The Medium [OT] Dual Sensed

Platform(s): Xbox Series X|S, PC

Release Date: January 28th, 2020

Genre: Horror

Price: $39.99 USD or free with Xbox Game Pass

Player(s): 1

Format: Digital

ESRB Rating: M

Developer: Bloober Team

Publisher: Bloober Team

Metacritic: ?

Opencritic: ?

OT BEST ENJOYED IN LIGHT MODE

CONTENT WARNING: Without delving into spoilers, there is a plot twist about 3-4 hours into the game, when you are placed in a wheelchair. It deals with subject material that is incredibly sensitive, and the handling of it appears to be quite divisive. The section as of writing is unskippable. It does further the plot but is hardly alluded to after, and nothing in great detail is shown. If you feel uncomfortable, my recommendation would be to turn off audio and subtitles and just play through the section, get a friend to play through it for you, or if need be retire the game.

The Medium is a third-person psychological horror game that features patented dual-reality gameplay and an original soundtrack co-composed by Arkadiusz Reikowski and Akira Yamaoka.

Wield unique psychic abilities reserved for those with the gift. Travel between the realities or explore them both at the very same time. Use the Out of Body experience to investigate places where your real-world self canā€™t go. Create energy shields and deliver powerful spirit blasts to survive the spirit world and its otherworldly dangers.

Delve deep into a mature and morally ambiguous story, where nothing is what it seems and everything has another side. As a medium you see, hear and experience more than others, and with every new perspective you will change your perception on what happened at the Niwa resort.

Never-seen-before and officially patented gameplay that plays out across two worlds displayed at the same time. Explore the physical world and the spirit world simultaneously, and use the interactions between them to solve dual-reality puzzles, unlock new paths, and awaken memories of past events.

The Mediumā€™s spirit world is a dark mirror reflection of our reality, a grim and unsettling place where our unpunished deeds, evil urges, and vile secrets manifest themselves and can take on a form. This world has been invented and designed under the inspiration of Zdzisław Beksińskiā€™s paintings, Polish dystopian surrealist internationally recognized for his distinctive and strikingly ominous style.

Immerse yourself in the disturbing and oppressive atmosphere of the game thanks to the original ā€˜dualā€™ soundtrack co-created by Akira Yamaoka and Arkadiusz Reikowski. Yamaoka-san is a legendary Japanese composer best known for his work on the Silent Hill series; Reikowski is a Hollywood Music in Media Awards nominee who worked on such acclaimed horror games as Blair Witch, Layers of Fear, and Observer. Now they join their creative forces for the music and songs of The Medium.

Q: What is this game?

A: The latest horror game from Bloober Team, developers of >Observer, Blair Witch and the Layers of Fear Series.

Q: Is it coming to PS5?

A: Bloober Team currently has no stated plans to bring the game to PS5, as their focus is on the Xbox Ecosystem platforms (Series X|S and PC) but it may come at a later date.

Q: Is it on Xbox One?

A: No. The Medium is a next-gen title that pushes the limits of the new hardware, and thus will not be on Xbox One.

Q: Is it coming to XCloud?

A: As of writing, XCloudā€™s consumer-facing server blades are based on Xbox One SOCs so no. However, when the server blades are switched to Series X hardware, a port cannot be ruled out.

Q: Is this game coming to Xbox Game Pass on day one?

A: Yes! However, not every Bloober Team title has stayed on the service in perpetuity so be sure to enjoy sooner rather than later.

Q: What is the performance of the game?

A: 4K 30fps on Series X and 1080p 30fps on Series S, variable on PC. Raytracing on both Xbox platforms.

Q: When does the review embargo lift?

A: January 27th at 9am EST.

Q: What are the system requirements on PC?

