The Medium

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Walk a deserted resort in the real world and the spirit world at once.

Platforms: PC, Mac, PlayStation, Xbox
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (89% of 10,334 reviews)
Length: about 8 to 10 hours
Players: 1
Made by: Bloober Team
Released: 2021

What frightens A medium explores an abandoned communist-era Polish resort in two worlds at once, often on a split screen: the decayed real one and a spirit world of bone, flesh and twisted trees, where a creature called the Maw hunts her and the dead relive the tragedy that emptied the place.
Content: gore, violence, child death, suicide, abuse.

The Medium is a third-person psychological horror game from Bloober Team. As Marianne, a medium, you explore an abandoned resort in late-1990s Poland in two realities at once, solving puzzles between the decaying real world and a nightmarish spirit world while something called the Maw hunts you.

About The Medium

The Medium was made by Bloober Team, the Polish studio behind Layers of Fear and Observer, and released in January 2021 on PC and Xbox Series X|S, followed by PlayStation 5 later that year. Its soundtrack was co-composed by Akira Yamaoka, known for the Silent Hill series.

You play Marianne, a medium who has seen visions all her life. A phone call draws her to Niwa, an abandoned workers' resort from the communist era, where something terrible happened years ago. Her gift lets her walk in the spirit world as well as the real one, and the game often shows both at once on a split screen: in one half a ruined hotel overgrown with plants, in the other the same rooms rebuilt from bone, skin and dark trees, lit in rust and orange.

You play by moving through both worlds together. A door blocked in one may be open in the other; an out-of-body walk lets the spirit Marianne go where her body cannot, for a short time. You talk to lost spirits, read the echoes left on objects and charge spirit shields and blasts. The tension comes from the Maw, a creature that stalks the spirit world, and from sequences where you must hold your breath and creep past it.

The game moves slowly and leans on its story, its fixed camera angles and its unsettling art, inspired by the painter Zdzisław Beksiński. It suits players who want a dark, story-led psychological horror more than combat, and it carries heavy themes, including the death of children and abuse.

How to play The Medium

Explore the resort in third person from fixed camera angles, inspecting objects and reading notes.
When the screen splits, move Marianne through the real world and the spirit world at once; a path blocked in one may be open in the other.
Use an out-of-body walk to send the spirit self ahead for a short time to open the way.
Charge spirit shields and blasts at spirit wells to power devices and drive off moths and spirits.
Hide and hold your breath when the Maw is near, and move on only when it has passed.

Screenshots

The Medium screenshot: the spirit Marianne in a dark cave, light pouring from her hand as glowing threads spread around a small shrine

The Medium screenshot: Marianne in a leather jacket walks along a dark, ruined indoor pool by tall windows overgrown with vines

Tips

Look at both halves of the split screen; most puzzle answers are in the other world.
Use insight to highlight things you can interact with when you are stuck.
During Maw sections, move slowly and keep to cover rather than running.

Questions

Is The Medium scary?

It is more unsettling than jumpscare-heavy: grim spirit-world art, a creature that hunts you in some sections and a story about loss and abuse. The horror is mostly psychological.

How long is The Medium?

A first play takes about 8 to 10 hours.

Is there combat in The Medium?

Very little. You use spirit powers to solve puzzles and drive off some threats, but you hide from the Maw rather than fight it.