When I finished my first Amnesia game, I wanted more, so I had this immediately on my wishlist where it would be snapped up during a winter sale. Sadly since then it would sit in my backlog as I let the dice controll what was next and give every game a fair shake.... but this week it's wait would finally come to an end. And let me tell you right now, this is one game that has stood the test of time. Come on in.
Story: Miles Upshur came to Mount Massive for a reason: potentially "the" big scoop against a company he has always wanted to see fall for their crimes. This asylum had been shutdown in the 70s in a government scandal and reasons behind it were scrubbed as much as possible, leaving little to explain what happened. But that history only tints what's going on now. Since then a company called Murkoff Psychiatric Systems had bought the building, reopening it up for "charitable work" to help those who needed it. No one believed this, not with the track record this company has of shady dealings.
But that could all be nothing compared to what's going on now. The reason Miles thought there would be a story to end this company here was due to an anonymous email he had received from someone claiming to have worked as a software engineer inside the building. This person claimed Murkoff had found something big, illegal, and was doing serious harm to the people they supposedly re-opened this place to help. If he was right, then Miles might finally have what he needs to bring these bastards down. Why he has a chip on his shoulder specifically for this shady company we never really find out, but needless to say, he's not afraid to do a little breaking and entering to see if the tip is as real has he believes and hopes it is.... well did believed and hoped it was. Unfortunately for him, it was probably worse then anything he could have expected.
With this basic setup you will take over as Miles the moment he parks his car outside of the abandoned security check and steps into the open air to look at the building itself. This is one of those times I can not speak too much about the story beyond the starting point since a lot of it depends on you to uncover just how bad things are. Not that you will do so alone. There are a few recurring characters who's own motives will entangle with Miles' trying to tell their view of the events unfolding even as you watch (and partake in) them. You can expect some twists and turns to his story as he quickly realizes how over his head he really is and begins to scramble for a way out, but the events around him do not so much change as just slowly unraveled for you, explained in what you see, what the few here sane enough to talk will tell you, and ultimately a final push to explain why at the very end. It's very well paced and very well written. Really the only complaint I can come away with is a rather sudden info-drop in the last act, but really that is filling in the how for it all rather then give you any really important story beats, so it doesn't take away from anything you saw before or will see in the finale. Overall this is a really good horror story and a journey worth taking.
8/10
Graphics: Outlast frankly holds up over the years. It's not going to look like your current AAA games by any means, but considering this game is 10 years old, the level of detail pulled out of the stalwart Unreal Engine 3 is frankly impressive and it won't be long till you are fully adjusted to what on a fidelity level this game has on offer.
Once you are past that, you can get to the feel of the game, and this is where Outlast really shines. The devs for this game knew atmosphere and made it obvious the moment Miles steps out of his car and you see the asylum looking over you. It's huge, exudes the feel of an old abandoned mansion, and is only a taste of the horror you are about to experience before you spend the rest of your game inside and on it's locked in grounds.
These places just ooze of a decrepit world left to fall apart and rot even as it's clear it was not left to do so empty. Someone was has been living here and something absolutely savage has happened, leaving mutilated corpses and blood trails-a-plenty and a world you just know instantly is just not safe anywhere.
Nor are you ever really alone. Almost right from the get go, you share this place with the poor mutated souls who call this place home. These creatures look stunning: most of them looking human, but "wrong" in a way that makes your first few encounters disturbing just to see. And later when you get used to the grotesqueness, they still manage to keep you on edge as you have to read body language in how they stumble around to decide if they will be a threat (doesn't hurt that a lot of the real problematic residence carry blades all the time) and which ones, like you, would rather be left alone.
Although some characters will take a more center stage while playing, and you will get to know them much more directly. For story's sake, I do not wish to explain them, but faces are something that got a lot of extra work here because you WILL be up close and personal with these few members of the cast and what the engine lacks in prowess compared to current day games, the artists and devs gave in personality to these characters.
8/10
Sound: As I have said in a few reviews, if you want a horror game to be scary, you need to do your soundscape right, and Outlast's team knew that from the beginning. The music, while never fully absent, often takes a back seat to the natural creaks and groans of the old building, the splashing of feat (yours or otherwise) in puddles, cries of inmates in distress (theirs or that you are still out there and they haven't found you), and many other sounds you will need to keep yourself aware of, adding heavily to the atmosphere in their own right. Even Mile's heavy breathing as he is horrified and fighting for his life against all odds adds to this picture effectively.
When that music does kick in and take center stage, it tends to be in a few specific forms: religious tones or high-tension string. These are both incredibly effective at what they are for, be it to create an environment of dread like something "other" is here watching or eminent danger is coming, if not already here. They are used just right to not be overkill, but add to the tension in the perfect doses to just make this game sound brilliant and frankly in tune with some really good horror movies.
