We're all going to die someday, so I'm not going to waste your time: Medium is one of the best third-person horror games I've ever played. Bloober Team, the studio behind the "Blair Witch" and "Layers of Fear" series, has written a fantastically written story about Marianne, a young woman who can see and communicate with spirits, with an emotionally grounded story that completely outshines these less ambitious games! . What it lacks in technical perfection, it makes up for with chilling set pieces and thoughtful plot development. Medium" is like an old "Resident Evil" game, minus the guns. You control Marianne through crumbling abandoned hotels and claustrophobic Cold War-era bunkers from fixed camera angles. Like the games that inspired it, "The Medium" does a good job of making you feel like you're constantly being watched, like danger is lurking just outside your line of sight at all times.

What you do is quite simple: in most sections, you find hidden objects, solve puzzles, or sneak past terrifying enemies who are mostly helpless. An added gimmick is that Marianne can sometimes see the spirit world, which is handled by splitting the screen in half. All inputs affect Marianne in the real world and the spirit world equally, but things are complicated by small differences in terrain and enemies that exist only in one world; Bloober definitely did not push this idea to its limits. Most of the puzzles are fairly simple, with only a couple of "aha" moments like the portal. However, the lack of obstacles keeps the pacing fairly quick, which works well with this type of story.

That story is definitely the star of the show. Medium is exquisitely paced and plotted, with multifaceted characters and a complex but not intricate supernatural mystery to unravel. I had several theories as to what was going on at the haunted Niwa Resort, and they all made sense. But the real answer is more elegant and poignant than I had imagined, and what's more, the solution is not outlandish in the M. Night Shyamalan style.

"Medium" asks what makes a person evil, what is the difference between a person who is innately sadistic and one who has been turned into a monster by a cycle of violence. In unpacking these themes, the film explores domestic abuse and even genocide, but these concepts are not gratuitously portrayed for mere shock value. This is some of the sharpest writing I've seen in a video game in a long time.

Underpinning this is a stellar voice cast. From the brave but troubled Marianne to the enigmatic avenger Thomas to the deeply unnerving big bad that Troy Baker brings to life, every character is realized with extraordinary emotional depth and authenticity. The central struggle faced by Thomas, in particular, is a heartbreaking tale of a man placed in an impossible situation, and it hits me with all of its highs and lows. It is easy to find common ground between characters trying to do the right thing in a world where there is no right answer.

Composers Arkadyusz Raykowski and Akira Yamaoka ("Silent Hill" series) drive the search with a haunting melancholy score and bring an intense and disturbing track to the scenes where they flee for their lives. Also, old corridors and eerie Polish forests all feel alive thanks to some of the best positional audio and layered ambience I've heard in a game: the concrete tunnels echo with realistic echoes, and as you move back and forth between the left and right audio channels, you You can hear the soliloquy of the creature that hunts you.

The real world is an overgrown, post-Soviet collapse ruin, a surreal mirror of the eerie yellow-tinted spirit world. Textures, color balance, and lighting evoke different moods of intrigue, anxiety, and pure terror.

Niwa Resort is layered with layers of tiny details, from roofs to paving stones to crumpled old Polish magazines, accurate to the 1990s era. When Marianne's world is divided, a wall of human flesh and a moth of a specter are juxtaposed with the banality of an abandoned classroom on the other side of the screen. When the split-screen effect is gone and we are simply looking at the classroom, how can we know what is happening on the other side?

The character models are where detail is lacking, especially in contrast to everything else that looks great. The somewhat doll-like appearance and stiff animation are noticeable. Also, the characters do not always interact with objects.

There are also performance issues. I was generally able to maintain 45-60 fps on my RTX 2060 Super, but there is a significant hitch when entering the spirit world for the first time and when switching between gameplay and cutscenes. This caused me to feel a bit of a bite during a few key moments, such as when a monster pops up for the first time.

RTX effects look stunning, but dropped to near the 30-35 fps baseline, sometimes dropping to the mid-20 fps range The "RTX On" setting dynamically disables certain effects if performance drops too low. The "Force On" option prevented this, but certain areas with complex point lighting, especially in the spirit world, resulted in unplayable slideshows. In other words, neither setting is completely ideal.

On another PC with an RTX 2070 Super, we were able to achieve frame rates in the 40s and 60s at 1440p with RTX on and DLSS set to high quality, but with RTX at its highest setting, occasional slide shows occurred. However, with RTX set to the highest setting, occasional slideshows occurred.

Despite the technical shortcomings and the simple, unchallenging stealth and puzzle solving, I was completely in love with The Medium. The script is on par with the best of the genre, a well-crafted mystery that explores difficult and often heartbreakingly relatable themes and leads to a satisfying, if not uplifting, conclusion. Top-notch actors play complex and memorable heroes and monsters, and the score, sound design, and art are gorgeous, making for an unforgettable and cohesive film. The Medium will stay with me for a long time."