Chronicle of Man of Medan | PC Gamer

Man of Medan, the first entry in Dark Pictures Anthology of Supermassive Game, is not particularly scary. If it was a movie, it's the kind that will come out directly on video, one of those schlocky DVDs that line the convenience store displays, between the mix of tracks and the sunglasses. The archetypes of usual characters are there: the nerd, the handsome boy, the blonde, the stranger, the horny glaucous that nobody should support but who does it because at least one death must be cathartic. Queue for the ghost ship, deadly pirates and cheap fright jumps.

As a film, it would be fun, but familiar and forgettable. You must have a taste for that. But as a co-operative adventure game, Man of Medan is unprecedented.

Man of Medan plays a lot like the previous supermassive PS4 exclusive, Until Dawn. Think of it as a movie in which you take control of one character at a time, oscillating between action scenes shattered by quicktime events and dialog choices. From time to time, there is a small part of the exploration where you have time to look for clues, weapons, traps and immerse yourself in the scenery. This is very revealing (RIP).

Except this time, the role play of stupid adults in a dangerous situation is officially supported, both locally and online.

Early in my online cooperation phase, when my colleague Joanna and I managed to force our ship's captain to let us explore a plane sunk at the bottom of the Pacific, we do not play two characters in the same scene. We play two characters in different scenes running simultaneously.

I assume the dive scenario of Julia and Alex. As a young couple haunted by the specter of marriage, each conversation challenges Alex's insecurity in their relationship. Playing Julia, a free spirit with rich parents, I reject Alex's in-depth questions and stay true to the question: the icy skeletons in the chassis are disintegrating quickly.

I crush X as part of a quicktime surprise event to avoid cutting my thigh exposed on a protruding piece of rusty metal. Joanna laughs at my treble yip on the discord. Much later, I will shout "LEECHES!" louder than I ever have and Joanna's laugh will get up to meet him. Jump fears may be inexpensive and plentiful, but with a friend, they are hilarious, assuming you're not the recipient.

Meanwhile, Joanna plays Captain Fliss, coldly dismissing all of Conrad the Creep's collection lines. (In my second solo part, they arrive at second goal.I was curious!) But I do not know what Joanna said, so when she says that a boat is going to be on the water, quickly approaching ours, I start to worry. I really start to worry when the boat leaves the diver position and drags the dive line, eliminating the cockpit.

We are the life-saving force of the people who play both on the phone and in two adventure games.

Imagine how I feel when I see two explosions on the surface as I surface. Do I swim and risk giving Julia turns or staying cool and depressurized with her neurotic boyfriend? At least he did not just ask Julia to marry him this time. The next part, he does, and I send Julia paddling to the surface as soon as possible. No thanks, buddy.

It's my turn to listen to Joanna panic and explain what's going on while juggling with her own powerful dialogue choices or her fast-paced events – I'm in the dark. Finally, Joanna receives vital information that informs my next move. We take our time to depressurize, but during my next solo race, I voluntarily give turns to Julia. Then I make him drink beer. Things do not end well for Julia without Joanna's moral guidance.

Alone, I am a nihilistic monster. Together we form the popular Rescue Force, playing on both the phone and two adventure games simultaneously. It's a hilarious and tense combo.

(Image credit: Supermassive Games)

Apply this framework to even more threatening and complex scenarios. Rather than relationship problems, a safe dive protocol and mysterious explosions, they are all avenging men with knives, sinister specters and the kind of monsters you can not hope to find on an abandoned ship with a dark history. Things are going bad.

It's a fascinating way to live a story together, where you can steer relationships and action based on what you have observed and shared.

Half of Man of Medan keeps Joanna and me apart, playing unique and interconnected scenes at the same time. And based on the clues discovered by our characters, the decisions we make for them, and the discoveries and decisions we choose to share, we are both able to avoid disasters and get on with it. To complicate matters, the point of view of each character is not completely reliable, not all successfully exploited quicktime events are a victory, and all the noble choices do not result in a noble result. Resume small details is paying in this first round.

It's a fascinating way to live a story together, where you can steer relationships and action based on what you've seen and shared, articulated around extremely painful events. And yes, the punishment is good in a schlocky movie B, but sometimes these quick guests are downright unfair.

The dead are not always as ceremonious as the movies do, sometimes coming out of nowhere because of a push of a button. The hero of our game room died after a misreading and again in the same place of my solo adventure (but with a different hero). Some quicktime events simply require quick pressure on the buttons, while others require quick brewing of the buttons.

(Image credit: Supermassive Games)

At least the dead are pretty. Man of Medan is a graphic stunner supported by annoying voyeur camera angles. Realistic animations with syrupy controls mimic the vulnerable and clumsy nature of each character, though this is sometimes compromised by questionable facial tics. The teeth of supermassive nails, but not the functioning of the muscles that surround them. Expect some strange smiles.

It's not as fun as a cooperation, but Man of Medan is still alone and surprising, replacing his friends with intel. In Solo and Casual Mode, the pause displays tools for analyzing choices, relationships, character traits, and clues to direct storytelling in new directions – useful information. I would have liked it to be available in online co-ops too, for the more studious and patient team, but I can see how it could ruin the flow. I still enjoyed counting one on the other to reconstruct our story.

Although my solo story ends with a completely different cast and lasting consequences, I do not really want to dig in the same movie B scenario for a duration of three hours to see all the possible results . The characters are too clichés and the plot too simple to deserve to be studied closely. I've seen Scream 3 once and that's enough.

But, as an ambient experience played out over time, the variability of Man of Medan is large enough to return to the social experience. I am excited to play with more friends to see if anyone can scream louder than me to see the "leeches", to see who they want and who they want to to save. I wonder what kind of incompetent death cocktail we can prepare together.