.
 
A bit late to the party on this one but started and completed it yesterday. It was okay but a bit of a disappointment after Until Dawn. The control system didn't work very well in the narrow ship corridors. Some of the decisions seemed a little bizarre. The creepy old bloke wasn't anywhere near as good as the one in Until Dawn.

A quick question for anyone that knows:
My ending finished with one of the female characters in a prison cell. The survivors got rescued by helicopter (the drive-head was smashed) and they were taken off. After the credits, there was a shot of the character in the cell. WTF was that all about?

Still think I will pick up the sequel mind, the games do have a few good scares in them!
 
A bit late to the party on this one but started and completed it yesterday. It was okay but a bit of a disappointment after Until Dawn. The control system didn't work very well in the narrow ship corridors. Some of the decisions seemed a little bizarre. The creepy old bloke wasn't anywhere near as good as the one in Until Dawn.

A quick question for anyone that knows:
My ending finished with one of the female characters in a prison cell. The survivors got rescued by helicopter (the drive-head was smashed) and they were taken off. After the credits, there was a shot of the character in the cell. WTF was that all about?

Still think I will pick up the sequel mind, the games do have a few good scares in them!


I've played it twice and got the same ending as my first playthrough despite me trying to steer the story in a different direction. I don't think I can bear to sit through it a third time.

I also played the second game 'Little Hope' some time ago and I'd rate it about the same. The games ok, but nowhere close to Until Dawn which I absolutely loved.
 
Thanks for the info - I will pickup the sequel then as I thought Man of Medan was okay. Not going to play it again though! Those that died are dead as far as I am concerned!
 
Thanks for the info - I will pickup the sequel then as I thought Man of Medan was okay. Not going to play it again though! Those that died are dead as far as I am concerned!

Mine had a trick ending of sorts, so the 3 that survived ended up dying anyway in the final cutscene.
 
Mine had a trick ending of sorts, so the 3 that survived ended up dying anyway in the final cutscene.
Well, glad I didn't get that ending! Just out of interest:

Was it the soldiers that shot them? When the helicopter landed and they pointed guns etc at the survivors, it seemed a bit out of place but - when they allowed my three to jump on the helicopter - I assumed the armed troops were just because of the potential piracy.
 
Well, glad I didn't get that ending! Just out of interest:

Was it the soldiers that shot them? When the helicopter landed and they pointed guns etc at the survivors, it seemed a bit out of place but - when they allowed my three to jump on the helicopter - I assumed the armed troops were just because of the potential piracy.

Yes, that's exactly what happened.

I thought using the radio triggered that event so tried not to use it the on my second playthrough, however I think it forces you to use it. I figured they did this to cover up what really happened on the ship all those years ago, I'm really surprised to hear they rescued you, I was thinking, fixing the boat was the only way to escape.

Perhaps I will give it another go some time in the future lol
 
Got round to playing this over the weekend, you can tell its from the makers of Until Dawn and for the first half of the game you wonder why its marked down compared to its critically acclaimed predecessor. Graphics are good, characters suit the ghost ship trait, some good jump scares and the story line is interesting..

..But then it becomes obvious its a much shorter game, the dialogue and action options become quite shallow and a few minutes into the final act you realise it's pretty much over. So it went from blockbuster potential to a TV show episode with a bit of metal corridor padding quite quick. Enjoyed it and will give the next in the series a go, but its no Until Dawn..
 

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