The Darkish Photos Anthology: Man of Medan is the primary in Supermassive’s well-liked collection of standalone cinematic interactive drama and survival horror video games. It’s seen a lot reward since its 2019 launch and continues to thrive amongst a cult fanbase unfold throughout PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. However Supermassive isn’t content material with merely providing in-game leap scares, giving us all a shock when it shadow-dropped the Man of Medan Swap model out of nowhere in early Could, 2023. So, how do the spooks measurement up?
Let’s start with a quick rundown. In case you’re unfamiliar, The Darkish Photos Anthology: Man of Medan is a closely cinematic and narrative-driven sport through which your selections matter. It takes place in the course of the South Pacific Ocean close to French Polynesia and revolves round a bunch of younger adults and their ship’s captain, setting out at sea on a small skipper to do a spot of diving in quest of an undiscovered wreck. Nevertheless, the tides quickly change, as a bunch of modern-day pirates commandeer the ship and set out in quest of a mysterious treasure known as the ‘Manchurian Gold’.
Our unlikely crew of captors and captives quickly discover themselves aboard an deserted WWII ghost ship which seems to be tied to this treasure. However, after all, not all is because it appears, and the story quickly devolves into certainly one of chaos, fuelled by greed, concern, and even a pinch of an obvious supernatural risk.
As with the opposite titles in Supermassive Sport’s repertoire, Man of Medan sees you’re taking management of the 5 captives at totally different factors, exploring the ship, amassing clues, and making an attempt to keep away from peril lengthy sufficient to flee. With heaps of key choices in your shoulders and the lives of the protagonists in your arms, it’s as much as you which ones branching paths your story takes and whether or not the characters reside or die, resulting in an amazing stage of replayability as you discover all the potential outcomes.
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Man of Medan presents a single-player mode, a two-player on-line co-op mode known as ‘shared story’, and an as much as five-player native co-op mode known as ‘film evening’, which sees you and your buddies taking management of the totally different characters, together with prompts to go the controller at every flip.
Every playthrough lasts round 4 to 4 and a half hours, which feels excellent for any such sport, and there are a lot extra hours to pack in if you wish to discover the totally different outcomes and collectables. Whether or not alone or with mates, each run can supply a vastly totally different expertise, regardless of the general linear path of the narrative – which is well one of many most important the reason why the sport nonetheless manages to captivate its audiences to this present day.
When it comes to gameplay, the sport principally revolves round strolling sections spliced with cutscenes, with the principle crux hinging on these aforementioned selections, amassing key gadgets and premonitions to complement your data or affect the end result of sure scenes, and occasional QTE sequences (fast time occasions).
The management scheme within the Man of Medan Swap model is as easy and simple to know as on every other platform, and its button structure interprets properly to the joy-cons and Swap Professional controller. You stroll round with the left joystick, work together with gadgets utilizing A and ZR, and hit buttons to align with prompts throughout particular QTE sequences. For probably the most half, I discover inputs to be very dependable and responsive, with little to no delay, which is exceptionally vital in a sport the place failing a QTE can have an enormous influence on the end result of your sport.
Digital camera angles are mounted and cinematic, which definitely provides to the interactive film vibe, however it will probably typically make motion really feel a bit sluggish and clumsy, feeling closest to the primary Resident Evil regardless of not being true tank controls. This isn’t a problem distinctive to the Swap model, although the decrease decision and, after all, a smaller display in handheld mode, could make it a bit trickier to work out the place you’re in relation to the objects and doorways round you. Fortunately, I discover that is fairly simple to adapt to, and as soon as I received again into the rhythm of how the characters management, I had little bother other than the occasional hiccup.
Proper from its preliminary announcement of the Swap model, Supermassive has been fairly clear concerning the technical limitations of this port, even noting the 24fps cap on the backside of the Nintendo eShop web page. I used to be initially fairly pessimistic about how this low cap would look, but it surely’s vital to notice that Man of Medan is a really cinematic sport, and 24fps is the universally accepted norm for a ‘cinematic body charge’ – and it really holds up fairly properly right here, for probably the most half.
