The Medium is a horror film in which we play the role of a woman who can see the world of spirits (the titular medium). The protagonist tries to solve the mystery of a child's death. The title was developed by Kraków Studio Bloober Team (the creators of Observer, Blair Witch and the Layers of Fear series). The medium action takes place in Kraków in the 1990s in the abandoned Niwa Hotel, which is modeled on the real Cracovia Hotel. The main character is Marianne - the titular medium. The heroine experiences visions that show her the death of an innocent child and decides to solve this mystery. The Medium openly references classics like the Silent Hill and Fatal Frame series, which can also be seen after the camera is set - we're not dealing with a typical TPP view here, predefined camera angles were used instead.
The fun is still exploring locations, solving puzzles and dealing with all sorts of dangers (especially the monster known as "The Maw"). Marianne's sensitive senses help in the search for clues - a woman can hear "echoes of emotions" associated with a specific object, and even hear fragments of conversations that once took place in that place. The production uses an interesting mechanic to move between two worlds - thanks to her supernatural abilities, Marianne can see and influence the world of spirits. At certain moments, the heroine can move there or function in both worlds at the same time - the game then resembles a split-screen game, where we see the normal and "spiritual" versions of a certain place at the same time. Marianne can also leave her body for a short time and only move in the spiritual sphere, which is often the key to solving puzzles and opening access to new places. Marianne also has some other unusual abilities, like surrounding herself with shields that make it difficult for ghosts, or sending out a wave of energy that threatens her.
OS: Windows 10 64 bit.
CPU: Intel Core i5-9600 or AMD Ryzen 3700 X.
GPU: GeForce GTX 1660 Super or AMD RX 5600XT 6GB.
RAM: 16GB.
HDD: 50GB
The main character of The Medium is Marianna, whom we meet in terrible circumstances, because she has to say goodbye to a member of her family. We quickly realize that working in a funeral home was for her something more than just a form of helping her loved ones. The woman has strong paranormal abilities, which, thanks to the unusual profession of her father, she had a chance to develop strongly - Marianna sees ghosts, talks with them and helps them leave our world. The players cannot think about the protagonist's fate for too long, because she answers a mysterious phone - someone knows her perfectly well and asks for help. What does a medium endowed with powerful powers do? She sits down on a motorcycle and sets off on a journey, at the same time wanting to unravel once and for all the mystery and meaning of the nightmare that has been tormenting her since childhood.
The Medium After a short animation, the actual game begins - Marianna finds herself in front of the building of a large, abandoned complex, which in the past was supposed to provide guests with a blissful rest, and is now a ruin resembling the remains of the previous system. In the next step, the heroine begins an approximately 10-hour journey, which, although fully linear from beginning to end, offers a very interesting and in many places surprising story. During the game, the developers very carefully present fragments of Marianna's past, thus wanting to show how big problems she faced throughout her life. In fact, the reviewed Medium is a very intimate story that in many places refers to the past and the present to clearly show that we can always meet very bad people on our way.
The action of The Medium takes place largely in one, very large and extensive building. At the beginning, the heroine goes to the aforementioned resort in order to find answers to the questions that haunt her, while on the spot she meets another lost soul, whom she decides to help. The story is not equal, during the game in 2-3 moments I felt that the presented plot was dragging on a bit too long or it was unnecessarily complex, but I knew that I had to push the story further, because there were new scenes from the protagonist's life around the corner. At the beginning, the writers smoothly maneuver the mystery to present a disturbing story that ends in a very unpredictable way over the next hours.
