We reviewed The Dark Pictures: Man on PC of Medan

Driftwood
Wednesday, August 28, 2019 | 4:00 PM
19 comments

GSY Review PC PS4 Xbox One

If like us you liked Until Dawn, chances are you were eagerly waiting The Dark Pictures - Man of Medan, to be released on PC, PS4 and Xbox One in a couple of days. Time for another Gamersyde verdict then, with a bunch of HQ videos as usual.
Rig used to review the game: i9 9900k, RTX 2080 Ti, 16 GB of RAM.

Verdict

Until Dawn had managed to surprise us back when it was release, not because it was technically impressive, but because its narrative and mechanics were so tied that they made us care about what was going on. Man of Medan is actually quite the contrary. It is an undeniably impressive game in terms of visuals and animations but it fails short when it comes to telling a spooky story and developing endearing characters. While playing, we never truly cared about the 5 main protagonists and when we reached our first ending (4 survivors out of 5, one having stupidly being lost to a missed QTE in the first part of the adventure), it felt as if things were just getting started. It's really a shame because the atmosphere is spot on, the place itself is the perfect setting for a good scare, but in the end, the only thing we feared is that the game would eventually disappoint us. Still, we are truly looking forward to playing the next games in the anthology, but until then, it's hard to recommend a game you'll complete in 4 hours the first time with almost everyone alive.

On the upside
Visually stunning
Superb animations
Great atmosphere...
The soundtrack
Until Dawn's mechanics still work well...
Some replayability
Co-op is both original and nice

On the downside
Less convincing visually in the daylight
Some uncanny valley moments
... bit it's never really scary
Most jump scares just don't work
... but too short an adventure to make them shine
Why would they chance voice actors when they start speaking French?
Abrupt ending leaves the impression that not much has happened

High quality stream and download

Commented on 2019-08-28 16:14:21

I had a feeling this wasn't going to reach the heights of until dawn. All the footage released prior to it's launch just seemed to lack polish. There was a weird disconnect between voice acting and facial capture too. Where character might sound panicked or stressed and yet their faces were expressionless. I'll likely still play it because I like these sorts of games. But i'll be waiting for some deep discounts before I take the plunge.

In reply to

der_ton

Commented on 2019-08-28 21:26:51

"It's never really scary", "most jump scares just don't work"? Watching the videos I found it quite scary... maybe you are too hardened when it comes to horror?
But I agree on the acting that is not really believable (technical reasons or actors' performances, I can't put my finger on it), and maybe it's the personalities of the characters.

Driftwood

Commented on 2019-08-28 21:35:03 In reply to der_ton

I don't know if I am truly hardened. Like I said atmosphere is great but the characters are so uninteresting that you simply don't care about them. Maybe that's why I was never scared.

GunsnSwords

Commented on 2019-08-28 22:57:50

https://www.gamersyde.com/video_the_dark_pictures_...

the characters in this are from Hidden Agenda and look identical. the models are literally ripped from it.
I am surprised no one mentioned this. Hidden Agenda was also UE4.

Commented on 2019-08-28 23:34:58

well It looks pronominal on PC i know that much. 4k @ 60fps. making great use of UE4 here and in the past as well.

" It is an undeniably impressive game in terms of visuals and animations but it fails short when it comes to telling a spooky story and developing endearing characters"

I think playing the demo months early is what did it. and all of it's replays posted on yourtube.
if you've already seen all of it's jump scares before then not much will draw you back in.
if that's the case then i would agree. I've seen the same location and dialogue like 10 times already.

I still can't wait to give this ago however.

Commented on 2019-08-28 23:54:56 In reply to GunsnSwords

I saw nothing of the game before playing it. Also 4K/60 only works in the intro, then framerate oddly drops just above 30. 1440p is smooth but not perfect, there are still a few drops here and there.

Commented on 2019-08-29 00:07:41 In reply to Driftwood

Posted by GunsnSwords

well It looks pronominal

I meant phenomenal... heh

Driftwood

I saw nothing of the game before playing it. Also 4K/60 only works in the intro, then framerate oddly drops just above 30. 1440p is smooth but not perfect, there are still a few drops here and there.

thank you for this. can't wait to try this.

