Outlast

« Red Barrels have done a fantastic job combining an intensely disquieting setting, a unique visual look, and an incredibly effective camera gimmick to ensure that nobody escapes Mount Massive without a few nightmares. »

« Survival horror at its most primal, this is an exceptional jaunt into madness. [Dec 2013, p.73] »

« Outlast’s combination of stealth, platforming and horror is exceptional, the benefits of the diverse experience of its highly talented development team always in plain sight. »

« Even late in the game, it had the ability to get my blood racing and my spine tingling. It’s possible that by the end, Outlast does, in fact, slightly outlast its mechanics and AI, but the novelty of running and hiding and its phenomenal, no-holds-barred presentation definitely make up for it. This is a gross, scary, disturbing game: you should play it. »

« Outlast perfects this self-inflicted madness in every area of its design, and it's absolutely petrifying. I love it. »

« Outlast simultaneously reminds me of the grainy slasher flicks of the '70s, the gruesome body horror of Clive Barker, and gratuitous modern torture porn. It manages to squeeze a great deal of diversity into what is quite a small package of around six or seven hours, but it doesn't burst or struggle to reconcile the different elements. »

« Outlast offers a lot for the $20 that the developers are asking: great visuals, a decent story, some solid scares, plenty of checkpoints, and a little bit of openness in both exploration and in dealing with the enemies that can't be fought back against. »

« If you enjoy a terrifying game and are not prone to heart attacks, this $20 fright-fest is for you. Just be warned, it is not for the faint of heart. »

« Очко сжимается - значит игра выполняет свою функцию. Всё-таки игра оч культовая и оставила свой след в истории. Была бы более сложной и проработанной, цены бы не было. »

« Well, here we go. Outlast is a horror game that genuinely feels terrifying, one of the few good things to come out of a horror game industry that mostly produces garbage. It was one of the horror games that truly made me feel tense and genuinely scared. Especially with antagonists that are so unique and have personalities of their own. Let’s get into the review: Story: Honestly, it’s not very innovative. A company conducting unethical and immoral experiments on people has basically been a staple of Western literature and media since the post-World War II era. Still, it’s a simple but engaging story, especially because it’s told through notes (which later became a cliché in horror games). Overall, though, it’s a fairly average story. Gameplay: This is where the game truly shines. The use of the camera and the fact that you can’t defend yourself creates a huge sense of fear and stress during tense moments, especially in chase sequences or when you encounter characters like Chris Walker and others. It also broke away from the common trend of giving players guns or knives in horror games. In Outlast, you’re basically helpless and can only run and hide. Graphics: They’re decent. The game has “good” graphics, with that PC horror style that I personally really like, though character expressions can feel a bit stiff. But the amount of blood and the detailed violence will definitely shock you the first time you see it, so it’s worth it.Atmosphere: It’s simply phenomenal. The atmosphere of this game can genuinely give you nightmares. The darkness, broken lights, sounds of blood sizzling, and patients screaming are incredible, and that’s the game’s strongest point. It’s fantastic — you really feel like you’re trapped inside an asylum. Soundtrack: It’s sensational. The soundtrack of Outlast will stay in your mind for a long time, especially the chase music, which is absolutely fantastic. The way it creates tension while you’re being hunted is genuinely terrifying. Is it worth it? Yes. If you love a different kind of horror game where you can’t fight back, it’s an excellent choice. If you prefer shooting enemies, maybe not. But as a horror experience, it’s memorable and a true classic of gaming horror. »

« Outlast é um dos jogos de terror mais eficazes quando o assunto é criar tensão constante. Ele não depende de combate nem de mecânicas complexas — a força dele está totalmente na vulnerabilidade do jogador e na forma como a atmosfera é construída. O grande destaque é, sem dúvida, o clima. O manicômio Mount Massive é um ambiente extremamente opressivo, escuro e caótico. A direção de arte e o uso da câmera noturna fazem com que cada corredor pareça uma ameaça em potencial. A sensação de estar indefeso o tempo todo é o que sustenta toda a experiência. A ideia de não ter combate funciona muito bem aqui. Em vez de lutar, você só corre, se esconde e tenta sobreviver. Isso deixa cada encontro com os inimigos muito mais tenso, principalmente porque você nunca se sente no controle da situação. Personagens como o Chris Walker e o Walrider ajudam bastante a reforçar essa sensação de perseguição constante. O uso da câmera também é um dos elementos mais marcantes do jogo. Além de ser uma ferramenta de gameplay, ela também reforça a imersão, criando aquela sensação de “registro proibido” de algo horrível acontecendo. Outro ponto forte é como o jogo consegue manter o ritmo de tensão praticamente o tempo todo. Mesmo quando não há perseguição direta, a ambientação e os sons mantêm o jogador desconfortável. Por outro lado, Outlast não é muito forte em gameplay variada. A estrutura pode se tornar repetitiva com o tempo, já que as ações são sempre limitadas a fugir, esconder e avançar. Depois de algumas horas, isso pode perder um pouco do impacto. A história também não é o ponto mais claro do jogo. Ela tem elementos interessantes, mas muitas vezes é contada de forma fragmentada, exigindo atenção extra para ser compreendida completamente. Mesmo assim, Outlast se destaca como uma experiência de terror extremamente eficiente. Ele não tenta ser complexo, mas sim intenso — e nisso ele acerta muito bem. Nota: 8/10 »