A:

Minimum settings

  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  • OS: Windows 10 (64bit version only)
  • Processor: IntelĀ® Coreā„¢ i5-6600 / AMD Ryzenā„¢ 5 2500X
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics: @1080p NVIDIA GeForceĀ® GTX 1060 6GB / AMD Radeonā„¢ R9 390X (or equivalent with 4 GB VRAM)
  • DirectX: Version 11
  • Storage: 30 GB available space
  • Sound Card: DirectX compatible, headphones recommended

Recommended settings

  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  • OS: Windows 10 (64bit version only)
  • Processor: IntelĀ® Coreā„¢ i5-9600 / AMD Ryzenā„¢ 7 3700X
  • Memory: 16 GB RAM
  • Graphics: @1080p NVIDIA GeForceĀ® GTX 1660 Ti / Radeonā„¢ RX Vega 56 | @4K NVIDIA GeForceĀ® RTX 2070 / Radeonā„¢ RX 5700 XT
  • DirectX: Version 12
  • Storage: 30 GB available space
  • Sound Card: DirectX compatible, headphones recommended
  • Additional Notes: NVIDIA GeForceĀ® RTX 2080 for 4K with ray tracing on.

Youā€™ve only seen half so far ā€¢ The Medium (themediumgame.com)

The Medium | Xbox

Profile / Twitter

Save 10% on The Medium on Steam (steampowered.com)

The Medium - Official Trailer | Inside Xbox - YouTube

The Medium - Official 14 Minutes Of Xbox Series X 4K Gameplay Trailer - YouTube

The Medium - Official Story Trailer - YouTube

Thanks to Bloober Team for the gifs and text

16 Likes

This is a nice OT. Good work.

2 Likes

Dual SensešŸ‘€ Looking forward! Hope it is more spooky less creepy and hunting.

2 Likes

Very nice OT!

1 Like

Awesome job OP!

Is the dual gameplay really patented?

Got my pre-order down and ready to play!

2 Likes

Thanks for all the support.

The dual gameplay is patented!

1 Like

Nice OT! Except the game is $49.99 ($44.99 with pre order discount :stuck_out_tongue:).

Canā€™t wait to play this! Hope itā€™s as good as it looks. Trying not to watch the gameplay videos cuz I wanna go in fresh.

Pre-installed, I wasnā€™t a big fan of Blair Witch but this looks more interesting. Anyone knows if it supports Atmos? Iā€™ll play this in the dark with volume cranked up hehe

Looking forward to this, I hope MS eventually buys Bloober

1 Like

Nice OT! Iā€™m hoping the games good. I probably wonā€™t play it day 1 but itā€™s in the pipeline for sure.

Looking forward to playing this

Great OT!

Looking forward to Thursday. Will probably play it when itā€™s dark with headphones to set the tone and atmosphere.

Curious about the dual rendered Gameplay sequences and what exactly does it entail for it to be patented.

1 Like

Quietly confident in this oneā€¦

From the gameplay session I saw, it had frame pacing issues even though it looked like it was running at 30fps. Not a great initial impression for me.

One of the few brazilian youtubers I trust in gaming space, ā€œFala, Micaā€ seems to broke the review embargo on this one, since he uploaded 2 hours ago and yet I canā€™t find any other review video.

Gave it a 80/100. He absolutely loved the atmosphere, soundtrack and story. Said the puzzles arenā€™t hard but also donā€™t take you by the hand, being very satisfying. Game is stunning on Series X, framerate was a stable 30fps for most of the time and only had one game breaking bug where the character get stuck on the corner of screen and had to reload.

The negatives: game is too short, he took 08 hours and only missed 2 collectables. There is no chapter select to easily get this missable collectables, you need to replay it all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j916EnPHukg

2 Likes

That sounds good to me! Sure 8 hours isnā€™t exactly long, but could be enough for this kind of game. Also, I believe even Resi 3 remake was shorter? Gonna check it out tomorrow right away.

Just checked, all their games are around that length.

Reviews should drop today?

For the type of game it is 8 hours sounds like a decent length to me, and it will likely take me longer than that anyway.

Looking forward to getting started now Iā€™ve finished Control.

2 Likes

Did he said anything about the horror factor? Or is it more mysterious?

1 Like

The developer themselves say 8 hours