The Xbox Showcase event drastically switched from lighthearted trailers to a dark, unsettling trailer for the upcoming game from Bloober Team, The Medium. Backed by a "dual soundtrack" by Arkadiusz Reikowski and legendary Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka, The Medium features the psychological terror of being trapped between two worlds.
The trailer starts off with memories of a pregnant woman who appears to lose her child before birth. The woman is haunted by visions of a spirit world and cannot control which world decided to manifest and cause horror. Although the events in the trailer are vague and unclear, the rapid change in scenery and location indicates that the player will face challenges in both the real world and the spirit world.
The spirit world seems to take over throughout the trailer and appears as a dreary wasteland where everything is slowly being disintegrated. At the end of trailer, as buildings can be seen eroding in the spirit world, the camera pans back and reveals terrifying large creatures in the horizon. The description of the game indicates that the player will find themselves at an abandoned hotel to find the answers to an unthinkable tragedy.
What seems very interesting about The Medium is the focus on two separate worlds, both of which seem to have a fair amount of psychological horror. The main character is a medium who is haunted by a murder and must use her psychic abilities to solve puzzles. The dual soundtrack is sure to play a part in the unsettling nature of the game and may change based on the dual worlds.
Throughout the trailer, the music switches from a calm piano melody to a more intense alternative track, and then switches to horror sound effects. The soundtrack of a horror game is an important aspect of inducing fear and dread. By taking inspiration from the Silent Hill series and collaborating with Akira Yamaoka, Bloober Team is setting the stage for a horrifying soundtrack and story for the upcoming game. Silent Hill is a famously terrifying series that plays with the concept of dual worlds and psychosis that The Medium will look to mirror. The Medium looks like it will have terrifying gameplay paired with an even more terrifying ambiance.
The Medium releases Holiday 2020 for PC and Xbox Series X.