Developer: Red Barrels
Publisher: Red Barrels
Rrp: £12.99 (Gog.com), £13.20 (their own site), £14.99 (Steam), £14.99 (Humblebundle)
Released: 4th September 2013
Available on Steam, Gog.com, Humblebundle and their own website
Played Using: Mouse and Keyboard
It’s October, Halloween is on its way and due to that for the length of this month I’ll be reviewing scary games because Halloween.
Mount Massive Asylum is a place for those suffering from severe mental health conditions to receive the help and treatment they need. Or at least, that’s what it appears to be from the outside. You’ve received an anonymous tip that there may be more to that place than meets the eye, a lot more. Armed with your trusty hand held camcorder you aim to expose any and all dirty secrets the asylum may have. Shouldn’t be too hard a job right?
Outlast is a First Person Horror game where you can run, you can hide but you can’t fight back. You have only a hand held camcorder which acts as well as documenting evidence also gives you a way to see in the dark.
As I alluded in my previous paragraph the hand held camcorder very much takes center stage, especially with its night vision mode. The camera is not permanently held up, instead you can bring it up when you desire. When its up it allows you to zoom in items that may take your interest, which, believe it or not, can be useful. It won’t use up any battery power until the moment you activate the night vision and then it will eat what power you have alive, luckily Mount Massive Asylum has a abundance of AA batteries on hand that you can use.
Along with hunting for batteries, you find out more about the events that happened at Mount Massive Asylum through collectible documents, which are accessible through your journal. Collecting these is by no means necessary to complete the game but it will help your understanding of whats going on, its also great for those who are interested in lore. You’ll also find that your own character has his own comments on the situation that appear as hurriedly written notes scribbled on paper, these will only occur if you have the camera raised and see a particular sight.
One of the many things that this game does right is environmental storytelling, even if you don’t read any of the documents or notes there are plenty of clues on show within the game, some telegraphing the next potential danger, some showing glimpses of what went on before you arrived, while others are total red herrings. Along with the environmental storytelling Outlast also using sound and music to create atmosphere to great effect. Everything from the classic well timed screeching violins to hearing the ragged breathing of your own character adds to the general feeling of fear and dread. The last and most important thing to a good horror that Red Barrels has implemented well into Outlast is the building and shattering of hope. Occasionally something that will seem to offer some small glimpse of hope or security that at the last second will be snatched away or will have some small barrier in the way you just can’t get past.
Those three things, combine together to create a unholy trinity of horror and tension.
As I said at the beginning of this review, you can hide under beds and in lockers to try and evade those that pursue you, but this doesn’t mean you’re safe. If you’re followed into a room your pursuer can and will open lockers if they suspect you’re hiding.
Thankfully being caught doesn’t always mean a game over, most of the denizens of the asylum won’t kill you in a single hit giving you a opportunity to flee once more.
If horror is your thing you could do much worse than getting this title, it can be a little on the short side (at approximately six hours) if you know what you’re doing but that’s what difficulty levels are for, isn’t it?
Now excuse me, I have more insane people to run from.
If this appeals to you perhaps try;
The Evil Within
Slender the Arrival
Aliens: Isolation
