Posted on: July 27, 2020

decorus_veritas

Games: 142 Reviews: 64

Atmospheric but not quite the original

Outlast 2 is a tough game to review, because there are elements it does so well, and others it doesn't. The net gain is hard to weigh, but I ultimately think it's worth playing if you like the original. What it does well: - Environment design and atmosphere. This game is unbelievably creepy. The shift from the insane asylum to a forest full of demented villagers is perfectly executed, and everything looks even better when night vision is on. This game is jaw-dropping in its horrorific detail. - Expanded mechanics. Now you can hide underneath non-designated hiding spots, thanks to a crawl addition to the game. There are more designated hiding spots as well, including wardrobes, barrls, and tree stumps. The sound mic on the camera is a sweet bonus. What it doesn't do well: - Expanded mechanics. Everytime I hide in the new designated spots, I get found. When I try to crawl to a non-designated hiding place, they catch me before I get there. If you add mechanics to a game, you have to create contexts where utilizing these tools is worth it. Also, you still can't throw objects to distract enemies (as in SOMA), which wasn't necessary in the original but would definitely have enhanced this game. - Too many chase scenes, not enough hiding, little opportunity to escape. What made theo riginal game so great was the hiding and hoping not to get caught. Or if you did get caught, trying to escape and hide before they catch you. This time around, I felt most encounters were just forced chase sequences. Hiding doesn't matter, and the escape route is forced, unlike in the original where how you try to escape is somewhat up to you. This undercuts the central mechanic of these games. The tension comes from trying to sneak around and hoping to not get caught. Just chasing the player all the time gets tedious after ahwile, and is far less scary. Still worth playing, but definitely not as anxiety-inducing as the original.

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Posted on: October 30, 2020

FallenHeroX1

Games: Reviews: 85

It's ok.

School scenes/flashbacks are boring. The story overall is nonsense. The gameplay relies on trial and error which hurts the immersion that this game desperately relies on. It's hard to be afraid of dying when death is a regular occurence due to poorly thought out chase sequences and scripted moments that rely heavily on contextual buttons that don't do anything during actual gameplay. It's a large step back and that's a shame because I genuinely liked the designs of the creepy people that inhabit this world and it's all very intriguing to look at but frustrating to actually play.

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Posted on: January 31, 2021

Seb-gog

Verified owner

Games: 190 Reviews: 79

Feels fake, can't immerse myself in this

I can't get immersed in this when the world feels so fake. You can't interact with anything, unless it's a scripted sequence! You don't push chairs or cans around while moving into them, and you don't knock down bottles that makes sounds and makes you scared you'll draw attention. Everything is totally static - no physics, no objects to pick up and maybe throw to lure enemies away or anything like that. And to make it even worse the emenies feel very scripted and on rails. The scares/challenges are scripted trial and error sequences. And during chases you get stuck on all tiny objects in the world, since all objects are fixed and have no physics. I gave up after a few hours. If the story had been any good I might have played just for that, but the story is probably the weakest part of this - I don't care the tiniest bit about what happens, it's all just boring confusing garbage. Gfx are nice though, and it's got a scary athmosphere with sounds and lighting and so on, but it just feels fake when you've played for an hour or two.

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Posted on: July 27, 2017

CarbonSeed

Verified owner

Games: 276 Reviews: 13

Less Outlast in many aspects

For where to begins, Outlast 2 is a good game, is more of the same, there's not new mechanics or abilities (ok, now you can hide on barrels for example but that's the same) in general lines the game is just equal than the first Outlast but with a new plot and scenary. Overall I like the game but it's not that good, the first one is way better. Where the first one shined this one is more generic. For example in Outlast there's like three "bosses" who haunt you, here's only one and is so dull and feels forced like "we need to put something there whatever the cost". In the first one, you need to hid many times, feels the tension while the enemies are lurking for you, feels claustrophobia. The enviromet was so menacing and spooky and the story... You would never expect that ending. But in Outlast 2 I never hid, literally, I just ran and everything was ok, the enemies are just stupid, the scenario (for me at least) is not that scary or frightening, is so opened that you don't feel pressure and sometimes is just too, TOO, exagerated that causes to laught (many dead bodies in sites without sense like wtf?). The story is not that good, it's hard to follow and the things you catch is like "ok, generic", sometimes you don't even know for where to go because you don't see nothing, and not in a good and scary way, but in the frustrating way. And while I was expecting some horrible and disturbing things... there aren't, the game is so much soft than the first Outlast (and if you compare it with Whistleblower dlc is more soft yet). Where the game stands out is at certain times in which tells another story, moments of terror much more psychological, definitely my favorite parts. The game is good but it's not a real improvement from the first, is more of the same but with less interest. I recommed it if you like this kind of games and definitely if you like Outlast, just keep in mind that is not brilliant.

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Posted on: July 6, 2020

jschultz

Verified owner

Games: 241 Reviews: 12

More "real" horror, please

I very much like horror games and I prefer the horror to be of the flavor that makes me too afraid to go on rather than experiencing one jump scare after another. Amnesia was great in this regard and SOMA perfectioned it. I guess Red Barrels' flavor is just less of my type. I did enjoy both Outlast 1 and 2 with regards to their story, but I imagine they would be even better horror games if they were directed by Frictional Games. While I agree with many of the top comments, I think a one-star rating is still too harsh as I did enjoy the game to some degree, sans the jump scares and eternal retrying of passages which made them not scary at all. This game could be perfect if all the jumpscares were replaced by more atmospheric exploration parts.

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