One-dimensional characters and an all-too-familiar setting plague Supermassive’s spiritual successor to Until Dawn Man of Medan. However, if you enjoy watching horror movies with friends, you might still find joy in this title.
What is Man of Medan anyway? Man of Medan is the first installment of “The Dark Pictures Anthology” – a series of games intended to be released independently. Man of Medan is also the spiritual successor to the surprise hit Until Dawn, which guides 10 friends through a horror night. The twist: the player’s decisions have a direct impact on whether and which friends will survive the night.
Despite the clichéd stereotypes, which clearly draw from 90s teen horror films like “Scream” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” the various decision-making opportunities and the great atmosphere certainly offer replay value.
With Man of Medan, the shortcomings of Until Dawn are to be addressed while simultaneously increasing the replay value. Two new co-op modes are also expected to play a significant role, allowing you to scare yourself together online or in couch co-op. Although the number of protagonists has decreased (you now control only 5 characters), the various ways to die have significantly increased, which expands the players’ decision-making options.
This is the story of Man of Medan: 5 protagonists with different relationships meet on a boat to search for sunken treasures. During this adventure, the “heroes” eventually end up on a ghost ship. This ghost ship actually existed. On the SS Ourang Medan, all crew members are said to have died in 1948 under mysterious circumstances. Some explosions on board are believed to have led to the sinking of the freighter.
Even though there is probably a mundane explanation for the sinking of the SS Ourang Medan, the developer Supermassive Games has added a paranormal twist to the shipwreck that the protagonists experience themselves. Your objective is to guide as many characters as possible safely through the horrors of the ship. In fact, this game goal can be humorously subverted, especially in co-op mode.
The main characters are walking clichés: Just like in Until Dawn, the developer skips multi-dimensional characters. Worse, Supermassive fails to create a believable character development in Man of Medan. There are
- the daredevil and womanizer,
- the smart but boring nerd,
- the nagging and admonishing captain
- and the lovey-dovey couple.
Already after the first few minutes, I feel the need to help some candidates meet their demise. However, this weakness of the game reveals the great potential of the co-op mode!
The big plus of Man of Medan: The co-op modes!
You can scare yourself together with friends in two ways: either via the internet or through couch co-op. Both experiences are completely different. In a game with a friend via the internet, each player controls one character simultaneously. Unfortunately, this leads to somewhat strange situations, especially when your partner masters a situation faster than you. You will often be pulled out of your current events because your partner has activated a cutscene.
The couch co-op for 2-5 players works significantly better. Each player controls one character, so a maximum of 5. While one player controls their chosen character, the others watch, much like a horror movie, which is why this mode is aptly named movie night. Since your decisions can significantly impact your fellow players, movie night offers a lot of potential for both conflicts and a lot of fun.
Because not infrequently, your decisions can lead to another character meeting their end. This gives you the opportunity to experience the story in a completely different way through challenges:
- Every player must ensure that their chosen character quickly meets their demise. The last one standing loses.
- At the beginning of the game, you not only select your own character but also find a “victim” among your friends’ characters. Your goal is now to ensure that your chosen victim loses as quickly as possible through your actions.
- Band together and tackle the challenge of keeping all your characters alive. This is more difficult than it sounds and requires some experience with the possible decisions in the game.
For the hardcore variant, you can also combine the challenges with a drinking game.
A playthrough lasts: The developers specify a playthrough of 4-5 hours, akin to a movie night in the Lord of the Rings format (the extended version, of course). Due to the many ways to die, the story can be experienced in different scenarios. Conveniently, you can view the different branches of the story in the menu and thus at least roughly know what you missed or where other decisions would lead to different outcomes.
What do you think of the co-op mode? Would you invite your friends for a fun movie night with the game?
