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Bloober Team’s new Silent Hill inspired survival horror game The Medium treads new gameplay territory for the Polish indie developer, as evidenced by today’s 14-minute gameplay trailer. Cementing themselves as one of today’s top horror game developers thanks to first person horror games Layers of Fear (and its sequel), Observer, and Blair Witch, the latest trailer for The Medium showcases what the studio has achieved with a more classical survival horror fixed camera angle. Just in case you were wondering how Silent Hill inspired the game would be, there you go.
The new 14-minute gameplay trailer features protagonist Marianne as she explores an abandoned hotel. She soon gets forced into the spirit world, which puts the game’s split-screen “dual reality” gameplay system on display. Marianne ventures deeper into the corpse-laden spirt world, at one point detaching from the real world entirely. Later she confronts the game’s antagonist, The Maw. Voice by Troy Baker, The Maw alternates between whimsical and sinister vocal tones and can also follow Marianne between worlds — requiring her to utilize stealth in the real world.
Overall, The Medium looks impressive, but I can’t help but feel that it’s a tad too fantastical for a game trying its hardest to evoke Silent Hill comparisons. I’m not yet sold on the character designs nor their performances, and some gameplay elements, such as Marianne’s spirit abilities, come off as silly (at least in the context of a game paying homage to Silent Hill).
We’ll see if Bloober Team’s foray into classically themed survival horror pays off when The Medium releases on Xbox Series X|S and PC on January 28th.
