People are always walking away from film ranting and raving about how scary it was. The Exorcist, The Blair Witch Project, The Ring, Etc. All Peanuts compared to Outlast.
Now, I’ve played some scary games before (Doom 3) and I’ve seen some scary movies in my day but nothing prepared me for what was to come. Outlast is something beyond scary. Truly terrifying. A first person account of what it is really like to be in a scary situation and to be utterly, totally, absolutely, fucked.
Outlast puts you as a reporter who breaks into an abandoned mental asylum. Cliche I know, but what isn’t cliche is the real fear you experience as you traverse this facility laden with psychopaths and big naked dudes who want to eat your appendages. This game doesn’t just hit you with scary music that crescendos into a jump scare. This game meticulously plans it’s fear by slowly injecting you with panic and an overwhelming sensation of survival.
The real panic of this game comes from the player not having any damn weapons or way to defend themselves. Furthermore, the game is played mostly in the dark and the only way to see is through a camcorder’s night vision. Oh, but the batteries die super fast and there aren’t a lot of batteries lying around a mental institution. So, as you can imagine, when you’re trying to run and hide from a psychopathic killer and your batteries are dying and you have no way to defend yourself things get a little hairy.
If you want a game that will scare you to your core and leave you with some sleep paralysis type nightmares…then play Outlast. *shudders*
Asinine Radio 