Man of Medan, the first part of The Dark Pictures horror anthology being developed by Until Dawn studio Supermassive Games, will inflict itself upon you on August 30, publisher Bandai Namco announced today. And with that comes a new trailer teasing the game's unsettling (that is, cree-hee-heepy) style and some of the less-than-pleasant decisions you'll have to make as you try to avoid horrific death.
The trailer doesn't say much about the game itself, but based on Supermassive's reveal last year it sounds a bit like Gilligan's Island from Hell: A group of American tourists take a boat trip in search of a wreck from the Second World War, but then a storm rolls in and things get ugly. "Who will live? Who will die?" publisher Bandai Namco asked, a not-too-subtle hint that people will die, and one of those people will probably be you.
Nearly all previous games from Supermassive Games have been exclusive to PlayStation platforms, including the 2015 horror drama Until Dawn, which includes multiple protagonists, branching storylines, and multiple endings—all features that will also be present in Man of Medan. The story itself is apparently based on the legend of the SS Ourang Medan, a ghost ship whose crew reportedly died under mysterious circumstances in the 1940s. It will be a standalone game, entirely separate from the other parts of The Dark Pictures, which Supermassive CEO Pete Samuels said gives developers "the opportunity to create a unique horror experience every time, with new stories, settings, characters and cast."
Preordering Man of Medan on Steam (it's not actually available there yet, but you can get a closer look at thedarkpictures.com) will net you the Curator's Cut edition, which has new perpectives, options and choices in each scene, new decisions and outcomes, and new scenes and secrets, all of which will unlock after the first completion. The Curator's Cut content will be made available to all players for free sometime around the end of November.
