OUTLAST

CONTAINS INTENSE VIOLENCE, GORE, GRAPHIC SEXUAL CONTENT, AND STRONG LANGUAGE. PLEASE ENJOY ???

I heard about this game actually a while ago. Every now and then I youtube for "top x horror games" in hope of finding some good spook that brings me back to the good old Resident Evil (1!!) times. I remember I found this video (I think from IGN) where they put a lot of people into a dark room and let them play Outlast. - The reactions of the players were hilarious and so the game made it on my list.

Finally, about two weeks before, a friend got the game and we played straight through it. Unfortunately we were a bit disappointed after finishing it. Was it the high expectations? Again the old "we can't get spooked anymore"-issue? - Actually, if the game did one thing good, it was the occasional spooks. Anyway, for me - and my friend - the game wasn't too good in several other and more important aspects than this:


First of all the story was not really good and I think also not very well told. - Just reading one letter after the other... please! Although the setting is great the story lacks anything interesting. It gets better the closer you get to the end but there is no major, impacting twist or something outstanding even then. As far as I know there are no secrets to find or bonuses to unlock, which significantly contributes to a replay value of zero. Most of the spooks are scripted and I am sure you will definitely not be shocked at another playthrough, so... even the spooks get lost.
Furthermore the game is highly repetitive, meaning it gets boring after a short time. Most of the environments (except for the sewers, the last and a short outside location), although the graphics are done well, look almost the same. Additionally there is no diversification regarding puzzles. - Well, basically there are no puzzles per se, but from a level design point-of-view you can say there is at least one: You will encounter some obstacle (a closed door for example) and in order to open it you'll have to press switch A (corridor to the left) and switch B ( corridor to the right). This is the first thing you do in the game, the last thing to defeat the boss, sadly the only thing you do during the game so... naturally it gets boring pretty fast. Another point that makes the game boring is its nature as "you can only hide" game. Hiding is fine, but if you have absolutely no other options also that gets lame. - Amnesia for example has the same principle, but since you have to consider - and you actually can influence - light sources, it adds at least some sort of tactical depth to the boring hide in the dark aspect. In the last Alone in the Dark - as well as partially also in Amnesia - you could throw items to create traps for the monsters or at least to distract them. Nothing of that sort is present in Outlast...

I think it is safe to say that in conclusion this game doesn't come close to an actual horror game. The question is if it was supposed to be that. The headline at least only suggests "to enjoy violence, gore, sex and strong language",... not a horror / survival horror game. In a sense this game is the easy spook for in-between and if you want that, you're good to go; You can certainly play it once, estimate an average playtime of about 5 hours max, calculate about 4-5 (one-time only) shocks that will blow you out of your chair and that's basically it. Don't expect an intense story, don't expect any puzzles and don't think about diversity or any replay value. The game isn't bad, but it's also not that good and if you're a fan of the classic horror genre you'll most likely be disappointed. Unfortunately, I think, the game fails on its boundaries as a plain "run and hide"-game with no other options of interaction or exploration...

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PS: Thumbs up however, on the greatest dongs in a video game ever! - There's a separate post about that already in preparation! ;) Be ready to see some video game schlongs very soon!