SyberGTX

Commented on 2019-08-29 00:30:57

all of their games have frame rate dips.
at least there is a version that have settings to optimize.
also the writing of both Until Dawn and Hidden Agenda were considered B class movie grade.
at the very least it continues this.

Commented on 2019-08-29 00:55:53

Posted by SyberGTX

also the writing of both Until Dawn and Hidden Agenda were considered B class movie grade.
at the very least it continues this.

about the writing. i was thinking Supermasive had a chance to best Remedy at this.
despite both developers under a budget. it is pretty evident that Remedy is very talented as a standalone.

nostradamus

Commented on 2019-08-29 09:15:09 In reply to SyberGTX

dips? that is one way to put it, they are slideshows in action pack QTE cutscenes, run almost as bad as Control.

A come the f- on. Until Dawn was schlock decent fun teen writing and worked. Hidden agenda is HILARIOUS Bad it's almost.... nah, still shit.

Commented on 2019-08-29 11:11:43

well fortunately for Dark Pictures it will be a anthology of parts.
each containing new content and characters. the parts will likely see a gradual increase in horror narrative and atmosphere. so far the first part is doing not too bad.

PC invasion - 9/10
https://www.pcinvasion.com/man-of-medan-pc-review-...
The Xbox Hub - 4.5/5
http://www.thexboxhub.com/the-dark-pictures-anthol...
PSU - 8.8/10
https://www.psu.com/reviews/the-dark-pictures-man-...

considering this is the first project of it's kind from the developers. this is actually pretty good.
first time experiments can be at times not as well received.

Seth

Commented on 2019-08-29 14:05:21

Well yeah, Supermassive peaked with Until Dawn, since then it's all downhill. I hope this mediocre project don'\t hurt them tho.
I was planning to give it a try, but seems like everyone who liked Until Dawn thinks Dark Pictures is disappointment.

Commented on 2019-08-29 19:15:00

To be fair you can make any game seem like it is being reviewed well when you cherry pick which reviews to show people. I mean, I could list the several 4-5/10 reviews and declare it a disaster.

The game is sitting at 70 on metacritic and 71 on open critic. It's reviewing like a lower quality telltale game. It's pretty clear this experiment isn't being that well received. It's not abysmal, but it's not particularly good either.

Commented on 2019-08-29 19:26:14 In reply to KORNdog

Posted by KORNdog

https://i.imgur.com/4TeO9Ht.jpg

Loakum

Commented on 2019-08-29 19:36:48

If I can make choices that will get other online players killed, then I will be a happy Panda. *sips on a glass of grape juice*

Commented on 2019-08-29 23:03:01

I really did not like the quirky dialog in moments in Until Dawn.
seeing how it's in Dark Pictures as well, i'll try to manage past these parts.

KORNdog
"To be fair you can make any game seem like it is being reviewed well when you cherry pick which reviews to show people."

i'm pretty sure everyone cherry picked their own reviews for Until Dawn as well.

"It's pretty clear this experiment isn't being that well received. It's not abysmal, but it's not particularly good either. "

IGN
Until Dawn - 7.5/10 = GOOD
https://www.ign.com/articles/2015/08/24/until-dawn...
Dark Pictures (Part 1) - 7/10 = GOOD
https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/08/28/the-dark-p...

a ".5" an't that much better though...

Commented on 2019-08-29 23:10:58

I'm curious to see what the Curator's Cut DLC will be like for Dark Pictures.
it'll feature parts not in your first playthrough.

gonzax

Commented on 2019-08-31 20:33:02

I had a very good time with the game, I really enjoyed it and I like these types of games that you can replay making different choices. It's not as long as Until Dawn but it is of similar quality IMO. The ending is a bit abrupt, though but overall a really good game, very recommended for people who enjoy the genre or who liked Until Dawn.
Games like this one would be amazing in VR and way more scary making you feel like you're there inside the story.

Commented on 2019-09-01 06:53:20

Updating - part 2 of DP has been announced.
The Dark Pictures : Little Hope
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSytATmTF1U

Part 2 takes the story to a small town in the forests. has a fresh new cast of characters.