« Une expérience horrifique difficile à oublier tellement l'ambiance de terreur est présente dans tout le jeu. Ajouté à cela, un personnage passif qui ne peut pas se défendre et qui est obligé de fuir à chaque rencontre avec un ennemi. Imaginez vous devoir fuir tout en passant par des pièces et des couloirs sanglants et rencontrer des psychopathes à chaque porte. Le gameplay est bien ficelé, l'histoire et la narration le sont moins, mais il est pardonné tant l'expérience en vaut le coup. »

« Depois de zerar Outlast, posso dizer que é uma experiência que vai muito além de um simples jogo de terror. Joguei praticamente sem ajuda, no modo difícil, e isso fez toda a diferença. A sensação de vulnerabilidade é constante — você não luta, você foge. E isso muda completamente a forma como você encara cada momento. O medo não vem só de sustos, mas da pressão contínua, da falta de controle e da necessidade de tomar decisões rápidas. A imersão é absurda. Em vários momentos, não parecia que eu estava jogando, mas tentando escapar de um lugar onde eu realmente não queria estar. O jogo cumpre perfeitamente seu papel: te deixa tenso, desconfortável e, ao mesmo tempo, curioso para continuar. Por outro lado, nem tudo é perfeito. O gameplay, apesar de funcional, é simples e às vezes repetitivo. E em alguns momentos, a intensidade ultrapassa o limite do “divertido” e entra em um nível de agonia que pode cansar. Ainda assim, o impacto emocional e a experiência como um todo compensam. É o tipo de jogo que você não joga apenas para terminar, mas para sentir — e dificilmente será esquecido. »

« [SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.] »

« Uno de los únicos juegos que realmente lo llamo "Survival Horror", su atmósfera y ambientación es increíble, me sigue asustando y es lo que busco en un juego así, que me dé miedo, no sólo eso, sino que tampoco me agarre de la mano poniendo pintura para saber dónde ir. Te pone a prueba para saber hasta donde podes llegar y cuando lo terminas, sentís ese alivio de saber que sobreviviste aunque no sepas cómo y que te premia por saber manejarte en situaciones bajo presión. »

« I have a problem with Outlast. At first, I really liked the game and was even inclined to rate it higher than the second installment (I played Outlast 2 first and only later went back to the original). For the first hour, I was genuinely scared. The next three hours were actually a lot of fun — I was soaking in the atmosphere and exploring Mount Massive Asylum.However, around the fifth hour, something started to go wrong. The game became less enjoyable and more exhausting. The most noticeable issues were the aggressively scripted enemy entrances and the repetitive tasks like “find three fuses,” “turn three valves,” and similar objectives. Each of these tasks almost always plays out the same way — at a certain point, a developer-planned enemy encounter is triggered. There are no situations in this game where danger emerges in a natural or dynamic way.Because the corridors are narrow and darkness is everywhere, escaping boils down to running almost blindly. You just hope you’ll get lucky and somehow lose the enemy. Over time, I stopped feeling any real respect for the enemies — instead of fear, there was a growing sense that the developers didn’t quite know how to build tension anymore, so they simply kept throwing in more scripted confrontations.Toward the end of the game, fear does return, but it’s a completely different kind of fear than what I expect from Outlast. I wasn’t afraid of the atmosphere itself, but of the fact that I would soon run into yet another scripted enemy entrance where the only viable “strategy” would be mindless running through dark corridors. The night-vision camera barely lets you see a meter ahead anyway, so you either move completely by feel or run along a route you’ve memorized — usually because you’ve already slammed into walls or gotten stuck while vaulting over obstacles so many times that the enemy had plenty of time to catch you. The most exhausting elements of this game are, above all, the blatantly scripted enemy entrances. They completely ruin the atmosphere, and the developers seem to assume that sudden loud music and creaking noises automatically equal “scary.” In practice, it works the opposite way. On top of that, there’s a complete lack of any meaningful escape strategy. Either there is a single “correct” path designed by the developers — usually a locker you’re clearly meant to hide in because you know an enemy entrance is about to happen — or you’re left with chaotic running in circles and hoping for sheer luck. With poor lighting and cramped locations, this is simply irritating.Another problem is the artificial padding of gameplay, such as situations like: “surprise, the floor collapsed, now you have to go back upstairs.” Of course, everything is pre-planned. It’s exactly the same issue that existed in *Alien: Isolation* — with the difference that *Alien* handled it much **** gameplay in *Outlast 1* is simply shallow. Yes, in games like *Alien* or *Outlast 2* you also mostly run and hide from enemies, but there the player has more tools to do so in a deliberate, thoughtful way. The motion tracker in *Alien: Isolation* was a great idea, just like the listening mechanic built into the camera in *Outlast 2*. Additionally, *Outlast 2* took place in a desert rather than a crumbling hospital, which made the locations more open and allowed you to escape in multiple directions instead of a single narrow, dark corridor.This formula works for the first few hours. After four, it starts to wear thin, and after seven it becomes outright exhausting, because the player feels no sense of agency — especially when absolutely everything around them is pre-planned and scripted.There is also one particularly irritating issue. Something that is unfair, unintuitive, and in my opinion simply a design flaw rather than a “bold design choice.” In Outlast 1, enemies clearly see perfectly well in the dark. They have no trouble moving around or spotting the player in complete darkness. This leads to absurd situations where I — equipped with a night-vision camera that gives me visibility of maybe two meters — can’t see the enemy at all, while he sees me effortlessly, as if he had built-in thermal **** sum up: the first half of the game is solid, and at times genuinely very good. There are immersive, atmospheric, and memorable moments that make these problems less noticeable. The second half, however, is a clear slog, and when I finished the game, I felt genuine relief. It’s worth noting that in this part I relied on YouTube guides, because I no longer had any desire to once again run blindly through dark, cramped corridors — and a game should never push the player toward that. »