Outlast knows what scares you, and uses it masterfully to deliver some of the most tense, chilling, and downright scary survival horror you can find on the PC.
Based on my personal “gotcha meter" alone, Outlast may be one of the best, scariest survival horror games ever made for the PC. I don’t’ say that lightly—I’m not a high-strung person by nature and I don’t scare easily.
Games like Dead Space 2 and (more recently) Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs each only scored 1-2 "gotchas" on the gotcha-meter. But Outlast got me about 4 times, with possibly 1-2 minor starts on top of that. In 15+ years of PC gaming and more than a few horror games, I don’t think any game in the genre has ever done that to me.
It starts with something stupid…
Like virtually all horror games or movies, Outlast starts with the protagonist—i.e. you—doing something mind-bogglingly stupid, even if it is a familiar horror movie/game trope. You’re a gutsy reporter willing to do whatever it takes to get a good story—even if that means breaking into an insane asylum.
On a dark and stormy night.
All by yourself.
....based on a mysterious tip from an unknown source.
Horror gold built on the dumb
Thankfully, your alter-ego’s idiocy gives birth to a thrilling and skillfully executed survival horror game--and one that keeps you glued to your seat despite the potential, repeated need to change your underpants.
Your only companion in this odyssey of the insane is a handheld camcorder that affords you your only 'advantage': night vision. But the darkness is as much your enemy as your friend.
The denizens of the asylum can’t see in the dark (so there's that). Unfortunately, the range of your night vision is relatively short. It also bathes everything in a dark, blue-green light and reduces your peripheral vision. It’s as creepy as it is useful.
And you need batteries to keep the camera working. Run out, and you can scarcely see a few feet in front of you. You almost always feel on the verge of running out, and you must frequently weigh the cost in battery power against exploring out of the way areas to find more.
It’s an impressive balancing act, and developer Red Barrels have clearly done their homework. They know how to establish and maintain tension and provide just enough batteries to keep you guessing. Outlast never feels too hard or unfair, nor does it ever feel too easy. Some parts of the game force you to use night vision exclusively for extended periods, and because the night vision is short range, you can’t see the horrors you’re trying to avoid until they are dangerously close to you.
Much of the game is spent crawling along the floor with only the sound of your heartbeat and labored breathing constant companions. Peering down a hall, you advance cautiously, darting glances around you to make a mental note of a good hiding place or “safe spot” (of which there are very few) that you can flee to—assuming you can remember the way back in the heat of a panicked sprint.
There is no minimap or navigation aid. All you can do is run, run, and run some more, vault over obstacles, close doors behind you, and hope you find a bed to hide under or a closed in which to hide. You can scarcely afford to turn around and see if you’ve evaded your pursuer.
Meow this is how to scare someone
Timing and misdirection are also used effectively. Outlast frequently draws your attention with a visual or audio distraction right before something horrible jumps in your face. Sure, it’s just a ‘cat scare’—but it’s a good one. Despite the fact that cat scares tend to elicit shrugged shoulders and rolled eyes, Outlast uses them to genuinely elicit jumps, shrieks, and scampering feet.
And even late in the game when you’ve started to get accustomed to the scares, Outlast still entertains. Its final act doesn’t quite hold up to the scares in the rest of the game, but it does introduce some new environments and elements that keep the story interesting. (One of these is a subtle visual cue that indicates Something Wicked This Way Comes, which will send you into a turn-and-run-like-hell panic.)
Outlast's story, scares, and cringe-worthy gore are driven at a frenetic pace that deftly combines the on-edge thrill of exploration with plenty of running, screaming, and desperately looking for places to hide. Just when you might think there’s a bit of a break—well, there isn’t. Regardless of what happens, you’ll always be looking over your (virtual) shoulder.
(On a side note, I can only imagine how intense Outlast would be like in the Oculus Rift.)
Overall: 5/5 stars
Outlast is quite possibly one of the scariest survival horror games you’ll ever play, and one of the best made, bar none. Outlast is purely a single-player game and there's no real re-playability to it, but at only $20 (and about 6-10 hours of game play) it’s a gem well worth its price. (Pick it up for Halloween!)
