Back in 2021 the spirit world descended on to our consoles via Bloober Team’s The Medium.

A slow paced, creepy adventure game that follows Marianne who has just lost her adoptive father.

After his funeral, she goes in to the spirit world to give him a proper send off and make sure he is not ‘stuck’.

Marianne is able to move between the real and spirit world at will and it’s during this time of grieving that she receives a mysterious call summoning her to an abandoned state resort in the Polish countryside.

It’s here where the game really takes off for horror fans as the dark and death scented adventure awaits.

Gameplay is slow paced, but full of enough horror-esque moments to keep even the most hardcore players needing to keep the lights on.

Not only is the gameplay and narrative fantastic, graphically The Medium is top shelf.

So how does it run on the lower spec’d Nintendo Switch?

Given the graphical necessities to effectively render the eerie eye candy of The Medium, the Nintendo Switch release is via cloud.

The game downloads what is essentially a client and yep you’ll need to be connected to WiFi to play.

Your play experience is of course going to be dependant on your internet connection. Myself, I have fibre with a mesh dotted around the house.

There was only one moment where I experienced in-game lag and that was right at the beginning of play. From there, it seemed to have sorted itself out and it was fluid play from then on and still is.

Playing via cloud allows you to experience graphical wonder that perhaps the Switch, with it’s limited capabilities, wouldn’t otherwise be possible.

Providing your internet connection is stable, I fully recommend getting in to The Medium on Switch.

Not only is it a game that shouldn’t otherwise be able to run on the hybrid console, it’s a Triple A game that you need to play.

The post The Medium – Cloud Edition (Switch) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

The award-winning psychological horror game from Bloober Team will arrive to Nintendo Switch via its cloud service this June.

The Medium is an innovative and terrifying horror experience. The critically acclaimed title was developed and published by the Polish horror studio, Bloober Team. First launched in 2021, it’s a third-person psychological horror game that features dual-reality gameplay that allows players to navigate between real and alternative worlds to solve puzzles.

The game is set in the late ‘90s following Marianne, a psychic investigating the abandoned Hotel Niwa in search of answers about her past. She explores the physical world and the spirit world simultaneously, which lets players use the interactions between them to solve dual-reality puzzles, unlock new paths, and awaken memories of past events. The spirit world is a dark mirror reflection of our reality, and it has been modeled and designed under the inspiration of Polish dystopian surrealist, Zdzisław Beksiński’s paintings. The incredible visuals were enhanced by the original soundtrack co-composed by Arkadiusz Reikowski and Akira Yamaoka.

On June 29 2023, The Medium – Cloud Version will be released on the Nintendo Switch system for the first time, allowing players to pick it up digitally and play using cloud streaming technology.

We have recently witnessed the rise of cloud gaming, and it is exciting to see remarkable games being released as Nintendo Cloud Versions. It’s an honour to be joining them with The Medium. We are delighted that players will now have the opportunity to enjoy the game on the Switch, anytime and anywhere. – Said Piotr Babieno, Bloober Team CEO.

The Medium – Cloud Version will be released on the Nintendo eShop and there will be a 15% discount will start on the day of the launch and last until July 6, 2023 (EOD).

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Ahead of the game’s launch on PlayStation 5, Bloober Team presents a new video: The Medium PS5 – Gamescom Launch Trailer (above).

The trailer showcases key elements on the game’s story, and features both primary locations and protagonists, including the Hound – a mysterious entity from the spirit world.

The score is provided by “Across the shore” a theme composed by Akira Yamaoka and Arkadiusz Reikowski, and performed by Mary Elisabeth McGlynn.

Following a successful global launch on PC and Xbox Series X|S on January 28, 2021, Bloober Team is releasing The Medium to PS5 to take advantage of the console hardware as well as the DualSense controller, offering players the experience of exploring two worlds simultaneously.

The Medium is a third-person psychological horror game that features innovative dual-reality gameplay. Players assume the role of Marianne, a medium gifted with several psychic abilities, and explore the real and spirit world both alternatively and simultaneously to uncover a dark mystery masked by disturbing secrets, sinister spirits, and devious puzzles only a medium can solve.

Players can head to the PlayStation Store to pre-order the game with a 10% off discount for PS Plus members before launch.

Those who pre-order the game will receive the digital Original Soundtrack (by Akira Yamaoka and Arkadiusz Reikowski) and The Art of The Medium (digital artbook).

