decent fun with friends
After Until Dawn this one was a bit of a let down. I first played this by myself and didn’t enjoy it a whole lot but after replaying it with a friend it got a LOT better. At times goofy it was fun to make fun of. It’s not the worst in the series but is pretty low on my list for Supermassive Games.
Too short to have any real impact or connection with the characters. Story was so rushed at time that it was close to feeling forced .
Man of medan tem os personagens mais carismáticos de todos jogos, ainda muito preso no Until Dawn é onde começa a franquia
Weird cuts, short story and shallow characters. Not the best Dark Pictures game, that's for sure.
Its ight, nothing like until dawn
terceiro ato chatissimoooooo
e sem querer deixamo a loira viva :(
e sem querer deixamo a loira viva :(
Sorry but Supermassive can't write compelling characters and narrative to save their lives
Generic camp horror movie made fun.
Only fun in couch coop, don't even think of playing alone.
Only fun in couch coop, don't even think of playing alone.
This review contains spoilers
Until Dawn was an unexpected treat for me, so when Supermassive announced they were gonna do a whole anthology series, I was on-board from the word go. Gaming doesn't really have anything like that (unless you consider, like, Final Fantasy an anthology series, but that doesn't feel right), so getting it from a studio that had proven its ability to play with cinematic horror with casual, super-approachable gameplay was a slam dunk in my book. So while I didn't get Man of Medan right away, I didn't delay too long, and I charged through it over a weekend.
...Man of Medan was fine. Not amazing, not terrible, but a'ight. I'd sort of hoped for amazing, which is why (as of this writing) I haven't picked up any other of the Dark Pictures Anthologies games. But I think that's sort-of unfair for the game. It's not trying to be as ambitious as Until Dawn; it's perfectly happy to present a tense horror scenario for a few hours, then call it quits. There's a decent mystery at play, and the visuals, while kinda hard to see at times, are a pretty good blend of photorealistic mocap and out-there horror fare. For a bite-sized release, it's fine enough.
I am fascinated by this game's "Bearings". They're the replacement for Until Dawn's "Butterfly Effect" system, and while they generally don't feel as impactful due to the absence of Until Dawn's Totems, they're perfectly serviceable and make for a solid enough measuring stick for a player's playthrough and choices. There's a catch this go-around, though: paying attention to and acting upon established bearings is not unilaterally good. If you're playing through this with the intent of saving as many people as possible, trying to ace all the plot beats underlined by the Bearings will actually screw you over. I'd been conditioned by Until Dawn to try and do all my homework, get all collectables, see sidequests through, etc, so I took that same approach here, dutifully relating the name of the ship to satisfy "Military Bandwidth" and, in my second try (more on that shortly), being sure to save the Distributor Cap in... "The Distributor Cap" (sort of wish they played with these names a bit more). I didn't get any endings that otherwise would've stranded the player characters on the ship, but if I had, my 'clearing' "Military Bandwidth" would've ensured that everyone died! Furthermore, because I took the trouble to save the Distributor Cap, I essentially guaranteed a bad ending for Conrad, since I'd made the decision to have him escape and get the coast guard. The game counted it as everyone surviving, but between the millitary coming, Danny being alive, and the other coast guard dudes with him - Conrad couldn't be long for this world.
Fresh off my playthroughs, this annoyed me and struck me as bad design. Why put so much focus on this system highlighting how well you did, and then use it in service of screwing the player over in the end? Perhaps I should have realized from collectables that the US Military would still consider a 72-year-old bioweapon a military secret, and that they'd shoot anyone who knew too much on sight, but the whole thing felt cheap and dumb.
However! Now that I've had time to sit on it, I better appreciate what they were going for. The "Bearings" don't exist to pass moral judgement. They're purely neutral observations of choices and consequences. The Curator says as much himself. The Analyst was there in Until Dawn to pass judgement, but that's not The Curator's scene - he's just the man who holds all the stories. And anyway, isn't it proper genre work to have an ironic twist at the 11th hour that foils all the hard work the heroes (and player) put into trying to survive? There's any number of horror movies that shake out like that, the best of which being the ones that get the viewer to think. And it took me a while, but darn if it didn't get me thinking.
