Man of Medan - the first chapter in Supermassive Games' horror anthology The Dark Pictures - will be available at the end of the month, but we got to see the first quarter of the game at a special private press screening. The parts of the anthology are not plot-related in any way, but will be united by a common theme of urban legends. The events of Man of Medan revolve around the ghost ship Ourang Medan, which means "Man from Medan".
It is not known for certain whether such a ship even existed, but the popular version is that the Dutch ship set off from a port in a small Chinese town in Costa Rica, but never arrived at its destination. On the way from Ourang Medan, a signal for help was transmitted, and when they got to the ship, they found only a dead crew. Without any trace of violence. Before the mysterious tragedy could be sorted out, the ship exploded and sank.
Man of Medan tells the story of our days. Four young friends rent a boat and go out into the ocean to dive and view the sunken wreck. Actually, in the tested version, it just shows how the heroes found that very sinister ship. Like the previous creation of the authors - , Man of Medan is an interactive movie with multiple characters that we control in turn.
The authors are proud of the nonlinearity of the story, which they managed to achieve. Your decisions, even the smallest ones, can and will affect the future course of events. It can be as little as a minor change in appearance, like an injury to one of the characters, to new plot scenes. For example, if one of the characters remains sober, then his scenario line will noticeably change. The actions of some people will affect others, and how you build relationships between them can ultimately decide the issue of life and death.
Due to the close interweaving of several plot threads, co-op looks very appropriate in Man of Medan - you can play the whole game with a partner. Unlike , which is completely tied to interaction, at Supermassive Games, the heroes spend at least half of their time separately. And in such cases, each player has his own scenes in different locations. You do not see the actions of a partner, do not know his decisions, and all that remains is to observe the consequences and hope that his stupidity will not come back to you.
You can, of course, set up voice chat, but the whole point is just in ignorance: it's always interesting to see where the story will turn, over which you have at least half control. The main player sees that part of the events that will be in the standard single player mode. The guest, in turn, participates in the story in those scenes that will be available to solo fans only in the “curator mode”, which will just allow you to see the plot from a different point of view after the first passage. True, at the release it will be available only to those who pre-order, and for everyone else it will be added for free sometime in the fall.
Feels like Man of Medan seems to be a more intimate project than Until Dawn - there are fewer characters, fewer locations, events unfold more measuredly. As I immediately noted, we were shown about a quarter of the game, and we managed to go through this segment in a little over an hour. So, it will take four to five hours to complete the passage. And do not forget to multiply the number by two to see events from the perspective of other characters in the "curator mode".
Man of Medan is perfect for a solo passage, and for co-op, and even for a fun evening in the company. A special mode will allow you to distribute the roles of heroes among five people, and the game in each scene will notify whose turn it is to take the gamepad in hand. The release will take place on PC, PS4 and Xbox One very soon - August 30th.
Source: 3dnews.ru