The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan’s ESRB Rating Offers Insight Into Its Story

Recently, the ESRB posted its rating for Supermassive Games’ The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan. It is not likely to surprise anyone at all; Supermassive’s latest horror adventure is rated “M” for Mature. According to content descriptors, players should expect, “Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes.” As is often the case, the ESRB rating also offers a little more insight into the narrative that will fuel Man of Medan. Apparently, there’s a lot more to the premise than just a curious group of young people searching for treasure.

The five friends at the heart of the story don’t become trapped on a ghost ship because they were a tad too curious and mischievous. Interestingly, the ESRB’s rating summary suggests the group was kidnapped by someone (or something, perhaps).

Read the full ratings summary below:

This is a survival-horror adventure game in which players help five friends try to survive after being kidnapped at sea. Players explore interactive environments and choose a variety of action/decision-paths via on-screen prompts. Some choices lead to depictions of intense violence: characters shot in the head at close range; a man getting his ear cut off; a character stabbed in the chest with a knife; a corpse’s body getting eaten by rats. Blood-splatter effects occur as characters are killed and/or injured; blood also appears on the ground and underneath bodies.

The game includes some innuendo and suggestive material in the dialogue (e.g., “You know the size of my bank account is not in a competition with the size of your penis, right; “You gonna bring your bangstick”; “That’s code for weed and porn isn’t it?”). Drugs are also referenced in the dialogue (e.g., “Everybody flush their meth! We gotta get rid of all this meth!”). The words “f**k” and “sh*t” are heard in the game.

In many respects, Man of Medan appears to be the next evolution of what Supermassive accomplished with its under-appreciated PS4 exclusive, Until Dawn. Fans will likely notice this while play, since, according to the studio’s Managing Director, Pete Samuels, the criticisms leveled at Until Dawn were integral to getting The Dark Pictures Anthology right.

The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan will arrive on the PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One later this summer on August 30th. Those who preorder are to receive bonus material in the form of the Curator’s Cut. Such a bonus offers players a new perspective from a number of different characters, new story options and choices, as well as additional scenes and secrets.

[Source: ESRB]