The Medium is a game of two halves – a game where you, as Marianne, shoot between the world of the living and the dead. This clear rift is a determining factor in the story, the production of the soundtrack and the delivery technology that drives the game. It’s also a fascinating version in that it crosses the line between delivering a next-generation experience for the latest Xbox series consoles – it’s not playable on previous hardware – while at the same time honoring the style. of horror adventure in the early 2000s. games.
Produced with Unreal Engine 4 and developed by the Polish studio Bloober Team – formerly responsible for Observer and Layers of Fear – this game differs somewhat from other outings in the horror adventure genre, based on its use of a third-person perspective camera angle, hearing back to the original Resident Evil. What sets this game apart, however, is a unique feature that appears on the dual version throughout the course of the story. In essence, the game screen is divided into two scenarios, depicting two halves of the same world. During these sections, your control is reflected, with roadblocks on the one hand limiting your progress on the other. This is the defining visual feature of the game and it is also quite demanding: the game delivers two simultaneous viewpoints, which can be quite demanding, especially with the way modern engines tend to work.
Although there are commonalities in the two game worlds, we look at two different places that are rendered simultaneously, with unique sets of assets per view that also increase the demands on the hardware in terms of power, GPU computing and CPU load. For example, rendering of components such as depth of field, occlusion of the environment, and motion blur are calculated twice, which increases the cost. In addition, DXR accelerated beam tracking is offered in the Xbox Series X and PC versions, and the BVH acceleration structure, which is a fundamental requirement for this technology, must be maintained for both views, which must tax both CPU and VRAM (which can explain why RT is missing on Xbox Series S).
The medium’s characteristic dual standpoint effect could weaken its welcome if used too frequently. Fortunately, this is not the case – the tempo carefully balances different types of scenarios as you play. In different parts of the game, rather than playing on a split screen, you use mirrors to jump back and forth between the real world and the spirit world. The mirrors reflect the movement and position of your character, but serve as a portal to the other side and create a new effect in the process. During these segments, you can instantly switch between environments while working on solving puzzles. It is an intriguing experience, which is only occasionally disfigured by some texture flow problems. Luckily, it does not occur too often during normal gaming, but I was surprised to see it in a game that works on the new systems, considering their high bandwidth SSDs.
A dive into the technology of The Medium, shown here on Series X and Series S consoles.
If we examine the environments themselves, this is perhaps where The Medium makes the most impression. In the living world, environments are full of small, grainy details. From the forests around the Niwa resort to the nearby ruins to the deserted hotel itself – it’s all spectacularly realized. Meanwhile, the spirit world is inspired by the Polish painter Beksinski, but the connection may go a little deeper than usual. In this world, the dramatic shift in materials creates a very different sensation and it works exceptionally well. The same can be said for the area itself, which distinguishes this title from the series: the depiction of the Polish wilderness and the deserted resort hotel give The Medium a unique atmosphere that I found compelling – it’s a ghostly world to explore .
Character models are also nicely detailed, especially the ones you encounter on the other side. The performance of the residents is pleasantly creepy and compelling, although I have found that cutting lists are slightly let down by somewhat stiff animation, especially when it comes to facial expressions and eye movement. In-game animation is perfectly serviceable, but also somewhat stiff. With that said, however, it feels within the genre of horror games if it fits perfectly, if it makes sense.
The Medium is available on both Xbox Series X and Series S as well as PC, which means it’s the first title we’ll be playing that may not work on previous generation Xbox One hardware – and it makes sense for the unique presentation to take into account. In terms of resolution, The Medium uses a dynamic resolution scale with a wider variation than typical, probably due to the dual version used during the game. While exploring the world in full screen, the resolution is original 4K on Series X and 1080p on Series S: during these segments, the DRS scale averages around 1440p on X and 900p on Series S. However, if you explore in split – screen mode lowers the minimum resolution further. In Series X, the lowest case is around 900p, while the Series S equivalent is 648p. Remember, the game literally produces two independent scenes at the same time, which explains the declines in the number of pixels.
In terms of ray tracing support, The Medium contains RT reflections – but only in certain places and only on Xbox Series X and PC – with Series S falling back to more conventional reflections in the screen space. They do the job, but simply cannot reproduce detail that does not appear in the current camera view, so detail may disappear in some scenarios. There are other differences between Xboxes: for example, shadows are displayed at a lower resolution in Series S. All shadows in The Medium are traditional shaded shadows, which should be noted instead of ray-shadow shadows – with the exception of shadows. visible within a reflection of the rays. That said, the reliance on fixed camera angles helps to avoid artifacts that are often associated with traditional shadow maps, and the result is excellent. Shadows dance around as your flashlight moves across the scenery, while Unreal Engine 4 contact shadows are also used to enhance proximity.
Performance-wise, this is an experience of 30 frames per second, which is acceptable for a slow horror adventure game – and the good news is that the performance of both Xbox Series X and Series S consoles applies in most scenarios, or there is now one view is reproduced or two. There are a few select scenarios with actual performance decline, but fortunately there are few. However, despite a relatively clean 30 fps output, I found that improper frame passing is in effect. What this means is that although 30 unique frames are offered per second, it is not delivered evenly on every other screen refresh as it should. It is a more inconsistent experience and some may even experience a lower frame rate. We sent it back to the studio, promising that it would be addressed in an upcoming patch, along with a current release in the form of occasional flickering pixels. If you see it while playing, do not worry, your console is good!
Something else I wanted to address is the sound side of the experience, which is very impressive. No horror game is complete without a properly prosperous soundscape, and The Medium delivers. It is not surprising that two composers were brought on board in a game about duality. The real world is handled by Arkadiusz Reikowski – who has worked on previous Bloober Team projects – while the spiritual tracks are rather handled by composer Akira Yamaoka, including Kensei Sacred Fist and Silent Hill. The result is strikingly atmospheric and rich. The mix of these beautiful, often haunting tracks, combined with the excellent surround sound implementation, makes for a very powerful sound experience. More than the footage, the sound helped me pull myself into the game. I highly recommend playing with a luxurious surround setup or at least a high quality headphone for the best experience.
And experience it, you must! While there is no doubt that The Medium is a bit rough around the edges in terms of polish and its overall production values, the fact is that it is a beautiful and memorable horror adventure, and I will consider it the best title from Bloober considered. so far. It is also available on day one via Game Pass, so I hope an impressive game gets a lot of extra exposure as a result. I think it’s worth emphasizing that The Medium, while currently an exclusive Xbox platform, is not a triple juggernaut in the traditional sense, but that it’s different, it’s unique and I highly recommend it. to check it.