Outlast

When I finished my journey through Mount Massive, a wave of relief washed over me. I was free from the asylum, able to turn on the lights, take off my headphones, and not jump every time I saw a shadow. But as I soaked away in the bath, washing off the sweat and stench of fear, I heard the floor creak. It sounded just like the old floorboards in the asylum. I knew it was just my flatmate wandering about, but I couldn’t help looking at the door, expecting to see a knife, and I wondered if I could fit my flabby, naked body through the tiny window of my bathroom, and just leg it down the street.

Forgiving a story that leans a bit too heavily on its forebears, Outlast 2 is an excellent horror game. It’s frightening, repulsive, and filled with the thrilling anxiety of the best games of its type. It does exactly what a sequel should. It delivers on all of the refinements and expansions you would expect to find three years from the original; and though its larger environments sometimes lead to repeated deaths, they also amplify the dread of being hunted. Outlast 2 made me uncomfortable...

Outlast is one of, if not the scariest game I’ve played. It’s creepy, suspenseful and terrifying at times. It does lack variation in terms of the objectives you complete, but the unpredictable jumps and scares should be enough to maintain that nail-biting tension you will find yourself strangely craving for.

Outlast is less than a year old (if counting the original PC release) but it’s already cemented itself as one of the scariest games we’ve ever played. It’s also one of the strongest debuts from a new developer, and Red Barrels should be applauded for their effort. Outlast won't be for everyone, but if you have even an inkling of interest in the genre, then it's absolutely worth checking out. Let it be known that Outlast is a genuinely stressful and nerve-racking experience, but that’s exactly what a true survival horror game should be, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

An intense survival horror experience from start to finish.

Outcast is so shoddy in storytelling and character building that Nic Cage’s odd acting choices are a welcome awareness of awfulness. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Brian Formo is a review contributor to IGN. You can chat with him on Twitter, where he reveals his middle name and sports addiction.

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