Unfortunately, you spend so much time scouring the village for clues.
A lot of effort has gone into portraying Outlast 2‘s wilderness with a real attention to detail. It certainly presented me with a quandary. Indoor areas seem more like a diversion or a place to chase through whilst the great outdoors present initially wide-open areas that flatter to hide the linear route to progress through them. The time spent there can make you pray for a something a little different. The locales you’ll be slithering through have little variation to them and, for the most part, you’re enveloped by the game’s mostly rural setting. The game’s more surreal and dreamlike scenarios look rather stunning with a fidelity that rivals the very best. Some of the character models leave a little to be desired but the surroundings certainly deliver a strong punch. Sound rattles and stings, depending on your situation and does well to warn you of impending danger. Lighting compliments a great deal of polish with some of the quieter, indoor moments being perfectly pitched. Outlast 2‘s production values help to create an atmospheric, tense experience with a visual treatment that, at times, looks outstanding. Imagery is typically disturbing with plenty of decay and bodies on display but it’s a road that’s been well-travelled.
Your love interest is kidnapped early provide further drama and the antagonists provide plenty of menace but I’ve seen it all before. Diary entries are strewn to provide more context for the biblical babbling of the townsfolk and it’s charismatic leader but, to be honest, I’m not that invested. No prizes for guessing the local residents are part of a crazed village cult that seems hell-bent on tearing itself and you apart. Trading in the first game’s Colorado Asylum for a reclusive rural setting, you’re part of a two-person film crew investigating a suspicious backwoods murder. The plot plucks from some fairly traditional horror tropes. Can it still chill the bones or does Outlast 2 whimper in the dark? Now Red Barrels return with an inevitable sequel that looks to build upon the bedrock whilst scaling new heights. The original Outlast made some waves in survival horror circles with its intense first-person stealth, gripping atmosphere and intriguing story.
In PS4 / Reviews tagged first person / outlast 2 / red barrels / stealth / survival horror by Mike