The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan (Multi)
By: Bandai Namco
THOUGH sounding like a particularly aggressive aftershave, Man of Medan is the first in a series of frights from Supermassive, creators of the rather brilliant teen slasher, Until Dawn.
Based in Guildford, the developers have an obvious love for the horror anthology: just as Hammer and Amicus have done on celluloid, they're delivering spooky vignettes to the joypad set.
With each entry tackling a different horror genre, Man of Medan treads water in a thrilling take on the 'ghost ship' routine. Framed by the mysterious library-bound Curator, our Crypt Keeper-esque master of ceremonies (or 'scaremonies'? – I'll be here all week) plunders every horror cliché as a group of young tourists board a wave-lashed Second World War ship in the South Pacific.
Stalked through its briny innards by pirates and paranormal hoo-ha, a roll-call of teen fright-flick types must survive a yarn packed with tense set-pieces. Just like Until Dawn four years ago, Man of Medan invokes the butterfly effect as players' twitchy decisions spell life or death for the group.
It's possible to get all five off the boat alive – but everything you do can have dire consequences. Thankfully, a crutch comes in the form of the titular Dark Pictures: approaching portraits reveals quick blasts of premonition to steer you right, while a healthy dash of reports, newspaper clippings and the like will help make sense of exactly what went down on the Medan.
Barring dialogue choices and quick-time events – notably ones where you must match an on-screen heartbeat – there's not much to Medan's gameplay, though it's shot through with enough slick gimmickry ('slimmickry'? Don't forget to tip your your waitress) to keep you playing 'til the credits, experiencing a platter of death scenarios from a possible 69.
Dark Pictures is deliciously enticing – an atmospheric tale of demonic doings on the high seas, a thick pall of aquatic apprehension hangs over horror so palpable you'll feel it in your palps.
And boy does it look good in all its mo-capped glory. The tech brings movie-quality animation to faces, though Medan's frame rate does stutter when things get feisty.
Wonderfully atmospheric and creepily ominous, Man of Medan's piffling 20 quid ask will bristle your goosebumps for around three to five hours. And, if multiple play-throughs don't extend its length, the multi-player certainly will.
'Movie Night' mode allows up to five people to share a controller, taking turns on individual characters as new scenes flesh out the back story.
There are a few barnacles on Medan's rusty hull, though. Like Until Dawn, it stars a cast of privileged young yanks so infinitely loathsome, their guts are just aching for a savage stabbing. There's also an over-reliance on the fright du jour, jump scares, while the rheumatoid speed at which our cast ambles through the environments fleeces its story of any urgency.
Still, as a short sharp shock to the senses, Man of Medan raises plenty of thrills and its fair share of chills – admirably delivered without resorting to chucking gallons of blood about.
Some hoary clichés can't sink a haunted vessel that's ripe for some Halloween joypaddery, masterfully teeing up the next in the series, Little Hope – it's due next year and stars pig-faced horror fodder, Will Poulter.
