Blooper Team’s The Medium is one of the most exciting Xbox console exclusives and it just so happens to be right around the corner, launching in early 2021. This will be one of the first big games to dig into for early adopters of the Xbox Series consoles. So you know what to expect, we’ve put together a short guide explaining everything you need to know about the game ahead of its upcoming release. With any luck it will help you figure out whether The Medium fits with the style of games you usually play.
Developed by: Bloober Team
Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
Release Date: 28 January 2021
The Medium is a psychological horror game with Silent Hill connections
The Medium is a single-player third-person horror game that slips you into the shoes of protagonist Marianne, a spiritual medium with psychic prowess who is tasked with solving puzzles and dealing with a hostile force known as the Maw (who happens to be voiced by voice actor extraordinaire Troy Baker). The game is set in Krakow, Poland and you’ll be unravelling a terrible tragedy with a dual-screen gameplay setup that looks super refreshing!
The game has been developed by Bloober Team, whose 2016 breakout horror hit Layers of Fear paved the way for years of innovative, terrifying games. In the years since Layers of Fear, Bloober Team has crafted cyberpunk horror with Observer and adapted folklore with 2019’s Blair Witch. But this feels like a big step forward for the studio — The Medium looks to have more scale and scope than any of their previous releases. The game clearly takes inspiration from Konami’s Silent Hill, and backs that up with series composer Akira Yamaoka, who will be working to craft the soundtrack to The Medium’s spiritual plane.
The Medium Dual Reality Gameplay Showcase
We got our best glimpse at how The Medium plays a few weeks ago, when Bloober Team uploaded 14′ of uncut footage showing Marianne exploring one of the game’s many spooky environments.
The power of the Xbox Series X has allowed Bloober Team to present two highly detailed worlds to the player in tandem, with the ability to explore the physical and spiritual plane presented by two worlds split down the middle of the screen.
It’s quite a wacky system to get your head around, but it’s there so that players can uncover secrets and learn more about the environment by understanding how it differs. This will help them solve puzzles and move forward. In one scene, we follow the player as they wind a clock in the real world to unlock a passageway and a well of resources in the spiritual plane.
Marianne can then sap from the spirit well and leave her body to explore further beyond the confines of her physical form. The catch here is that the player cannot fully control Marianne’s psychic abilities — so you might get trapped in the spirit world or locked out of it at times. Even worse, you may be beholden to some of the game’s terrible monsters in the process.
