The Medium will be boosting its next-generation psychological horror experience by removing all kinds of traditional weaponry. The spiritualist Marianne though, bestowed with psychic abilities, will still be able to defend herself in ways which the developer has teased as innovative gameplay mechanics.
Speaking with Edge for the latest issue, producer Jacek Zięba stated that horror games are at their best when players can only run and hide. Hence, based on that belief, Marianne will have no weapons to use against the shadowy evils that will haunt her as she travels between the spiritual and real worlds.
However, as the titular medium, she will be able to hone her gifts to create psychic shields and blasts when needed. Both abilities though seem to be more attuned with the environments than the core gameplay, meaning that players will probably not be summoning psychic shields and blasts all the time. Zięba clearly stated that the energy blasts, for one, will be used to power up items in The Medium to solve puzzles. The energy shields will probably work the same way.
Marianne will encounter fresh fears as she digs deeper into the tragedy at the heart of the story – fortunately, she can create a spiritual shield to defend herself against evil entities. She can also summon up a psychic energy blast to power something up in the spirit world that will then effect the normal world and vice versa, connecting mechanics and puzzles in both dimensions. She has no weapons as such.
The Medium will release around the same time as the Xbox Series X launch. That should not be taken as confirmation of the game being a launch title though as the final release date will be “narrowed down” in the coming months.
Bloober Team also confirmed recently that there are no plans to release The Medium on current-generation consoles. The reason being that the game utilizes gameplay mechanics that can only be “realized” on next-generation hardware. The developer categorically noted that The Medium would not be the same on current-generation platforms and once the public gets to see the game for themselves, they will understand just how The Medium makes full use of Xbox Series X.
The Medium is slated for a release on Xbox Series X and PC around the upcoming holiday season. Those interested can add the game to their Steam wishlists right now and be alerted when future updates arrive.
