Outlast Review

"Horrifying and Scary"

Campaign

Outlast is a scary game; from the lighting to the mood it emits. Nothing is particularly difficult about it either, it's just a horrifying atmosphere that it creates which makes it fascinating. On a secretive message from some Whistleblower you are sent out to investigate this asylum in the middle of nowhere and things start to go horrible wrong once you get inside. The sights of visually demented patients, crazy beasts among other horrid things that are found within those walls. There are some really graphic scenes depicted within Outlast which causes some cringing from the random bodies to what happens to your personal character. The mechanics of the game are fairly simple from hiding to moving and basic interactions within the world. Even the puzzles themselves which usually have to fetching some in order to complete a task are not difficult. It really is about the immersion you experience while you're desperately trying to escape. This story which isn't too long, yet a good length will have to going all across the building to continually unique locales in your long fledged goal of freedom. You'll actually meet a number of characters which are friendly or neutral though they just seem to be there as horrific sight of what's happening in there. There are even some supernatural properties to the story which elevate the horrors, I mean as if bloody walls weren't bad enough. Your main weapon through all of this is a very nice HD camcorder that thankfully has a night vision attachment or mode that allows you to see through the darkened areas. It also provides a means of capturing the story so that others in the future may watch, or at least that's the hope. Aside from the main story you are witnessing there are also documents to collect which will give you extra intelligence into the happenings.

Gameplay

It certainly looks great and the visuals in terms of horror are quite well done. The worlds atmosphere is creepy and really draws you in for some scares along with jumps that are present while you play. There should definitely be some moments that get to you and it's a scary world. There are also elements of enemies around that follow you around, but they really don't come after you too much. This allows almost too lenient of a system for escape, though it can create some great turn around scare moments. From here we go to the hide system where you can slip under beds, hide in lockers or really just escape the area. This all works together in a beautifully basic system of course backed by your handy camcorder of visibility. Just don't run out of them batteries in the dark.

The Conclusion

Outlast is a scary and beautiful game. It tackles a dark atmosphere and really just doesn't hold anything back. The world is quite large and filled with puzzles that will at a basic stance challenge you. Game mechanics are well done and seem realistic enough in this creepy world as you make your way out. Even the characters you run across bring their own fascinating little bits to the game whether they are of neutral stance or straight up crazy and trying to kill you. The length of the game is somewhat short, but stacked with events for you to witness. So prepare to Outlast in order to survive through this dark world bringing a great story with it.

Outlast Walkthrough

Outlast Review on Xbox One
Review Code provided by Red Barrels

Rating Overall: 9.0