The Medium (XSX|S & PC) - Psychological horror. Free with Game Pass. Gamespot 9 & IGN 8. Out 3rd Sep on PS5.

Discover a dark mystery only a medium can solve. Travel to an abandoned communist resort and use your unique psychic abilities to uncover its deeply disturbing secrets, solve dual-reality puzzles, survive encounters with sinister spirits, and explore two realities at the same time. The Medium is a third-person psychological horror game that features patented dual-reality gameplay and an original soundtrack co-composed by Arkadiusz Reikowski and Akira Yamaoka.

BECOME A MEDIUM

Wield unique psychic abilities reserved for those with the gift. Travel between the realities or explore them both at the very same time. Use the Out of Body experience to investigate places where your real-world self can’t go. Create energy shields and deliver powerful spirit blasts to survive the spirit world and its otherworldly dangers.

SEE WHAT’S HIDDEN

Delve deep into a mature and morally ambiguous story, where nothing is what it seems and everything has another side. As a medium you see, hear and experience more than others, and with every new perspective you will change your perception on what happened at the Niwa resort.

PLAY IN TWO WORLDS AT THE SAME TIME

Never-seen-before and officially patented gameplay that plays out across two worlds displayed at the same time. Explore the physical world and the spirit world simultaneously, and use the interactions between them to solve dual-reality puzzles, unlock new paths, and awaken memories of past events.

ENTER A DARK REALITY INSPIRED BY BEKSIŃSKI

The Medium’s spirit world is a dark mirror reflection of our reality, a grim and unsettling place where our unpunished deeds, evil urges, and vile secrets manifest themselves and can take on a form. This world has been invented and designed under the inspiration of Zdzisław Beksiński’s paintings, Polish dystopian surrealist internationally recognized for his distinctive and strikingly ominous style.

MUSIC BY YAMAOKA & REIKOWSKI

Immerse yourself in the disturbing and oppressive atmosphere of the game thanks to the original ‘dual’ soundtrack co-created by Akira Yamaoka and Arkadiusz Reikowski. Yamaoka-san is a legendary Japanese composer best known for his work on the Silent Hill series; Reikowski is a Hollywood Music in Media Awards nominee who worked on such acclaimed horror games as Blair Witch, Layers of Fear, and Observer. Now they join their creative forces for the music and songs of The Medium.

Monkey Man wrote:officially patented gameplay

OrangeRKN wrote:I'm not seeing the gameplay in that "gameplay" trailer

Monkey Man wrote:officially patented gameplay

OrangeRKN wrote:I'm not seeing the gameplay in that "gameplay" trailer

Monkey Man wrote:officially patented gameplay

When we revealed The Medium for the first-time during Microsoft’s Inside Xbox event back in May, we teased that there were many secrets still to reveal about our upcoming psychological horror game.

Each of our games, from Observer to Layers of Fear to Blair Witch, has a central theme that drives its creative and technological design. In The Medium, we focused on how your perspective changes your perception, and that when you change your point of view, you discover new truths far different to what you had originally perceived.

That there are two sides to every story.

So today, we’re thrilled to be able to reveal the most exciting feature to-date about The Medium that helps to shine a light on this cryptic theme a little more – our unique dual-reality gameplay.

Around the announcement of the title, we talked about the central character of Marianne, a woman haunted by visions that lead her to an abandoned hotel in Krakow, the site of a terrible tragedy years ago. Marianne is a medium and is therefore able to interact with both our world and the spirit world in order to solve the mysteries of this place.

But what we didn’t reveal… is that both of these worlds can be rendered, displayed, interacted with, and explored at the same time.

Made possible only through the power that cutting-edge next-gen hardware brings, The Medium renders two fully-fledged and visually distinct worlds simultaneously with no visible loading times. At different points in the game, players will find themselves playing in either of the worlds, or within both at the same time, with the game purposefully designed in this way to ensure variety and surprise.

This technology provides players a unique way to play, and a whole new experience and perspective. A seemingly impossible to find escape in the real world, or an unsolvable puzzle, can be unveiled in the spirit world via Marianne’s medium powers. And with different controller inputs mapped to each world, exploration and puzzle-solving can be simultaneous when needed.

The spirit world also provides Marianne with different skills than her physical-world self, such as her Out of Body ability.

Marianne can use this to leave her physical self and explore places only accessible as a spirit. But players should be careful, as the Out of Body ability takes a toll on Marianne. Much like a deep-sea diver, if players remain out of her body too long, Marianne’s real-world self will feel the potentially fatal ramifications.

This technological concept is one that we’ve been looking into for many years at Bloober Team, but one that in all honesty was impossible before this current gen of hardware. Only with newer tech built into the Xbox Series X and in PCs are we able to fully render two distinct worlds at the same time. This crucially also enables us to switch instantly between locations – which I hope will be a game-changer for the horror genre.

We’ve been keen to ensure that the game remains thrilling, full of suspense at all times, and unpredictable. As such, Marianne (and players) will not be in control of which world they find themselves – meaning players must be on their toes at any point as we effortlessly transport them to either world, or both at the same time, while playing or during cinematic cut-scenes. The absence of visible loading times makes this a possibility.

This dedication to the cinematic experience continues into the game’s score – composed by Akira Yamaoka, of Silent Hill fame, and Bloober Team’s Arkadiusz Reikowski. A game featuring two worlds, and two composers that have worked in tandem to create truly unique atmospheres across each world – whether that’s while players are in the real world, the spirit world, or interacting with both at the same time.

We’re looking forward to hearing and reading fans’ reactions to this latest reveal, and will be revealing more gameplay footage, and more news, in the months to come before the release of The Medium.

Take a look at the dual-reality gameplay of The Medium in the first official walkthrough demo. Two fully-fledged and visually distinct worlds rendered simultaneously.

Discover a dark mystery only a medium can solve. Explore the real world and the spirit world at the same time. Use your psychic abilities to solve puzzles spanning both worlds, uncover deeply disturbing secrets, and survive encounters with The Maw - a monster born from an unspeakable tragedy.

Coming Holiday 2020 to PC & Xbox Series X and available now for pre-order!

The developers at Bloober Team discuss their process of making horror games that are designed to do more than just scare the hell out of you, and how their dual world mechanic works in their upcoming game, The Medium.

Check out the "It Came From the Rage” story trailer for The Medium.

We get a first glimpse into the dark origins of The Maw, the nightmarish entity and main antagonist voiced by Troy Baker, alongside a closer look at Sadness, a mysterious masked girl who resides at the abandoned Niwa Hotel.

more heat than light wrote:I wouldn't expect it to look amazing if previous Bloober Team efforts are anything to go by.

Still looks decent though, definitely gonna give it a go.

rinks wrote:Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver did the dual worlds thing 20 years ago.

Peter Crisp wrote:

more heat than light wrote:I wouldn't expect it to look amazing if previous Bloober Team efforts are anything to go by.

Still looks decent though, definitely gonna give it a go.

Oh dear .
Erm, what's the best looking game on gamepass that's getting an upgrade?