Ah, yes, I got two separate endings. My first playthrough saw me get both Julia and Fliss killed (thank you for the sassy "Right There With Ya, Boys!" achievement, game). I call some shenanigans on Julia for failing to diffuse things with Junior, but Fliss getting got was 100% me getting twitchy, knowing full well what was going on and that I shouldn't have gotten twitchy. I reloaded my save afterwards, jumping back to right before Julia was ded, and did my best to save everyone, with the mixed results as mentioned before. I will complement the game's Chapter system for being suuuuuuper flexible and making backtracking while retaining some progress nice and easy.
My perspective on this game was definitely skewed by having played Until Dawn first, and not being able to look at this title separately. With distance, I find myself thinking of this a bit more highly of what Supermassive was going for here. Does that make it resonate better with me? No, not really, but I better respect what they were going for here. Honestly, sorta makes me want to try Little Hope, see how they progress the template for Dark Pictures. Though, given how much that title seems to be playing with the Salem Witch Trials (with which - heh - I'm decently familiar), and seeing how the point of Man of Medan was taking a rationalist stance on its seemingly supernatural mystery, I dunno that there's a whole lot for me to be surprised by. Still, nothing ventured...
P.S. - I didn't mess around with them, but I appreciate all the alternate modes for existing. Trying to add variety, particularly cooperative multiplayer, to what's more or less a high-budget visual novel is commendable. Can't personally vouch for how well it works, but I appreciate that it exists!
P.P.S. - The Bends + Booze ≠ Guaranteed Death, game. MAYBE it reacts poorly with the toxic gas in Julia's system, and the three things are just the right cocktail for a fatality. But still, what the hell.
...Man of Medan was fine. Not amazing, not terrible, but a'ight. I'd sort of hoped for amazing, which is why (as of this writing) I haven't picked up any other of the Dark Pictures Anthologies games. But I think that's sort-of unfair for the game. It's not trying to be as ambitious as Until Dawn; it's perfectly happy to present a tense horror scenario for a few hours, then call it quits. There's a decent mystery at play, and the visuals, while kinda hard to see at times, are a pretty good blend of photorealistic mocap and out-there horror fare. For a bite-sized release, it's fine enough.
I am fascinated by this game's "Bearings". They're the replacement for Until Dawn's "Butterfly Effect" system, and while they generally don't feel as impactful due to the absence of Until Dawn's Totems, they're perfectly serviceable and make for a solid enough measuring stick for a player's playthrough and choices. There's a catch this go-around, though: paying attention to and acting upon established bearings is not unilaterally good. If you're playing through this with the intent of saving as many people as possible, trying to ace all the plot beats underlined by the Bearings will actually screw you over. I'd been conditioned by Until Dawn to try and do all my homework, get all collectables, see sidequests through, etc, so I took that same approach here, dutifully relating the name of the ship to satisfy "Military Bandwidth" and, in my second try (more on that shortly), being sure to save the Distributor Cap in... "The Distributor Cap" (sort of wish they played with these names a bit more). I didn't get any endings that otherwise would've stranded the player characters on the ship, but if I had, my 'clearing' "Military Bandwidth" would've ensured that everyone died! Furthermore, because I took the trouble to save the Distributor Cap, I essentially guaranteed a bad ending for Conrad, since I'd made the decision to have him escape and get the coast guard. The game counted it as everyone surviving, but between the millitary coming, Danny being alive, and the other coast guard dudes with him - Conrad couldn't be long for this world.
Fresh off my playthroughs, this annoyed me and struck me as bad design. Why put so much focus on this system highlighting how well you did, and then use it in service of screwing the player over in the end? Perhaps I should have realized from collectables that the US Military would still consider a 72-year-old bioweapon a military secret, and that they'd shoot anyone who knew too much on sight, but the whole thing felt cheap and dumb.
However! Now that I've had time to sit on it, I better appreciate what they were going for. The "Bearings" don't exist to pass moral judgement. They're purely neutral observations of choices and consequences. The Curator says as much himself. The Analyst was there in Until Dawn to pass judgement, but that's not The Curator's scene - he's just the man who holds all the stories. And anyway, isn't it proper genre work to have an ironic twist at the 11th hour that foils all the hard work the heroes (and player) put into trying to survive? There's any number of horror movies that shake out like that, the best of which being the ones that get the viewer to think. And it took me a while, but darn if it didn't get me thinking.
Ah, yes, I got two separate endings. My first playthrough saw me get both Julia and Fliss killed (thank you for the sassy "Right There With Ya, Boys!" achievement, game). I call some shenanigans on Julia for failing to diffuse things with Junior, but Fliss getting got was 100% me getting twitchy, knowing full well what was going on and that I shouldn't have gotten twitchy. I reloaded my save afterwards, jumping back to right before Julia was ded, and did my best to save everyone, with the mixed results as mentioned before. I will complement the game's Chapter system for being suuuuuuper flexible and making backtracking while retaining some progress nice and easy.
