The Medium, originally announced in May 2020, was given a spotlight during the Xbox Games Showcase. Specifically, the game’s Dual-Reality gameplay and simultaneous rendering of two ENTIRE WORLDS was shown off in a brand-new trailer.
In The Medium, players step into the role of Marianne, “a woman haunted by visions that lead her to an abandoned hotel in Krakow, the site of a terrible tragedy years ago.” As a Medium, Marianne is in contact with the spirit world and needs to interact with both in order to solve the game’s mystery.
This means, that in The Medium, both worlds, the real and the spirit world, are rendered, displayed and interacted with at the same time.
Crazy right?
The Medium
According to Wojciech Piejko, Lead Game Designer;
The Medium renders two fully-fledged and visually distinct worlds simultaneously with no visible loading times. At different points in the game, players will find themselves playing in either of the worlds, or within both at the same time, with the game purposefully designed in this way to ensure variety and surprise.
What may be impossible in one world, is possible in the other. Players will need to work between both to progress through the game. Piejko also said how controls are mapped differently for each world so simultaneous play is possible.
In the Spirit World, Marianne as additional abilities like an ‘Out of Body’ skill that allows her to explore more freely and find areas only accessible by a spirit. However, Piejko warns when out of her body Marianne can take damage in the real-world and staying out of her body too long could be fatal.
Finally, horror fans will be delighted to learn that the soundtrack is actually a dual soundtrack by Bloober Team’s Arkadiusz Reikowski and legendary composer Akira Yamaoka of Silent Hill fame.
We’ll bring you more on The Medium as we have it.
