Outlast 2 is a first-person survival game created by Red Barrel that was released on April 25, 2017. The game was delayed slightly from its original release date of Autumn 2016.
At the time of the game’s original release was highly praised for its graphics and overall atmosphere, but was criticized for gameplay. Outlast 2 relies on the player not to use weapons and in addition to this, they don’t have the ability to fight. The only thing they can do is run, hide, and try to escape dangerous situations.
Outlast 2 takes place in Arizona and centers around a husband and wife journalism team of Lynn and Blake Langermann investigating the murder of Jane Doe. While flying, their helicopter crashes, and suddenly Lynn is missing. The object of the game is to survive and find your wife, who has somehow become the center of this Apocalyptic cult.
As the player takes on the role of Blake, one must guide him through the village and have him document everything seen. The people there are under the influence of a cult leader who seems to be prophesying the end of the world.
Throughout the course of the game, Blake is introduced to several brutal characters, all of who seem to be mutated in some form. The game also switches between the actual world, where Blake is being chased by the cultists to Blake’s elementary Catholic school to the Fourth grade when his best friend Jessica died. It’s thought that this happens because Blake never stopped feeling guilty for being unable to prevent her death.
Over the course of the game, Blake begins to believe what he is seeing and therefore starts to lose his mind. The group, led by “Papa” Sullivan Knoth, believes that Lynn is carrying the anti-Christ. They want to kill her and the baby to prevent it from being born. However, a secondary group wants the baby to be born as they want the prophecy fulfilled.
When Lynn and Blake are reunited and she’s suddenly about to give birth, although at the start of the game she wasn’t even visibly pregnant. Lynn and Blake attempt to escape but eventually Lynn can’t continue and gives birth to their child in the church. Papa Knoth comes along and upon the revelation of the baby’s birth, kills himself after instructing Blake to kill the child if he knows what’s good for the world.
The game is three years old now but still holds up well in terms of graphics. The game’s style makes it interesting to play and the graphics are truly disgusting in some parts of the game. The mechanics of the game seem simple and it’s not hard to evade enemies in given situations.
The night vision feature of Blake’s camera can be a little difficult in some situations as it can be too bright or not bright enough, which either way makes it impossible to see the screen or what needs to be done. Some areas of the map are confusing, but that doesn’t have to do with the age of the game, but rather the original design itself. The game is pretty terrifying, and if you like horror, then I absolutely recommend it.
Overall, the game holds up fairly well, and considering it’s only three years old, it makes sense that it manages to do this. All and all, Red Barrel has made a game that not only will hold up for years to come but also has a decent replay factor.
Outlast 2 is available for Xbox, PC, Switch and PlayStation 4.
Jeri Hensley
Creative Director/Reporter