The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan PS4 Review

The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan PS4 Review

Developed by Supermassive Games
Platform: PS4

Until Dawn was a blast.

A choose your demise horror film that forced you to invest in the characters and their consequences, it was blockbuster gaming at its best.

The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan is more of the same, but a little more schlocky than anything else.

Maintaining the interactive elements of their prior game, and ramping up more of the insecurities, Man of Medan concentrates efforts on four Americans on a boat, heading into a diving experience. But things take a turn when it appears the weather has trapped the quartet on a legendary ghost ship, the Ourang Medan...

Graphically and stylistically, the game is excellent.

Cut scenes look like movie moments sliced together with some quick time events that play choices between the head and the heart.

The problem is that this movie is one of the lower end horror films, the ones that rip off the premium talent and pass it off as their own. Sure, there are jump scares, and what you'd expect, but The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan is more a lower end guilty pleasure start to the series, rather than a start high declaration of intent.

That's not to say it doesn't offer its own set of pleasures, more that The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan is not at the higher end of the horror spectrum. What does impress though is the mood and atmospherics of the game, as it leads you from one encounter to the next.

As a pass and play get together with friends, The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan is a blast - a sheer popcorn-filled Friday night ride - and it's this way that it should be best experienced.