Bloober Team’s horror, The Medium also arrives on PS5, here is our review of this new version of the game
Several months after the first review of The Medium, when it was still an exclusive timeline for Xbox Series S / X, the title now also arrives on PlayStation 5, with some small innovations related above all to the control system. The title was developed by Bloober Team, a Polish studio that is increasingly specializing in horror titles after releasing two chapters of Layers of Fear clearly inspired by the famous PT created by Hideo Kojima. Now their ambitious next gen horror has finally arrived on the new Sony console, let’s find out in this one review if the experience of The Medium has changed a lot compared to what we saw a few months ago in our first test of the title.
Two worlds in contact
In terms of story we are obviously faced with the same game, in fact nothing of the gameplay or the plot has been touched up in this version for PS5. The plot revolves around the figure of Marianne, a young woman with a very special gift, in fact she is able to see the world of spirits, which is beautifully represented by the two versions of the environments within the game. The day her adoptive father dies, Marianne receives a call that prompts her to go to the now abandoned resort Niwa, driven by the revelations of a mysterious man who claims to know her.
Marianne will then begin a journey into her past, between confused and suddenly resurfaced memories and others that do not seem to belong to her. In all of this, on the spiritual plane she will also meet a little girl who seems to want to guide her on her journey. Not everything in the spiritual world is friendly though: Marianne will find herself having to flee even from the fearsome creature called “The Fauce”, A conglomerate of hate that feeds on souls and tries to capture her throughout the game.
Riddles Between Dimensions – The Medium Review
The Medium is a horror-themed adventure based heavily on atmosphere and puzzles. The title doesn’t want to scare the player at all costs, but it basically wants to tell a story with different subtexts left to be analyzed then to the player. The core of the experience is the duality of worlds with which Marianne can interact, the fulcrum of the gameplay, given that the many and interesting puzzles present in the game are based above all on acting both in the material and in the spiritual plane. Marianne will also be able to leave his body temporarily to act mainly in the spiritual one, being careful not to make the detachment with the material body last too long, on pain of death of the protagonist.
Then there are the phases of escape from the Maw, which are undoubtedly the parties less successful than the game, as they are based on too basic stealth and a trial and error style progression that is often rather tedious. All in all the About 10 hours that are used to finish the Bloober Team adventure are quite enjoyable and interesting, especially for the desire to try to discover the truth behind the plot. The inspiration taken from Silent Hill is obvious, but although we are faced with a rather competent horror in what it does, we are still a long way from the impressive atmosphere of the Konami title that has redefined the entire horror genre.
The DualSense Experience – The Medium Review
For this review we played the PS5 version of The Medium, where it was immediately clear how the DualSense has been well implemented within the game. Bloober Team has been careful to calibrate the potential of the new PS5 pad for Marianne’s adventure. The feedback aptico manages to lower the player into the atmosphere, for example in some phases in which we will be surrounded by a protective bubble to cross the areas invaded by moths, we will hear the mass of insects bumping into the protection in a very convincing way. THE adaptive triggers instead they will use the resistance they are able to generate to make you feel the charge of spiritual energy that Marianne is able to transmit.
The escape sections also earn some points thanks to the ability to manage the breath through the triggers, trying to hold him back to escape the fearsome creature in pursuit of us. The speakers of the pad will then make the experience even more immersive by emitting some ambient sounds in some specific points, while it will also be possible to use the touchpad and motion sensors to analyze some objects. Undoubtedly the use of DualSense is the thing that most differentiates playing The Medium on PS5 or Xbox Series X.
The Graphic Appearance – The Medium Review
On a technical level, the experience does not differ much from what has been seen on Microsoft consoles and on PCs. If in the initial version of The Medium, just started working on the review, there was an inferiority due to the absence of the Ray Tracing on the Sony console, with the patch 1.02 released a few days after the release of the title, the situation has changed, since now this graphics option is now finally active. The game is therefore now much more beautiful to look at and without major problems that penalize it on a graphic level compared to the counterpart on Microsoft consoles.
For the rest, the title is a good test from a graphic point of view, especially thanks to one very inspired art direction of the development team, but it is not yet a graphic that really makes a miracle cry even though this is not a cross gen title. Final note for the soundtrack, created by two different composers: Arkadiusz Reikowski and the legendary Akira Yamaoka, author of the Silent Hill soundtracks, who here collaborated on some very suggestive songs.
Final remarks
Arrived at the end of this review dedicated to PS5 version of The Medium, we can say that basically the title has very few differences compared to its counterpart seen months ago on Xbox Series S / X consoles and on PC. The biggest difference is a good use of DualSense, here fully exploited in all its main features. At a graphic level, however, despite starting off on the wrong foot due to the absence of Ray Tracing, the developers made up for it by inserting the graphic option with a patch, improving both the visual experience and the stability of the title.
For the rest, if you have already played The Medium on Microsoft consoles or PC, it’s not really there no reason so you should also play it on PS5. If, on the other hand, you were waiting for it especially for the Sony home console, know that you will find yourself in front of a good horror-themed adventure, with a decent story and interesting gameplay, but without shouting at the masterpiece.
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The horror title also arrives on PS5
Points in favor
- Well done atmospheres
- Interesting story
- The DualSense is exploited well
Points against
- Unsuccessful escape and stealth sections
- Sometimes a little slow pace
- Some minor graphic defects