Bloober Team and Black Screen Records will also publish The Medium Original Soundtrack on vinyl and CD, with a release expected in October 2021.

Bloober Team and global retail publishing partner Koch Media are bringing The Medium to retail stores worldwide. The game will be published and available in retail for PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5, with The Medium: Two Worlds Special Edition available at selected retailers, which comes complete with an exclusive steelbook, soundtrack of the game and printed artbook.

In Japan, publisher NA Publishing will bring the game to all three platforms by holiday season 2021.

Developed and published by Bloober Team, and rated R18+, The Medium is Bloober Team’s largest and most ambitious project to date, with no loading screens and utilising the full potential of the latest version of the Unreal Engine 4.

The Medium releases on PlayStation 5 September 3, 2021.

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The next-generation consoles are out, and so are a new range of games that would not have been possible on the now-last generation of consoles.

A powerful demonstration is the new, Xbox Series exclusive (on consoles, anyway) horror-thriller, The Medium. Taking heavy inspiration from earlier titles from the studio, and from late 90s horror, The Medium pushes technical boundaries while staying on relatively safe grounds with its gameplay and story.

The Medium begins with protagonist Marianne finalising arrangements for her adoptive father Jack at their funeral parlour. After preparing him for burial, she enters what she calls the spirit world to send him off from a form of restless purgatory.

She is a medium, able to move between the physical and spirit world at will, helping souls finish up their time on earth. Marianne soon receives a mysterious call however, beckoning her to the abandoned state resort in the Polish countryside, Niwa. It is here that the game mostly takes place, and discovering the story of what happened and how it connects to Marianne is the mystery that you’re trying to solve.

This takes place mostly through linear exploration of the resort, picking up letters, items leftover, and by settling the anxious souls inhabiting the spirit world. The Medium isn’t a difficult game, with limited gates to your progression, and no real combat to speak of. Everything it does do, however, is in service of the story and developing an atmosphere of slow, creeping dread.

It is an upgrade, I feel, compared to previous titles from the developer such as Layers of Fear, which in comparison feels much more like “press forward to feel afraid.” Nevertheless, if you are looking for a Resident Evil style experience, The Medium isn’t going to satisfy that particular niche.

The Medium is a gorgeous game, and the Xbox Series consoles where I mainly played manage to hold up even under the intense load of rendering two highly-detailed scenes at the same time. While the apparent resolution isn’t the highest, each location is highly detailed, with careful attention paid to every environment, even those you run through quickly.

And this is where The Medium’s key trick comes into play. Given the power in the new consoles, The Medium is able to show two different scenes side by side. At times during the story, the game will split, with one side showing the “real” world and the other the “spirit”. Protagonist Marianne will run through both, and this setup will occasionally be used to make some interesting puzzles.

You may need to reach an item in the physical world that is only accessible in the spirit world, for example. I feel like there is potential for some more innovative uses of this mechanic though, and the game ended before I felt like it had been explored fully. Perhaps an opportunity for The Medium 2, perhaps.

One obvious bug though is the presence of unfortunately intrusive frame-pacing on both PC and Xbox Series consoles. Yes, it is running at 30FPS on consoles, and up to and above 60FPS on PC, but the frame-pacing issues are felt as judders and skips as you explore the world.

It didn’t seem to matter if the area was complex or not, the bad frame pacing seemed prevalent throughout my time with the game. I understand that the developers are aware of this issue however, and hopefully it can be fixed in a patch before too many people have to deal with it.

As one of Microsoft’s first big exclusives on the new consoles, it is fantastic to see this be a game that could only realistically be achieved with the additional grunt of the new machines. As a demonstration of what new gameplay opportunities increased technical specifications can open up, The Medium is a welcome addition to Xbox’s gaming library.

Even better, it is on Microsoft Game Pass, so there is a low-cost option to try it out, including on PC. As a game in it’s own right, The Medium is a creepy story that doesn’t overstay its welcome. In an era of bloated open-world AAA releases, the focus on telling one story is refreshing.

Even for players who usually shy away from horror titles, The Medium has much to offer.

The post The Medium (Xbox Series S | X, PC) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

The year was 1999.

Y2K was a thing that had people paranoid and to add to the fear a ’reality’ film released in cinemas that set the genre for many others to follow. The Blair Witch Project.

A fake low-budget ‘documentary’ that saw a group of film students visit the town of Burkittsville, Maryland to get to the bottom of the local Blair Witch legend.