The decrease body charge is hardly noticeable in handheld mode, although it does often make the sport look a bit stuttery in docked mode. That is particularly noticeable in a few of the late-game sequences that clearly push the Swap’s ageing {hardware} to its limits, resembling whilst you’re exploring the stormy rooms throughout Misery Sign or working away in Revenge. Naturally, with the body charge cap already being so low, any additional drops do look notably uneven – way more so than such a minor drop in a better FPS tile.
For probably the most half, this isn’t too problematic and didn’t notably influence my enjoyment of the sport. Nevertheless, I did have a stumble in direction of the tip of my first playthrough in docked mode, the place the body charge dropped dramatically throughout a hold calm QTE, inflicting me to fail and must restart the chapter to be able to hold everybody alive. Fortunately, upon re-loading, the body charge managed to easy itself out – however that’s one thing to remember.
Past the body charge cap and occasional stuttering, Man of Medan’s Swap model is noticeably downscaled in comparison with variations on different platforms. This decrease decision does end in some visible hiccups, resembling some fairly intense texture popping and inconsistent lighting at instances – all of which is way extra noticeable in docked mode than handheld.
Nevertheless, I actually respect that Supermassive put within the work to make this port manageable on native {hardware} moderately than slapping collectively a Cloud model. It’s clear that plenty of work went into bringing Man of Medan to Swap, and the sport really exams the bounds of this six-year-old console, which means it’s actually fairly spectacular that it seems to be so good.
Along with the fascinating portability, the Man of Medan Swap model additionally presents a number of extra options because the icing on the cake. These embody up to date gameplay options, resembling a wider alternative of accessibility choices, improved UI and interactions, and even an prolonged playable chapter known as Flooded – a climactic ending to the sport that introduces model new deaths. These extra options each sweeten the deal for brand new gamers and supply an additional layer of incentive for long-time followers of The Darkish Photos Anthology to present the Swap model a strive.
The prolonged accessibility choices are additionally a really welcome addition, providing you the flexibility to toggle single motion buttons, maintain to finish button mash, QTE timers, and extra. There are additionally a pleasant number of subtitle and textual content choices, together with measurement, color, and a dyslexia-friendly font. Sadly, subtitles are off by default, and you could go to the in-game settings to show them on. I personally consider that subtitles ought to at all times be on by default, particularly in narrative, choice-driven video games like Man of Medan.
Although the Man of Medan Swap model is unquestionably a downgrade compared with the opposite ports, it nonetheless presents loads of enjoyment. I can’t suggest it because the ‘finest’ strategy to play the sport, but it surely maintains a lot of the thriller and rigidity of the unique, and, for probably the most half, its visible and efficiency points are fairly rare or minor, which means it’s nonetheless an pleasant expertise.
The worth level can also be respectable, avoiding that all-too-familiar ‘Swap tax’ that appears to tack itself onto nearly each third-party launch and port. It sits at $19.99/£17.99, which may be very near its present full value on Steam, and roughly half of its launch RRP – a good price for such a memorable sport.
Briefly, should you’re on the planet of cinematic, choice-driven narrative horror, and really feel you possibly can overlook a few of the shortcomings enforced by the Swap’s ageing {hardware}, then you must have a reasonably nice time with this little jewel of the ocean, particularly with the additional advantage of portability and new content material. Its winding thriller, plausible characters, and impactful alternative system makes for an all-around tense and atmospheric expertise, and, just like the ocean lapping on the fringe of a shore, it’s positive to maintain tugging you again for extra.
For those who’re on the hunt for much more terrific terrors, take a look at our listing of the very best horror video games on Swap and cellular. We’ve additionally received a collection of the finest visible novel video games on your perusal, providing quite a lot of much less spooky tales.
Man of Medan Swap evaluation
The primary entry into The Darkish Photos Anthology, Man of Medan nonetheless holds up as a tense, cinematic horror expertise the place each alternative issues. Sadly, the Swap’s ageing {hardware} holds this model’s efficiency again, but it surely’s nonetheless a formidable port with some welcome additions, and nonetheless captures the souls of all who board this ship.