Psychological horror Horror puzzle Fixed camera horror

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, Switch
Stores: Steam, Epic, GOG
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (89% of 10,393 reviews); Metacritic 75 on PC and PS5, 71 on Xbox Series X
Length: about 8 hours for the story, around 10 to see everything
Players: 1
Controls: Full controller support on PC; also plays with mouse and keyboard.
Made by: Bloober Team
Released: 2021

No. 26 of the horror games set in ruins · No. 29 of the painting horror games

Visit the game's site Steam Epic Games Store PlayStation Store Xbox GOG Nintendo eShop (cloud version)

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, strong language, child death, sexual violence, 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 in September 2021 and macOS in 2023. A cloud version streams on Nintendo Switch. Its soundtrack was composed by Arkadiusz Reikowski together with 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 in the Polish woods, in 1999, 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 resort 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 feeds on fear, and from the sections where you have to slip 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.
Recharge your spirit shields and blasts at spirit wells, and use them to power devices and protect yourself.
When the Maw is near, keep out of its way and move on only when it has passed.

Screenshots

The Medium screenshot: split screen with Marianne facing a faded Niwa poster for The Dayroom by a staircase above and a ghost girl with pigtails and a cracked face in an orange spirit world below

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 the tiled edge of a drained, overgrown indoor pool lit in cold blue

The Medium screenshot: side by side views of Marianne on a ledge over a pit of roots in a dark ruin and her spirit self on the same ledge in an amber cavern with a crowd of figures far off

The Medium screenshot: close view of the white-haired spirit Marianne as a long clawed hand reaches for her face and sparks of light spill from her own hand

Tips

Look at both halves of the split screen; most puzzle answers are in the other world.
Recharge at spirit wells whenever you pass one, so your shield is ready when you need it.
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?

Expect about 8 hours if you stick to the story and around 10 if you look for everything, which matches the 8 to 10 hours given by the game's producer.

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.

Can you play The Medium on Nintendo Switch?

Yes, as The Medium - Cloud Version on the Nintendo eShop. It streams over the internet, so it needs a stable connection, and there is a free demo to test it first.