The Medium is an horror game that is set in two different realities at once, a feat that is only possible thanks to the hardware of the elements of the Silent Hill series, only in the case of The Medium, these two worlds play out at once.
In The Medium, the player takes on the role of a psychic named Marianne, who can exist in both the physical world and the spirit realm at the same time. The hardware of the Xbox Series X/S is what makes this possible, as the player controls a character who is active in two very different places at the same time.
Screen Rant recently spoke with Lead Game Designer Wojciech Piejko and Producer Jacek Zieba about the technical challenges presented by The Medium, as well as the kinds of experiences the fans can expect to find in the game.
The Medium is the first big Xbox Series S/X console exclusive. What can you tell us about the technical prowess of the game?
Jacek - There are no loading times. If you want the two worlds experience , you will have it. The level is always there, waiting for you to go through the trigger and start the two screen thing. If you see some effects when the world splits, it's only for our direction, to be aware of what's happening.
Wojciech - To be honest, most of the locations are built in the two worlds at the same time, so it depends on the play style we choose. For example, using a mirror so Marianne can visit the two worlds.
Jacek - So when you start the game, it starts a loading screen, and then it's done.
The Medium is also coming to PC at launch. Will the game be able to function on lower-spec PCs, or will consumers need something in line with the Xbox Series X for the game to work at an acceptable speed?
Jacek - It depends, but I don't our exact minimal specifications.
Wojciech - You will need a good graphics card to handle the two worlds at the same time without any frame drops. As you said, something similar to the Xbox will be perfect.
Jacek - We didn't develop the game for last-gen, because it's not so powerful. Like the current-gen.
Wojciech - The two worlds feature, you know, you are displaying two levels at the same time.
Jacek - Two games. It's two games at the same time, in a way.
Wojciech - It's much harder for the processor, for the graphics card, because in a normal split-screen you have two cameras in the same level. But we have to have two cameras in two different levels.
Jacek - It needs some horsepower.
What sort of limitations do the psychic powers have? Is it like a survival horror game, where your powers have a limited amount of uses before needing to be reloaded, or is it a case of powers having cooldowns & they recharge over time?
Wojciech - Basically, Marianne needs energy to do it. Observe her hand: it's like a big mana meter.
Jacek - You always need to inspect your surroundings, so see what is happening with Marianne's hands, see if she is dissolving during an out of body experience, see if something different, something strange is happening with the flashlight or the lights of the level. We want to have a HUD in a minimalistic way, to have more immersion and feel more like Marianne.
Wojciech - We're always into the immersion with the horror stories. Our game's are story-driven games, mostly. The Medium is maybe even closer sometimes to the movies, because we are always deg this game like a movie. The fixed camera angles and stuff like this, so we're always looking for the best shots to present our story.
Jacek - What to show, what to hide.
Can you upgrade Marianne’s spirits abilities? Is there any sort of progression system, or does she gain new abilities naturally over the course of the story?
Wojciech - She just gains new abilities during the story, but the game is designed, I think, mostly like a Nintendo approach. You start with very simple tasks and they become harder, you mix two or three powers to do something and they are always getting harder and harder. It's like a Zelda approach to the puzzles that you have to use the power here, and another power there to get something. The game is mostly built to take advantage of the two worlds, like, you're stuck in an elevator. You're stuck in the normal world and you need electricity, so you use your Out of Body Experience power to go somewhere to grab the energy, use another power, to get out. This is a simple one from the beginning of the game.
Jacek - It's like the player needs to get experience of how and when to use the powers.
How long will the average playthrough of The Medium take? Is there any side-content or is it just one main storyline?
Wojciech - It's one story and most playtesters say 8-10 hours, and 15-16 for completionists, to find all the clues.
Are there plans to the game with any post-release content?
Jacek - For now, no.
Wojciech - No.
The story of The Medium is meant to be one of moral ambiguity. Does this mean that the player will be able to make choices?
Jacek - No. We feel like we have one coherent story and with choices, you could break it. We wanted to show one specific path. Because the game is about points of view and you use two worlds to do it, and this is the way for us, how we want to do it and how we want to show our main topic, about moral ambiguity, or different points of view, and the duality of everything you can see.
Wojciech - Yeah, the story has been crafted this way to constantly surprise you, something happens and you think "Okay, this happens because of this", then you gather more and more information and not all information comes from our normal world, so yeah, we're flipping everything. We're aiming for the linear story, one that's movie-like.
Jacek - We want to have control over an experience, so the players are more like observers, partners of Marianne and we ask a lot of questions with our story, but you will need to give the answer to yourself.
Will there be multiple endings?
Wojciech - We don't want to spoil anything.
Jacek - Let's see!
