The Medium review - non-violent hill

A haunted Soviet workers' resort deep in the forests of Kraków. A protagonist who can not only talk with the dead, but literally walk through their world. And a ten foot-tall demon that wants to wear your skin (and won't shut up about it). The Medium is very spooky.

But it's not just about scary things, it's about how developer Bloober Team introduces and handles them. Comparisons to Silent Hill have followed the Polish studio since its debut, Layers of Fear, and they're even harder to shake in The Medium. The abandoned holiday complex Niwa isn't shrouded in fog, but Bloober Team's approach to horror is led by atmosphere, tension, and an unsettling soundtrack. Oh, and fixed camera angles.

You play as Marianne, a mortician who's haunted by visions of a dead girl by a lake. Early into the game you receive a phone call inviting you to Niwa from someone who claims to understand your visions. The resort itself is peak Soviet desolation porn: a brutalist block of concrete and faded grandeur. As you enter the lobby you encounter a ghost called Sadness, causing Marianne to enter an undead world that's heavily inspired by the surrealist art of Polish painter Zdzisław Beksiński.

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