FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Outlast II

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When you get right down to the point with horror, there are two main kinds of creepy. There’s regular ‘darkness and creaking floors’ creepy, and then there’s ‘shaky, sickly-green night vision footage creepy’. A favourite for ghost hunters and low-budget movie makers alike. So, after playing the free demo for Outlast II, what kind of creepy can you expect?

All great horror games start with a hunt for a missing person, especially if that missing person happens to be your character’s wife. Blake Langermann and his wife, Lynn; are investigative Journalists following the strange murder of a pregnant girl, who soon find themselves neck-deep in a mystery that goes beyond the simple act of murder in the Arizona desert. What’s more, Lynn has gone missing, and Blake must step into the madness to find her.

Although short, the Demo relies upon the player’s own senses to build tension and unease in the dark, quiet environments. Slamming doors and a sudden, humanoid shadow tickles the spine as you find your way, following distant frenzied screams and sadistic whispering voices. Jump scares, a tired staple of the horror genre, are actually believable and well-timed in the Demo, following an effective sequence of tense but restricted exploration. As with all good horror sequences, it’s the fear of the unknown that Outlast II uses here, with the evidence of terrible, bloody deeds as a compass.

Naturally, Blake can do little to defend himself besides running frantically away as he records the whole thing. In fact, the biggest threat he poses to anything is uploading the whole thing onto his YouTube channel (although the floppy disks and boxy computers may pre-date the whole YouTube thing). He is effectively powerless and vulnerable before the strange happenings and shadowy forces around him. Blake’s camcorder is his most valuable tool at first, and features a zoom function, night vision, and what appears to be a sound meter, alerting Blake to when he’s being too loud. Doors can be opened either quickly and loudly, or slowly and carefully, and there are plenty of lockers and cupboards to cower in. Blake’s glasses are also a nice touch, falling off when tumbling and forcing him to search desperately for them in a blurry haze.

Outlast II doesn’t appear to deviate too far from its predecessor. With a glimpse of some ugly monsters, twisted murderers and an excellent panicked and confused chase through a dark cornfield, the Demo does well to show us what we can expect from Outlast II, which appears so far, to be wonderfully disturbing.




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