Polish game developer Bloober Team has been making indie horror hits for years now. Starting with the critically acclaimed Layers of Fear, the studio quickly made a name for itself. They even got the green light on a sequel starring the voice of Candyman himself, Tony Todd! From there, the team also developed a surprise Blair Witch game and scored legendary genre actor Rutger Hauer for their sci-fi horror mashup, Observer, which received an impressive next-gen update late last year.

Their latest title, The Medium, marks the studio’s fifth title in as many years. Making five games in five years would be an achievement for any team, but Bloober Team isn’t simply developing and releasing disposable walking simulators–their games feature incredibly rich and well-written storylines with unique and interesting gameplay mechanics. The Medium, which was previously released as a next-gen Microsoft exclusive and hits PS5 later this week, is the team’s most ambitious attempt yet–so how is it?

In a word, great.

Players assume the role of Marianne, a spirit medium that helps troubled souls cross-over to… somewhere else. She also has a strange recurring dream of a man shooting a young girl by a lake. I can admit, now, that the setup didn’t grab me right away. Details about Marianne and her life are scarce, and starting a game by getting a funeral in order is more than a little depressing. But once she receives a mysterious phone call from a man claiming to know all about about her recurring dream, Marianne sets out to explore a massive abandoned building to discover more about not only herself, but the spirits that inhabit this new location.

“A sprawling, nuanced slice of Lovecraftian horror that isn’t afraid to get dark. Like… really dark.”

As fragmented and confusing as things may be at first, players learn more through finding post cards, handwritten letters, and using Marianne’s ability to inspect objects for residual memories of interactions that occurred in the building decades ago. What makes these revelations slightly maddening but, ultimately, more rewarding is that these discoveries aren’t given to the player in a particular order. I was still questioning exactly what the hell was going on and trying to piece together notes and reading postcards over and over again even as I knew the game was coming to an end. Luckily, all the chips fall into place by the time the credits roll in what amounts to Blobber Team’s most complete and well-thought storyline to date. It’s a sprawling, nuanced slice of Lovecraftian horror that isn’t afraid to get dark. Like… really dark.

In terms of gameplay, the most immediate difference between The Medium and the team’s previous works is the shift from first to third person. The Medium utilizes fixed, 3rd-person camera angles similar to what you would find in OG survival horror titles or the new Dark Pictures Anthology series of games. This allows for a far more controlled and cinematic experience that players will either love or hate. Me? I love it.

Beyond collecting notes and inspecting objects, players will often be placed into what Bloober Team calls Dual Reality. Simply put: Marianne is able to see the same location in multiple dimensions. And while the feature felt incredibly “gimmicky” to me at first, it allows for some extremely clever (and sometimes frustrating) puzzles later in the game. This feature is also expanded upon as the game progresses and gives the player greater independent control over either reality–and that’s pretty cool.

“You aren’t going to find a rocket launcher hiding in a bathroom locker. The Medium challenges the player’s mind both in terms of narrative and gameplay.”

Of course many horror gamers will have one question in mind before they head into The Medium: is it scary? The answer is no–at least, not in the traditional sense of horror games. Bloober Team has always excelled at delivering cerebral horror, and The Medium is no different. There aren’t any zombies or werewolves tracking you down, and you aren’t going to find a rocket launcher hiding in a bathroom locker. The Medium challenges the player’s mind both in terms of narrative and gameplay. To me, that is incredibly refreshing and a big part of what separates this game from bigger budgeted titles like Resident Evil: Village. That said, there are threats at play. You can and will die, but when faced with adversity, the answer is almost always to think harder–not to just shoot stuff harder.

Graphically, things are more of a mixed bag. Environments are downright glorious, and the fixed camera angles are utilized to create some truly excellent cinematography. But character models can be a bit rigid at times–particularly when it comes to common problem areas like hair. I also experienced a fair amount of texture pop-in and weird artifacting around the edges of a focus area when a shallow depth of field was being used. I would have also been cool with faster animations for things like running and climbing. Overall, though, The Medium is simply astonishing for the amount of time it took to develop (just two years) and how much money they had to make it all happen. I also imagine many of these small gripes will be addressed in the upcoming PS5 release.

Additionally, the sound and original music are both top-notch.

If you have a next-gen console or PC, The Medium is a no-brainer (especially for Game Pass subscribers). It’s a bit slow to start and has some minor technical struggles along the way, but none of those things are meaningful enough to detract from an otherwise exceptional experience. It took me just over 9 hours to complete, and that’s almost exactly what I’m looking for in a horror game. It’s a high-water mark for Bloober Team as a development studio, and I can’t wait to see what they do next–especially if they’re given a larger budget.

The Medium as available now on Xbox Series X and Series S. It comes to the Playstation 5 on September 3rd.