Not only did this film fool A LOT of folk that saw it in to thinking it was an actual documentary – the film very quickly became a franchise.

Now adapted from the on-going legend we have a Blair Witch video game released on PlayStation 4.

Played out in first person the slow paced eerie game sets you back to 1994 where your character, Ellis Lynch – a former cop, follows the local police in search of a missing child in Blackhills Forest.

As a prequel, if you like, to the original The Blair Witch Project film, you with your dog at your side roam through the Burkittsville based forest picking up clues and venturing further and further in to the depth of endless and twisted foliage as darkness takes over…

Your dog is not only a companion, it is a tool and will help discover secrets and items aswell as threats, providing you reward him now and then.

A variety of commands are accessible via hot-keys on your controlpad for you to communicate, reprimand, treat and show affection to your furry friend.

Via an analogue cellphone (no smartphones in those days) and a walkie talkie you liberated from a police vehicle you do have comms to the outside world. Although as the game progresses comms do get a bit sketchy.

Your bag is your inventory where you will keep notes, items and dog treats.

Your environment appears to be open world. It’s not. Blair Witch (the game) is very linear. And justifiably so, as it would be easy for players to get themselves totally lost in the forest.

Blair Witch on PS4 is more a detective game than a horror game. While it does exceedingly well to set up a ‘alone in the forest’ vibe and utilising the microphone in the DualShock4 controlpad for sudden jumps (even if it is isn’t meant to scare you e.g. random radio static) gameplay does have you doing a crazy amount of first person walking.

Developed by Bloober Team,  Blair Witch (the game) could have done with a bit more attention on graphics aswell.

All in all, as a fan of the first film and the following sequels (and recent remake) I was pleased to see a video game that is highly playable and with an engaging narrative release.

I recommend Blair Witch (the game) certainly to fans of the franchise, but also to those that are keen for horror titles. If you have somehow not seen any of the films playing this one will likely set you on your path to do a marathon of Blair Witch movies.

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Gun Media, publisher of Friday the 13th: The Game, and Bloober Team, the developer of the cyberpunk-horror game >observer_, are excited to announce that Layers of Fear 2, follow up to the psychological horror title Layers of Fear, with voice acting led by award winning horror icon Tony Todd.

“The anticipation is killing us as we’re on the verge of bringing you the sequel to our most successful game – Layers of Fear 2. It will be an uncanny experience for the players and we’re seriously counting hours to read and see what they think of it. It’s a sum of extremely hard work, vision and passion of the development team here in Bloober, but also the sweat and blood (horror, right?!) of Gun, who proved to be the best of the best with supporting us.” said Rafał Basaj, Brand Manager at Bloober Team. “I hope you all enjoy this madness trip of artistry, self-discovery and fear. Please enjoy the game!”

“When we partnered with Bloober Team over a year ago, we knew they had something special in Layers of Fear 2,” said Ismael Vicens, Senior Producer at Gun Media. “Our shared love of horror coupled with their craftsmanship gave all of us the passion, confidence, and drive needed to make this experience as terror-filled and impressive as we knew it could be. It’s been an honor to work with Bloober Team and help them present horror fans with their next masterpiece.”

Layers of Fear 2 is available now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via Steam.

The post Fear All Over Again… appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

When I first played Gone Home, I was convinced it was a horror game. A creepy mansion – check. A relative returning home after a long time away – check. A dark and stormy night – check. But Gone Home wasn’t a horror game. Instead its focus was on telling a compelling narrative, and the house the game was set in was (pardon the pun) window dressing that worked in conjunction with the story to say what it wanted to say.

Layers of Fear is a horror game, but in many ways it reminded me of Gone Home. It has all the trademarks of a typical horror game, but it too is more invested in sharing a story than with giving you nightmarish ghouls of your darkest fears to fight. It reminded me more of a sad and spooky parlour ride full of tricks to make you shout than a true horror game.

That’s because for the most part, you’re walking through abandoned hallways, interacting with the world while it shifts around you. You take the role of a painter, driven mad by his works. As you explore your gargantuan mansion, the world slowly disintegrates around you and turn against you. Rooms shift, rotate and transform, while it seems the very house is conspiring against you. The setting is perhaps the best part of Layers of Fear, and the story that unfolds as you play fits well into this shifting maze.

