Okay I'm gonna level with you; I've run out of natural sounding intros. Plus, my head's all over the place now because I just now started watching a damn good show and I'm in love; but lets see if this game can amass any similar feelings of enrapturement. Let's see... the games called 'The Medium', okay then physic stuff can be cool... It's a 'physiological horror?' That can be pretty creatively freeing, I guess. It's by- Bloober Team!? GodDamnit, what is up with those people and making the same games constantly. I mean I understand sticking to your strengths but jeez; you've gotta branch out eventually! (Right?) What happened to spreading your wings? Pushing yourself out of your comfort-zone? Trying something new so that your progressive staling formula can be revitalised with new ideas? I mean I don't wanna poop on these guys too much, but; Layers of Fear, Layers of Fear 2, Observer, Blair Witch, when will these guys finally ease off on the horror throttle for a hot minute? But I heavily digress, let's try to put away our preconceived notions and dive into yet another horror game from Bloober... (That studio name sounds stupid by-the-way)
First I'll start of by saying; Bloober do seem to be going out of there way to prove that this game will be a step up from the usual offerings. The trailer itself focuses a lot on the breakthrough in visual fidelity that games boasts over their other offerings, we see several facial close-ups with textures and light diffusion miles above what their team has managed before, so the team are certainly improving upon their talents. However the majority of this trailer is more of a huge teaser than anything substantial, which is fine considering this is supposed to be a grand reveal of the project, but by the same vein I'm not going to get too excited by what I see. That being said, for a physiological horror title from a studio that seemed intent on doing that genre to death just last year; this one certainly does stand out as a cut above.
Previously Bloober's horror games would consist of two things; walking and jumpscares. Now as far as I'm concerned that is a perfect recipe for your indie horror outing but rather insulting for a full-price outing. (Just as well, then, that most of Bloober's games aren't full price.) They would follow a formula wherein the player character would undergo some startling revelation about themselves (Which is becoming a real tiresome trope out of horror. Surely my character already knows all this stuff, what are they getting out of this trip down memory lane?) whilst delving ever deeper down into their own psyche whilst their perception of the world becomes more twisted, fantastical and horrific. There is it, that's ever Bloober horror game in a nutshell. Now too their credit, their team does have some great imagination behind it so that the moments when these goes do go into psychological stints it's never trite or boring, this team knows how to twist reality on a pin head in really unique ways. Unfortunately that strength is often offset by cookie-cutter metaplots (Layers of Fear), ludicrous lethargic pacing, (Observer) and central characters that are, I'm sorry, just boringly average. (Blair Witch) Now can 'The Medium' break free of that cycle and hit upon something really special? I actually believe it can.
Although the trailer was rather vague and 'symbolic', thanks to descriptions and ancillary information we can make vague sense of what it is that we are seeing. 'The Medium' has the player take control of a woman capable of looking into two worlds, the human one and the spirit world. (Wait, doesn't that make her the Avatar?) This unique trait sets her on the path to solving a mystery that will lead her to an abandoned hotel resort wherein, judging from the trailer, she'll have some difficulty keeping those two worlds separate as she searches for the source of her 'murdered child' dreams. Know immediately this should be ringing some people with a certain alarm; a woman haunted by a tragedy travels to an abandoned town before being trapped in an otherworld... this is Silent Hill! And you know what... I truly do believe that might have been the inspiration that our little Bloober Team drew on for this project.
You can see it from the trailer from the way we see the surroundings peel away unto a decaying cursed world beneath; this is almost the exact same aesthetic which Silent Hill's Otherworld coveted back in that series' heyday. They even draw attention to it themselves at the end of the trailer when the developer pops up to tell us all how they are working in collaboration with Silent Hill's composer. (Which makes sense, it's not like Konami's been giving him any work recently.) Clearly Team Bloober want to fill some sort of void in the gaming landscape, but I'm not sure if their usual brand of first person walking-simulator horror is up to the task. Lucky then, that at the tail-end of this announcement we see evidence that this title will actually be over-the-should third person, perhaps hinting that this will be a more traditionally character driven story in the same vein as old school Silent Hill. (At least that's what I choose to take from it, but I way be a little biased.)
Not ones to rest on their laurels, Bloober went out of their way to talk a little bit about the game itself. From this we learn that one of the focus' they went t address with this game is the secrets that people hide about themselves and the way that a medium can break through that, pretty much confirming that this title will, once again, feature a lot of 'cut away' sections where we dive into other's minds. (That's been their brand up till know, I'm not surprised they're sticking with it.) We also get to hear the team describe the spirit world as a 'Dark mirror' which, once again, aligns perfectly with the way that the Otherworld was always used in Silent Hill. In those games, the city itself served as a limbo that would trap the tortured protagonist until they could resolve their ingrained trauma, and they would do that by exploring two worlds that are both equally as questionable regarding their reality. In the normal world they'll be confronted with familiar figures and situations from their past, whilst in the spirit they'll come face to face with manifestations of their own most toxic and vile thoughts and emotions. If 'The Medium' is attempting to step into a similar balance between confrontation and psychoanalysis then we could be looking at a somewhat sophisticated character study which is a step above their usual affair.
As you may have noticed, I'm not exactly a raging fan of Bloober's work, and that's because I feel they sacrifice a lot of the experience for storytelling. As an amateur writer myself I understand the allure of this approach, but I feel that without a solid gameplay foundation any game falls apart, no matter how well conceived and imagination the premise. Right now we haven't seen much of 'The Medium' but I'm encouraged that the team is on the right track, they're pulling from the right influences, making the right concessions to their usual-formula, and just saying the right buzzwords to get me excited. Knowing as I already do that the team know exactly how to establish atmosphere and sell horror, all this is icing on the cake that convinces me how this game has the potential to be their best horror game yet, maybe even one of the best of all time!
Whatsmore we won't have to wait too long to find out (assuming that the release date isn't shifted) as this title is already slated for a holiday release. The only problem I see is thus, the title's going to be a Series X exclusive. So Playstation fans are getting left behind because of another stupid exercise in exclusivity culture (God I hate exclusives.) At least the game will also be coming to PC, so their hope for the rest of us who won't be spending an arm and a leg on next gen this Christmas. But I don't to stir negativity as a closer, 'The Medium' looks like it has all the ingredients to be a great title and as such it definitely makes my much-watch list to see how it shapes up in the months to come.
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