It's everything we asked for, nothing we expected, and it's managed to make YouTubers and gamers everywhere scream, puke, feel faint, and rage quit in a matter of a mere 48 hours since its release. The sadistic folks over at Red Barrels have done it again, compiling harsh sound effects, masterfully morbid story-telling, a crazed (and all too real) threat, and beautifully haunting landscapes to bring a new kind of terror to mankind's doorstep. Nothing is more terrifying that reality, the lingering thought in the forefront of your mind that this could happen to me someday is the best way to create a horror experience that is not only fresh but long-lasting. The threat is real. The danger is gruesome. Your faith will be tested and your sanity destroyed. You're in the thick of it with just a camera and the drive to find your wife. It's big, it's bad, it's brutal. But was it worth the wait? This is Outlast 2. ![]() (This post contains spoilers for Outlast 2): Red Barrels, the company behind Outlast, Whistleblower, and now Outlast 2, seems to give zero f*cks about anything when it comes to morals and ethics in their games. That's why their product worked and Outlast became an instant survival horror classic. Outlast 2 finds players as Blake Langerman, a hapless cameraman who exudes geekiness but has a strong sense of moral justice and love for his wife. He's lost in the Arizona desert armed with nothing more than a camera. A false prophet by the name of Papa Knoth has kidnapped hi wife, Lynn, claiming she is carrying the anti-Christ in her womb. The player finds themselves in the middle of a war between Knoth's cult of mislead Catholic lunatics and the Heritics, lead by Val, a fallen follower of Knoth who looks like she climbed out of an AFI music video. All Blake wants is to get his wife and get the hell out of dodge, but the further into the crazed town of Temple Gate he wanders, the more he realizes there may just be some truth to the ramblings of the townfolk. The thing I liked about Outlast 2 is that it really nailed being its own entity. It felt like the devs took a page from Ryan Murphy's book with American Horror Story - same universe, same atmosphere, same tense feelings accompanied by a new threat and new characters. There's a familiarity while playing the game that really draws fans of the classic back in with full-force, but it has enough of its own threat and a unique cast of characters to help it not feel so much like a copy + paste clone of the original. Which is awesome, that's one of the most appealing aspects of the game. It's taken a the traditional jump-scare infested, tight-hallway, nowhere to hide style horror we're used to and given it an open-world feel with enemies staring you right in the face like death itself. It takes away that claustrophoic terror we're used to and creates a welcome new fear involving open spaces and relentless enemies that tear apart houses to find you. They freshened up the mechanics with new add-ons to your camera, including snap-shot options to go back and review notes (so you don't get killed mid-chase to stop and read exposition), microphones to locate enemies, and a recording option so you can capture important moments that may be necessary to look back upon down the road. The cast of enemies is fairly diverse and very unsettling as well, leading to more realistic threats. Red Barrels gave their threats humanity, which really gets under your skin when you realize these people are so far from factual. And the game is down-right unsettling, it really is. However, that 'unsettling' theme may have been taken a step too far. The game is downright disgusting, and I don't mean like Resident Evil 7 disgusting, this is a whole new level that is borderline sadistic and cruel. Watching a woman get torn apart, graphic descriptive notes about gutting pregnant women, burned and mangled corpses hanging from the walls, brutal beatings and gore-infested hallways are just the bare minimum of what can be said about the twisted world of Temple Gate. If you thought Whistleblower was bad, you're in for a rude awakening. I've literally watched a YouTuber throw up mid Let's Play during his game-play with how graphic and disturbing the themes of this game gets. It's a vivid nightmare of just how far a mad man will go to get what he wants and it can get a little too real in some spots, as well as a bit repetitive, but all-in-all it's a graphically pleasing and terrorizing narrative. Fans of horror will find the game interesting and fun, if not somewhat chaotic and ridiculous in areas, but if you're a fan of survival horror it's worth the nab. ![]() Written by Alycia D. (MaybeMockingbird ) All pictures are copyright Red Barrels. Outlast 2 is available for download/purchase on major gaming consoles and PC platforms, it is rated M for Mature.
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AuthorJust your average geek chic gamer chick into all things ghostly and geeky (and vice versa) Archives
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