Like other “walking simulator” games, Layers of Fear tends to tell its story as much through the environment as through scraps of paper, paintings and other gruesome items left around the house. The conversion of this game to Switch has done no disservice to the game, and it looks great on Nintendo’s hybrid console. Though, it must be said, much of the tension and atmosphere of the game is ruined by playing this sort of game out and about. It’s best played in the dead of night, headphones on, lights out, whether that’s on a TV or hiding under the sheets of your bed.

But even in the best set up, how good is Layers of Fear at being a horror game? Well, it starts out strong, at first, then quickly delves into cliche and over-use. Layers of Fear leans heavily into its setting, using the world of a crumbling Victorian-esque mansion to great effect. But there’s only so many times that turning around to see the door behind you disappear can be scary, and there’s perhaps a too-great reliance on jump scares to maintain the tension after a few hours of play. There are some small puzzles too, but I didn’t feel they added to the experience very much at all. By the end of the game I felt unphased by the shifting rooms and floating furniture, but that reaction may be just how I found it, and your experience may be very different to my own.

The controls too, feel oddly sluggish. I have a feeling this is on purpose, but the lack of responsiveness made looking around harder than it should have been. Otherwise technically it looks great, and seems to run well in either docked or handheld modes, not that performance is as necessary in this type of game compared to say, a first person shooter.

Layers of Fear is an interesting attempt at merging together the narrative exploration genre of Gone Home, Dear Esther, and the like with horror house games such as PT. And while it doesn’t succeed in all respects, it’s certainly a beautiful entry with some clever ideas – ideas that unfortunately run out a little too quickly.

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When Blade Runner was released in 1982, the Cyber Punk genre first flickered into mainstream consciousness. Contrasting high technology with low quality of life, techno-dystopia has provided fertile ground for storytelling ever since.

Now from Polish developers Bloober Team, we have Observer, a worthy and ambitious successor to the Blade Runner legacy. Set in 2084 (100 years after another conspicuous influence), you play as the titular Observer, Daniel Lazarski, a new form of police-officer in what remains of society.

A plague has wiped out much of humanity, while the war which followed has eliminated the global super powers, leaving a vast corporation ‘Chiron’ to fill the void of government. The inspirations of Observer are obvious, but it quickly moves the narrative into new territory and does so while setting a new standard for writing in sci-fi.

Functionally the game is mostly puzzle solving through environmental interaction, using different vision modes to scan for biological and electronic clues. The core gameplay hook, and where Observer truly shines, is Lazarski’s ‘Dream Eater’ augmentation. This device allows you to enter the minds of your suspects and experience a hellish vision of their subconscious.

In gameplay terms, the dream eater allows for almost unlimited creativity in level design, with large portions of the game taking part inside the minds of other characters, as you experience twisted representations of their memories and thoughts.

The dream sequences are, while at times terrifying, always engaging. I would recommend playing the game with headphones in, as the soundwork is excellent. From the hum of fluorescent lighting and the creak of floorboards, to the scream of spectral nightmares, every sound is well crafted and atmospheric.

While not a triple AAA title, the game stands up graphically, with each environment rich in detail, making each scene uniquely immersive as you comb for clues. The control scheme is also enjoyably tactile, giving the player control over how much force they apply to game objects through use of the analogue stick, meaning a door can be flung wide or inched open during a tense encounter.

Voiced by Blade Runner’s Rutger Hauer, Lazarski is the central focus of the game and his scripting in impeccable. Hauer brings a weary, cold competence to the character, evoking enough of his most famous role to add gravitas without being derivative.

The quality of the script isn’t restricted to the central cast, even the most minor side characters are fleshed out with natural dialogue which constantly deepens the game world. Even if it’s a passing conversation held through a door with an unseen citizen, the writing feels genuine. Unlike many games, there is no stark divide between the quality of writing for the NPC on the street and the central characters, making the story much stronger.

Each element, from lighting, to score, to script layer together in creating a cohesive tone which is quickly established and consistent through the whole playthrough. While the relentless darkness as Lazarski toils through the muck of society may be oppressive to some players, the surreal wonder of dream eating coupled with an unfolding mystery kept me pushing through the broken streets and neon nightmares.

There aren’t many games that have tackled the thematic ground found in Observer, and I would argue none have done it with the same level of creativity. This is a game that wears its inspirations on its sleeve, but never just follows in their footsteps, instead telling a unique story which is equal parts spectacular and frightening.

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