Outlast lacks key horror elements
Outlast has a good plot, and excellent graphics, but lacks decent horror factors.
February 18, 2014
Horror has always been a popular genre in gaming. The constant threat of enemies behind corners has most gamers intrigued, and it’s no different in Outlast. Released in September 2013 for PC, it has recently been released for PS4, free for Playstation Plus members.
Outlast is like the many horror games before it. Creepy setting? Check. Random jump scares? Check. But unlike most true horror games, Outlast barely deserves the title. Besides the first couple of minutes filled with jump scares, the rest of the game attempts to scare the player with creepy looking character models and dark corridors. The game had all the makings of a good horror game, but never attempted to mess with the players head, like a good genuine horror game.
Fortunately, the game makes up in plot what it couldn’t accomplish with pure scare factor. Players take the role of free lance journalist Miles Upshur, a quiet protagonist who is sent to investigate an asylum where experiments have been done on many of the people residing there. Upshur is not a fighter though, and players must rely on his portable camera and spare batteries lying around in the environment to survive their ordeal.
Sounds like almost every scary game, movie, or book ever created, except it’s not. Once the player gets past the first thirty minutes or so, the real substance of the plot shines through the pretty stereotypical first impressions.
Graphics and sound are pretty impressive for an indie game and it makes up for the games lazy scares. The character models fit the game perfectly. The asylum inmates slink around in their own little world as the player investigates the building. The game’s main villain is extremely well done, resembling a mutant like creature with superhuman strength. Players will spend most of their time hiding from this monster, and the game fortunately does not disappoint in the stealth mechanics category.
Even though the plot is good and the graphics even better, Outlast is missing the key horror elements that are supposed to be in a survival horror game. All in all, it could have been better, but is still worth the time for hardcore horror game junkies looking for a game with new flare.
GC • Feb 20, 2014 at 10:02 am
Outlast works as a horror game for the first couple hours then spirals out of control. You can’t fight enemies, you can only run off, and that can just get annoying after awhile because you have to play chicken for however long until the AI decides to give you a chance to escape.
The stealth mechanics work but it would have been reasonable to do a Silent Hill and add a few breakable weapons here and there. And you said the game has no real fear element aside form the jumps in the beginning, I disagree. Though it may not have the atmosphere of Silent Hill or early Resident Evil games, it definitely has some disturbing points in it that can put you on edge. For example, you walk down a hallway and hear some grunts and strange noises. At the end of the hall is an inmate having sex with a corpse. There are two characters you run into throughout the game that are entirely passive but can pretty well spook you. They stand next to each other naked and go on about how they want to split you open and bleed you. The primary enemy can only be seen through a camera lens and its just a formless black blob that hunts you down. The music in the game puts you on edge during chase sequences and being first person really adds to the “don’t look behind you” trope that everyone falls for and leads to a few pairs of dirty underpants.
It may not be the best gameplay wise but it’s definitely more frightening than you’re giving it credit for.
The Critic Critic • Feb 19, 2014 at 9:27 am
Can you at least elaborate on what separates this from average horror games?