Where these systems show room for improvement is just in how context-sensitive they are. Sliding under porches or through broken fences and climbing in open windows or vaulting over small objects always works as intended and I like the simplicity of the core mechanics. Moving around the increasingly disturbing environments feels great. As it turns out, the answer is many, which slightly scares me (a conversation for another day) but also speaks to the overall quality of gameplay Outlast 2 provides. Sometimes I was asking myself how many more gruesome scenes I could subject myself to. I wasn’t always referring to an in-game death, though.
How long can you survive this time? I question I kept asking myself during my 10 or so hours with Outlast 2. “Red Barrels sets the tone before you even select “new game” by warning players of the explicit violence and sexual abuse… among other things.” It can be a little predictable at times and one big reveal is telegraphed a little early but it’s a wonderful vessel for an unrelenting, hair-raising experience and unlike the original Outlast, the final moments here are very impactful. The story set-up is quick, simple and cuts right to the chase with big revelations coming fast and hard. Outlast 2 doesn’t waste time making your palms sweaty.
Well not just dead, but gruesomely crucified. When Blake awakes, his wife is gone and the pilot is dead. Before Blake can say “cut” on Lynn’s second attempt at her video introduction the helicopter they’re traveling in crashes into the woods. You take on the role of Blake Langermann, a cameraman accompanying his investigative journalist wife, Lynn, as they attempt to uncover the mystery of an unidentified pregnant woman’s murder. If this all sounds great to you, you’re in for a treat.
Red Barrels sets the tone before you even select “new game” by warning players of the explicit violence and sexual abuse (among other things) they are about to see and cap the warning off with “please enjoy”. Change the setting from a run down insane asylum to a remote cult community deep in the outback of Arizona while constantly barraging players with horrific imagery and sounds that put the first game to shame. With the announcement of Outlast 2, my first thought was how are developer Red Barrels going to up the ante and elicit the same sort of tension a second time round? It turns out their answer was a relatively simple one. Other than the final 30 minutes, I found the original Outlast to be a consistently nerve racking experience, especially as not being able to fight back and instead only run, hide or die was a fairly new experience for myself back in 2013.
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