The Medium Preview - Bloober Team Brings "Silent Hill in Poland"

Polish Silent Hill – that's a label that comes to mind when you look at the latest Bloober Team's: The Medium. The authors openly admitted that they consider the cult-classic second part of the famous Japanese series an all-time masterpiece, and an absolute monument of the finest horror. Fortunately, in this case it's about inspiration rather than blind copying and The Medium combines the predictable patterns well with some of its own ideas. I could find out about it recently, during a special presentation of the game and a online meeting with the developers.

When asked about the other sources that influenced them the most, they listed a whole lot of extremely atmospheric games, films and shows. The color palette and overall atmosphere was inspired by shows such as The Dark and Chernobyl. Other Japanese horror movies, such as Fatal Frame and Forbidden Siren, as well as games like Hellblade, Amnesia or What Remains of Edith Finch, have also had a big impact. A great reference that most of you will find obscure is the output of Zdzislaw Beksinski, a legendary Polish abstract painter, photographer and sculptor specializing in surrealism, who is actually the main inspiration behind The Medium. The legendary Silent Hill series, and the first entry in the Resident Evil series inspired another hallmark solution – pre-defined, fixed camera angles.

The main location of the game has been based on a real, Communist-era hotel in Poland.

Cinematic experience – static camera

The Medium will not utilize traditional third-person perspective. It was decided to use fixed camera angles instead, not only to pay homage to the aforementioned series of horrors, or such classics as Alone in the Dark. Showing the action in this way gives, above all, a much more cinematic and eerie feel, allowing the creators to build the atmosphere of uncertainty by showing different scenes from the right perspective.

The decision to resign from the classic TPP was made after long tests and discussions. Another important argument was that the defined camera angles encourage more careful exploration. It's hard to imagine any other choice when you consider the key feature of the game, i.e. playing in what the creators call a dual world: real and spiritual.

We'll sometimes watch the same events from two realms simultaniously.

"Dual world" – playing in two dimensions

Showcasing the dual world system was the main point of the 20-minute or so presentation of The Medium. Finding yourself in either dimension is not optional, but rather an element closely related to a particular moment in the plot. Sometimes, we'll even be able to see both realms at the same time. The screen becomes divided like in a couch co-op, and we can see the same location in two versions.

Both dimensions differ significantly not only in terms of visual style but also functionality. Many environmental puzzles are based on this mechanic. We saw, for example, Marianne being encouraged by the spirit of a certain girl to enter the floor of an abandoned hotel. In the real world, you have go there by elevator, because the staircase is destroyed, but once the elevator door is locked, the only exit exists in the ghost realm.

The realms are different and require some brain racking to move between them.

The protagonist, as the title medium endowed with paranormal abilities, can use the ability to depart from her own body. She freezes, motionless in the real dimension, to move freely in the spiritual sphere. Depending on the problem that needs addressing, it will be necessary to manipulate objects in one realm or the other. Marianne, however, cannot stay outside her own body for too long. After some time, her spirit begins to fade, which encourages doubling-down your efforts.

"Silent Hotel" in Krakow

Much of the game's action takes place in the Niwa hotel in Krakow, in the 90s. The fictitious name, however, refers to a real location, which has been reconstructed with quite impressive fidelity. The inspiration for the creators was the "Cracovia" hotel, erected in the 1965. It operated as a building of a famous hotel chain until 2011, and for the last 5 years it has been part of the National Museum, serving as a venue for various exhibitions, but mostly being a derelict scarecrow in the middle of the city. In the game, the characteristic, tiled columns in the lobby of the building are immediately visible.

It's thick, only this Predator...

Traversing the real and spiritual realms also serves a sequence of clashes with wraths able to travel between them. In the real world, Marianne can only sense the spirits or special auras surrounding various objects. When contacting a particularly dangerous power, the only thing that remains is to escape and carefully observe the environment. The presence of a ghost in the vicinity can be recognized by quite obvious symptoms.

Marianne, the protagonist, is able to depart from her own body.

When a wrath moves, you can see flickering lamps – including the heroine's flashlight – or even dust moving from the ground. Everything is so readily understood that it was completely unnecessary to additionally distinguish the antagonistic character with an envelope like the Predator's camouflage. First, it looks quite common and kitschy in such a carefully crafted world, and two – it loses the aura of mystery. Additionally, an arrow sometimes appears over Marianne's head, suggesting the direction from which the monster is coming. A facilitation like this is an understandable safety valve, but I hope it will be possible to disable it.

It's slightly different in the spiritual realm, where spirits have their defined, physical form. Although I didn't see any direct clashes, I could see some of Marianne's special abilities in action while solving environmental puzzles. Outside her body, the heroine can interact with the environment with something like an energy field; it's also possible to use it in the reverse direction, creating a protective bubble.

But the energy doesn't come from nowhere – first, you have to find a well with accumulated ghost power. It seems these mechanics work quite well with puzzles, as they allow you to move obstacles or safely go through a location. However, I am curious to see how they will work during a confrontation with these dangerous ghosts.

Marianne can also produce a protective, energy bubble.

It all depends on the point of view

The plot and number of possible endings is still shrouded in mystery. The only information we have is that released right after the game was announced. The main character, Marianne, is tormented by visions of child murders. The investigation leads her to an abandoned post-communist hotel, but we will also visit other locations. The authors told me that the plot in The Medium is way more flexible than stories in their previous games:

I found the main monster a bit too ordinary.

The Medium impresses not only with atmosphere, graphics, and intriguing plot, but also with the personnel behind it. One of the voice actors, for example, is Troy Baker, aka Joel from The Last of Us. The atmosphere of Silent Hill will certainly be conveyed by the soundtrack, in part composed by Akira Yamaoki, who cooperated with Arkadiusz Reikowski.

The authors mention that the possibility of cooperation with Akira appeared at the Tokyo Game Show, where they showed him fragments of The Medium. He was enchanted enough to visit Poland, feel the atmosphere, and then poured it all into his compositions. Soon. we will see how this cooperation came out.

Polish school of horror?

I don't know yet whether The Medium will match the best of Silent Hill. The fact is, however, that Bloober Team has found its niche and is making better and better productions, better and better horror – from Layers of Fear, through Observer, to Blair Witch. It appears that after being a sensation of international cinema in the 60s and 70s, Poland now became kind of the same thing, but with video games.

The Medium promises to be really interesting and I keep my fingers crossed so that the game is as impressive from first to last minute. I have some concerns, such as a bit grotesque antagonist, but maybe the storyline and general atmosphere will supress any shortcomings. Bloober Team, however, have been earning their reputation with some unlikely successes, such as not messing up a game based on movie franchise (Blair Witch). Since they're now going back to original ideas, The Medium should not be "medium" at all, but "well done."