My perspective on this game was definitely skewed by having played Until Dawn first, and not being able to look at this title separately. With distance, I find myself thinking of this a bit more highly of what Supermassive was going for here. Does that make it resonate better with me? No, not really, but I better respect what they were going for here. Honestly, sorta makes me want to try Little Hope, see how they progress the template for Dark Pictures. Though, given how much that title seems to be playing with the Salem Witch Trials (with which - heh - I'm decently familiar), and seeing how the point of Man of Medan was taking a rationalist stance on its seemingly supernatural mystery, I dunno that there's a whole lot for me to be surprised by. Still, nothing ventured...
P.S. - I didn't mess around with them, but I appreciate all the alternate modes for existing. Trying to add variety, particularly cooperative multiplayer, to what's more or less a high-budget visual novel is commendable. Can't personally vouch for how well it works, but I appreciate that it exists!
P.P.S. - The Bends + Booze ≠ Guaranteed Death, game. MAYBE it reacts poorly with the toxic gas in Julia's system, and the three things are just the right cocktail for a fatality. But still, what the hell.
beaucoup trop court même si l’idée de base était bien, j’étais vraiment sur ma faim comme s’il manquait une moitié du jeu…
This review contains spoilers
Lo ÚNICO rescatable de este juego, a mí gusto, es el modo coop que es bastante interesante ya que por las alucinaciones puede hacer que las dos personas jugando se enfrenten y maten sin darse cuenta, fuera de eso todo es bastante mediocre, jueguenlo en coop para reírse un rato aunque sea.
These games are fun to play with friends, idc idc. HOWEVER, the characters, story and setting don't come close to this studio's predecessor Until Dawn
Sinceramente eu esperava bem MAIS desse jogo mas pelas reviews eu já imaginava que iria ser bem o inferior ao seu sucessor que é o Until Dawn. Eu sei que é para ser uma história mais curta e com menos desenvolvimento, mas dava sim para ter tido uma história bem melhor e não tão apressada. O final é muito sem graça (pelo menos o que eu tive né) e a luta final é zoada para cacete, é tudo jogado ali e não faz sentido nenhum, é um final fraco e apressado para uma história apressada e sem qualidade e é muito triste porque a atmosfera do jogo é ótima, os personagens são meio tontos mas servem e a ideia de um navio da segunda guerra mundial que teve um gás bizzaro sendo soltado lá dentro com um monte de tripulante é no mínimo interessante e é uma pena que tenha sido tão ruim e mal executada. Os prós são os gráficos e a modelagem dos personagens que a supermassive arrasa sempre e a atmosfera
An overall forgettable game. Other than the atmosphere, I struggle to give it any compliment. Awful controls with equally awful camera angles, a predictable story matched with predictable jumpscares to boot, and a bunch of characters I couldn't care for. Also, in my opinion, there weren't many tricky options with lasting consequences that could screw you over.
Similarly to how I reviewed The Quarry, I'm giving it a higher rating than it I think it deserves due to the benefit of the doubt of me not recognizing just how many pathways this game can lead towards.
Similarly to how I reviewed The Quarry, I'm giving it a higher rating than it I think it deserves due to the benefit of the doubt of me not recognizing just how many pathways this game can lead towards.
Gostei bastante, um jogo rápido com uma história boa, e um susto que quase mata a gente.
It feels like playing an interactive movie with your friends in charge of different characters. If you approach it like that vs a game to complete it's very enjoyable.
ghost ship movie game with coop. great to play with a friend, horrible by yourself. ok story ruined by an absolutely awful twist.
After finishing Until Dawn, I became eagerly excited for what Supermassive Games' next outing is. Although an anthology franchise isn't exactly what I wanted or needed, I was still pretty hooked with it. It's a shame though that playing the game was just as boring as being stuck in the middle of the ocean.
First, before all of the terrible flaws that this game has, I want to point out all of what it does good, even if it may only be quite a few. For starters, I felt more encouraged to experiment with the characters' traits this time around compared to their previous game, instead of just trying to be kind all the time because of the surprisingly good dialogue system.
It also also looks so much better than Until Dawn in some areas, although, the facial animation just looks way too uncanny for my liking. The characters have these soulless stares that are very off putting even hours into the game.
