SHARP AS HELL
THE MEDIUM ferries third-person horror into a new life.
By Leana Hafer
We’re all going to die some day, so I won’t waste your time: The Medium is one of the best third-person horror games I have ever played. The studio behind Blair Witch and the Layers of Fear series has completely outdone itself with the brilliantly written, emotionally grounded story of Marianne, a troubled young woman who can see and communicate with the dead.
The Medium plays like an old-school Resident Evil game, minus the gunplay. You navigate Marianne around crumbling, abandoned hotels and claustrophobic Cold War bunkers from fixed camera angles. It can be a bit cumbersome, but it’s a deliberate and effective design choice. The Medium is excellent at making you feel like you’re always being watched, and that danger could be lurking just out of view at any time.