And of course one can not underplay the voice acting at play here. Yes, a lot of the inmates running around just yell incoherently but, far from all. Some actually are polite and even helpful, be it to help out someone new or too afraid to be seen as anything else cause they don't know what you are like yet is up to your interpretation. But there are a few madmen in here who stand out as absolutely brilliant, but I will leave them to introduce themselves when you play. Believe me, they will make one hell of a proper first impression.
9/10
Gameplay: Through and through, Outlast is a first person horror game that will ask you to explore and survive in an insane asylum gone horribly wrong. You have no weapons or way to defend yourself and it will not take much for an inmate with the inclination to wreck your day. Throughout most of the game, your goal is exceptionally clear: find a way out, whatever you have to do to get there, and that goal will take you across much of the derelict complex.
While you can not fight back, you can hide, and do so very well. The game will offer places like under beds and in lockers you can use to hide in a pinch, but the darkness of the building is also your friend here. If they are not human now, they were once, and those that mean to ruin your life can only see so far in the darkness, much like yourself, at least without the key piece of equipment you have with you for the entire game: your camcorder.
Miles took this with him because, as noted in the story section, he is an investigative reporter and he had planned to catch whatever criminal activity he saw on film and bring it back so the world would know how evil Murkoff is. And while this is important to collecting story bits, it's the alternate mode that matters most: the camera has night-vision which will give you the edge in those pitch dark places others won't have. Of course this advantage doesn't come for free, as it will drain the battery in the camera to use. If your battery runs out, so does this advantage. The camera itself will keep you in check here as you have a meter tracking how much is left and warnings as you get closer to the edge. The meter will turn red when it gets low, and the camera will make warning buzzes as you drain ever close to that edge.
Thankfully you can find spares throughout your adventure and replacing the batteries is as simple as a button click, but be warned, you replace the whole thing when you do. Whatever was left in the one you throw out is wasted and replacing it will take a few precious seconds, so you will likely want to find a safe place to do this when possible.
Between hiding and planning, you will be charged with moving across the various rooms and corridors in stealth (and escaping when noticed) for most of the game, and for the most part, this works rather well. Enemies react to your presence based on the noise you make, how far you are, and if they are facing you at that moment, making getting to know their patterns a really important part of survival.. but this is also the one weak spot of this game.
You see, enemies will generally be patrolling specific areas. And with some planning and forsight, most of them will be easy to handle. But there are a few places where positioning makes being undetected exceptionally hard, requiring you to retreat repeatedly from the same guy while trying to complete some goal. Most of the time moments like this are not too bad as you either learn to hide from or juke around these enemies to duck into a more strategic position when you manage to make them give up. However, there are times when this has to be done in complete darkness which, due to the battery requirement of being able to see while in the dark, makes these moments extra frustrating as you feel that time-limit over your head.
Thankfully this combination is rare while you play to put it mildly, but when the absolute worst example of this occurs with the first real enemy encounter you have in the entire game, it will likely turn off a lot of people right away rather then pull them in. But if you have the will to get past this moment, you are in for a wild ride, including some amazing actually scripted events and some of the best chase sequences I have played in a good long while... capping off an absolutely fantastic horror adventure.
8/10
Bugs: This game ran almost flawlessly... almost. The VERY last time I shut down after finishing the game, it crashed on the way out and refused to let go of the desktop, requiring me to call on the start menu over the game and restart the PC. I honestly believe this happened because despite not having "The Whistleblower" DLC, I tried the start option for it and it just didn't handle the Steam Overlay automatically opening to the page to buy it very well, but why ever it happened, it happened, so I have to report it.
Digital Rights Management: This game is only using Steam as a distribution system, not as actual DRM. Whatever place you buy this game, it should be DRM free. - Source: PC Gaming Wiki
Score: It's been a long while since I've played a title that wasn't just horror themed, but the horror came first, and man I have missed these kind of experiences. True, it's an older title and one that came up in the wake left behind by the likes of Amnesia: The Dark Descent, but it stands toe to toe with that original masterpiece. In fact, I would argue it could have even been better if it had something akin to the insanity system of that other game and didn't actively try to stress out the player into quitting literally within the first serious encounter the game will offer you. But as it stands, this is a classic that if you enjoy horror games, you probably should sink your teeth into.
8/10
System Requirements:
- 2.2 Ghz or faster dual core CPU
- 2 GB RAM
- NVidia Geforce 9800GTX or ATi Radeon HD 3000 series card (512 MB VRAM required)
- Windows XP (64-bit)
- 5 GB of Hard Drive space
System Specs:
- Ryzen 7 (5700X) 3.4 Ghz
- 32 GB RAM
- AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT (8 GB VRAM)
- Windows 11 (64 Bit)
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