Some of the trailers have shown a character based on actor Marcin Dorocinski, what can you tell us about his character? He seems to be the only other living person in The Medium.
Jacek - Marcin Dorocinski is a character (laughs) and I think we need to leave it there.
Wojciech - We don't show much with his character on purpose, because this is a story-driven game and if you know too much it's less fun. So, we are only showing you some pieces, but you'll have to build your own image of the game.
R - We wanted to show that the story is bigger than Marianne and monsters and the ghosts. There is something more there to explore.
Wojciech - Marcin is not the only character that will appear in the game, so no worries.
Jacek - He's a really cool guy.
You’ve said in the past that The Medium was inspired by Resident Evil and Silent Hill. Were you inspired by The Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver on Ps1? The dual-world mechanic is reminiscent of the spirit world from that game.
Jacek - Yeah, of course, the games are similar, they are in both worlds. Soul Reaver wasn't our...
Wojciech - It's a f***g good game, everyone loves it.
Jacek - I don't think we take much from it, we are in the two worlds at the same time.
Wojciech - Of course we played it, so there's probably some of it stuck in our heads, but it wasn't a main reference for us. But the games... great! (thumbs up) Please make a new one.
Jacek - So, our main reference was Silent Hill 2, one of our main references.
Wojciech - If you think about Silent Hill 2 and maybe even the whole Blooper approach to the horror genre, we are doing almost the same, because Silent Hill 2 was one of the best games ever and with our story we are asking questions to the player, but we are not judging them and not telling them what was good or wrong. Just like an ending in Silent Hill 2, we know what James did, but the game never tells you that "ok, that was bad or good". I think Silent Hill 2 had a very big impact on our approach to games and as a whole company.
Jacek - And with The Medium, it's some kind of love letter to Silent Hill 2 or to the series.
There were reports last month about The Medium being refused certification in Australia. Has this been resolved? What issues did their certification board have with the game?
Jacek - I think it's on the brink of resolving. It wasn't some main issue. As you know in Australia is really strict about...
Wojciech - Alcohol, blood, stuff like that. And of course, we have all of that in the game.
Jacek - It wasn't a main problem, I think we're just on the brink of being there.
(Blooper Studios Chief Marketing Officer Tomasz Gawlikowski jumped in at this point to explain that they were in the process of dealing with the Australian Classification Board in order to ensure that The Medium is released there and that they were on the brink of making it happen.)
Jacek - It was an issue with the process, and this is an official statement, but maybe there is something bloody disgusting in the game, I dunno.
Wojciech - So we don't have a quote on the cover "Banned in 20 countries".
The Medium was originally intended to be released during the PS3/Xbox 360 generation, but it was canned and reborn for the current generation of systems. Why was the original version of the game canceled? Have the gameplay and story changed significantly, or is it close to the original vision?
Jacek - The Medium started out differently, with only the two worlds at the same time being the same.
Wojciech - I believe you're talking about the second iteration? The first game idea was a platformer happening on two screens, then it was another iteration, a 3D iteration, this one was with a normal camera, not fixed camera. It caused a lot of motion sickness problems for people, because two rotating cameras are very bad.
Jacek - We still didn't have the tech and the platform to fulfill the vision 100%. So we did The Observer and after that we thought "Ok, now we know the tech, now we see the current consoles will end at some time and there will be new platforms for us, so maybe this is the best moment for us to start The Medium again, with all of the tech and experience and we have from the previous iterations".
Wojciech - Our engine for the game was too challenging. It was possible to deliver the game, but it wouldn't look as good as it does now.
Jacek - So with new engine, new consoles, our new experience for our team, we decided we were ready to fulfil our vision for the game 100%.
The Medium features two composers, each for the different worlds – Akira Yamaoka and Arkadiusz Reikowski. Did they work together directly and mix ideas, or was there an intention to keep them separate?
Jacek - No, they worked directly the whole time, they had calls all the time, so, our music department was left for them. This is strict cooperation. So even if Akira does some tracks, and Arkadiusz does some tracks, the whole soundtrack is theirs.
Wojciech - Today, people use adaptive music which means that the music is layered and they are working together, because sometimes when the worlds are split, you see both worlds at the same time. Sometimes sounds from the normal world connect with sounds maybe by Akira Yamaoka for the spirit world. So they are cooperating the whole time and complimenting each other.
Did they finish their work on the game before the COVID lockdown?
Wojciech - Yes, they are working from a distance all the time. Of course, Akira Yamaoka visited our studio a couple of times. They were working here and Akira was watching the game and our vision, then he returned to Japan and worked remotely with Arkadiusz.
Jacek - For them, the pandemic... nothing changed.
The Medium will be released for PC and Xbox Series X/S on January 28, 2021. The game will be available on Xbox Game on day one.
