When Supermassive Games released Man of Medan as the first game in their new Dark Pictures Anthology, I found it to be a pretty good game, but lacking a bit compared to Until Dawn. However, the smaller budget and tighter schedule seems to be the reason for this. Nonetheless, I found the game to be pretty enjoyable. Special mention goes to the multiplayer Movie Night and Shared Story modes, which delivered on nearly all fronts(minus some lag and awkward transitions between players). When the next game in the anthology, Little Hope, was teased after the post-credits scene(s), I was excited and hoped that it would surpass Medan and fix some rough areas in the game’s story and gameplay.
When I finally got my hands on the game, I was impressed at how much had been fixed since Man of Medan. From the QTE warning prompts as opposed to appearing without warning(although, some may claim it’s now too easy), distinctly different button-mashing prompt instead of a slightly slowed version of the QTE prompt(a common way of losing a character in Man of Medan was confusion over the two), and smoother “Keep Calm” segments(occasionally, Medan’s “Keep Calm” segments would lag and lead to character deaths).
The story’s more supernatural feel and more focused plot helped push it past Man of Medan’s looser and less-focused story. This was helped by the more interesting characters of Andrew, John, Daniel, Taylor, and Angela. Who all seemed layered in a way, while Man of Medan’s characters felt more one-note and clichéd. The ending, however, was done better in Man of Medan. At least in my opinion.
Overall, a great game and a step up from Man of Medan. Let’s hope the next game teased in the anthology, House of Ashes, surpasses Little Hope and fixes its rough spots.
VideoGame A little hope for the future.
When Supermassive Games released Man of Medan as the first game in their new Dark Pictures Anthology, I found it to be a pretty good game, but lacking a bit compared to Until Dawn. However, the smaller budget and tighter schedule seems to be the reason for this. Nonetheless, I found the game to be pretty enjoyable. Special mention goes to the multiplayer Movie Night and Shared Story modes, which delivered on nearly all fronts(minus some lag and awkward transitions between players). When the next game in the anthology, Little Hope, was teased after the post-credits scene(s), I was excited and hoped that it would surpass Medan and fix some rough areas in the game’s story and gameplay.
When I finally got my hands on the game, I was impressed at how much had been fixed since Man of Medan. From the QTE warning prompts as opposed to appearing without warning(although, some may claim it’s now too easy), distinctly different button-mashing prompt instead of a slightly slowed version of the QTE prompt(a common way of losing a character in Man of Medan was confusion over the two), and smoother “Keep Calm” segments(occasionally, Medan’s “Keep Calm” segments would lag and lead to character deaths).
The story’s more supernatural feel and more focused plot helped push it past Man of Medan’s looser and less-focused story. This was helped by the more interesting characters of Andrew, John, Daniel, Taylor, and Angela. Who all seemed layered in a way, while Man of Medan’s characters felt more one-note and clichéd. The ending, however, was done better in Man of Medan. At least in my opinion.
Overall, a great game and a step up from Man of Medan. Let’s hope the next game teased in the anthology, House of Ashes, surpasses Little Hope and fixes its rough spots.
8/10