One thing I hated though was the constant and immersion breaking loading screen in-between camera changes. There's nothing more annoying than enjoying a scene, only for it to be ruined by a sudden black loading screen for the next camera angle. Despite this though, I found the initial hour of the game to be completely enjoyable, albeit a bit slow, and I never wanted to drop it.
The longer I played the game though, the more flaws started to arise, and it really hampered the immersion. Weird bugs started to appear, the constant loading started to become longer, and the story just never managed to grab my attention once the action started.
It felt more like a PG-13 supernatural story, with not a single ounce of self awareness or originality in its plot. It just pretty much gives all of its scares right in the middle of the story and then just as you know, the game is abruptly at the 3rd act. The plot twist was also delivered in such a casual manner that makes it come across as anti climactic.
What's worse is that most of the gameplay section through the main setting of the game just consists of you doing brain dead QTEs and walking from a straight corridor of point A to B with little in the way of exploration. And when there is an exploration segment, there seems to be an invisible timer running in the background that makes exploration very discouraging and makes other characters react as if you're very incompetent if you don't reach the intended area in time. Because of this constraint to the gameplay, Man of Medan felt more like an interactive movie, and a bad one at that.
Despite how bad the game was I still wanted to try out the second campaign from another character's point of view, hoping that this could help save it, only to find out that this mode is completely missing from my game despite doing every single requirements and even checking if it was installed. It could probably be the result of a bug, and one that seems to not have any solution available online, so as of today, I can't play the other half of this mediocre horror game and I think I might even be better for it.
First, before all of the terrible flaws that this game has, I want to point out all of what it does good, even if it may only be quite a few. For starters, I felt more encouraged to experiment with the characters' traits this time around compared to their previous game, instead of just trying to be kind all the time because of the surprisingly good dialogue system.
It also also looks so much better than Until Dawn in some areas, although, the facial animation just looks way too uncanny for my liking. The characters have these soulless stares that are very off putting even hours into the game.
One thing I hated though was the constant and immersion breaking loading screen in-between camera changes. There's nothing more annoying than enjoying a scene, only for it to be ruined by a sudden black loading screen for the next camera angle. Despite this though, I found the initial hour of the game to be completely enjoyable, albeit a bit slow, and I never wanted to drop it.
The longer I played the game though, the more flaws started to arise, and it really hampered the immersion. Weird bugs started to appear, the constant loading started to become longer, and the story just never managed to grab my attention once the action started.
It felt more like a PG-13 supernatural story, with not a single ounce of self awareness or originality in its plot. It just pretty much gives all of its scares right in the middle of the story and then just as you know, the game is abruptly at the 3rd act. The plot twist was also delivered in such a casual manner that makes it come across as anti climactic.
What's worse is that most of the gameplay section through the main setting of the game just consists of you doing brain dead QTEs and walking from a straight corridor of point A to B with little in the way of exploration. And when there is an exploration segment, there seems to be an invisible timer running in the background that makes exploration very discouraging and makes other characters react as if you're very incompetent if you don't reach the intended area in time. Because of this constraint to the gameplay, Man of Medan felt more like an interactive movie, and a bad one at that.
Despite how bad the game was I still wanted to try out the second campaign from another character's point of view, hoping that this could help save it, only to find out that this mode is completely missing from my game despite doing every single requirements and even checking if it was installed. It could probably be the result of a bug, and one that seems to not have any solution available online, so as of today, I can't play the other half of this mediocre horror game and I think I might even be better for it.
Fun fact: the story of this game is largely based on a real mistery of a ghost ship also called SS Ourang Medan. There were never found any real records of the ship, however many witnesses and authors reported having seen it shipwrecked.
Fim um pouco fraco
um jogo incrível de escolhas com o tema de terror e suspense, dá pra jogar cooperativo com alguém, e os dois terem q fazer escolhas e necessitar um do outro para prosseguir e obter bons resultados no game, muito bom!
Didn't really like it. Clunky gameplay.
Quite a laugh to play with a friend. I wouldn't dream of playing this alone, this is an excuse to hang out with a friend only.
This review contains spoilers
só morreu o conrad
had a delightful time playing as intended, with friends and laughing at how bad it was
Boring
banger
Bon bah voilà quoi.... c'est... très bof
This is just one of those fun bad games, not much play time at all though but the dialogue and story was just so hilariously bad in these games