The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan feels like the Until Dawn follow-up you've been waiting for Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan feels like the Until Dawn follow-up you've been waiting for We ship it. Preview by Tom Phillips Deputy Editor Updated on 27 Jun 2019 20 comments I loved Until Dawn until its last five minutes. A perfectly-pitched take on the teen horror genre, Supermassive's choose your own adventure tale had me hooked up to the very end... until a character I'd struggled to keep alive for hours succumbed within the final few seconds. To be fair, I messed up - something to do with the game's motion controls, I think. Clearly, four years later, I still care enough to be annoyed. It's been a long four years for Supermassive, too. Since Until Dawn, its creators have never quite had the chance to top its success - instead filling time with a raft of spin-offs, PlayStation VR games, and experiments for PlayLink. The Dark Pictures, the studio's new horror game anthology, is something of a fresh start for the developer, then - and Man of Medan is its first chapter. Due 30th August for PlayStation 4, but also PC and Xbox One, this new series will see Supermassive take its Until Dawn formula multi-platform (and to Unreal Engine, where Until Dawn and its VR spin-off used Guerilla's famed Decima tech). Every game in the semi-regular series will tell its own story, with its own set of characters. All can live. All can die. I'm having flashbacks already. Watch on YouTube Man of Medan's E3 demo opens with its group of teen protagonists stranded at sea in a small boat as they bunker down for the night. Of course, there's ghost stories, flirting and bro talk. Of course, there's a storm brewing. And then, out of the gloom, something much worse appears on the horizon - a boat manned by armed pirates, who quickly overpower the gang and take them hostage. By this point, and in really just a few minutes, Supermassive's script and the game's performance capture have already imprinted its cast upon you. Of course, this is because our heroes play into typical teen horror stereotypes but, as in Until Dawn, this shorthand works well. Immediately there will be some you like and some you just want to throw overboard. The ensemble cast's standout is Shawn Ashmore, most recently of Quantum Break fame, as the beer-swigging fratboy Conrad. His sister, Julia, is dating nice guy Alex, whose younger brother is the quieter Brad. And then there's Fliss, captain of the boat and the most mature of the bunch. What happens next, as the group are divided up and questioned - some more forcefully than others - is up to you. Do you want to resist capture? It's not a great idea. It's always hard to gauge how different situations can play out when you're only able to see one set of outcomes during a particular playthrough, but on leaving my time with the demo I was told that, already, one of the main cast would be dead and written out of the rest of the game if I'd played things just slightly riskier. The demo ends as the teens and their captors end up facing the full force of the storm together - which is the point where Man of Medan's main setting comes into focus: a great hulking, rusting tanker ship full of horrors. It's here the teens will flee to for shelter, but find there's much worse than the pirates waiting for them on board. I didn't get to see Man of Medan's supernatural side kick in, but trailers suggest fans of Until Dawn's creepier moments will be well serviced in this regard, and the tanker itself has a Resident Evil Revelations-style vibe. I'm still curious to find out how substantial an offering Man of Medan will be - whether Supermassive's planned six-monthly timetable of The Dark Pictures releases will still provide enough to satisfy players each time. But I'm curious to take these characters further on their journey - and make sure, this time, there are no more accidents. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More Previews Preview Football Manager's new Console edition is the best you'll get without a PC Getting Touch-right. 1 Preview Moonbreaker's take on Warhammer is awkward, but I like it Still figurine some things out. 11 Preview Gotham Knights has more than a Batman problem Pulling punches. 99 Preview Potion Permit doesn't do anything in a hurry, but maybe that's the point Stopper! Simmer time. 4 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Sennheiser's legendary HD 599 open-back headphones are just £70 at Amazon in the Prime Early Access Sale Comfortable with neutral sound and a wide sound stage. Preview Football Manager's new Console edition is the best you'll get without a PC Getting Touch-right. 1 Splatoon 3 Amiibos will be out next month Ink-coming! 3 Fans think Phil Spencer's shelf is teasing the Xbox Game Pass streaming box UPDATE: Xbox confirms old Keystone prototype. 61 Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store