Outlast

I don't think a game has ever managed to reduce me to an anxiety- stricken wreck quite so successfully as Outlast. Within an opening text, you are told that you play as Miles Upshur; a journalist who decides to investigate Mount Massive Asylum after receiving an anonymous tip. Almost immediately things begin seeming a little strange, with stereotypical scares such as silhouettes in windows and flickering lights, but soon it appears that whatever happened at the asylum should have been left alone permanently.

As you play as a simple journalist, you traverse the entire game armed with nothing but a camcorder with a night-vision function, causing the majority of sequences to be shown through a spooky green glow. As most of the game takes place in complete darkness, you'll be using the camcorder a lot, which is difficult because the batteries drain phenomenally quickly, leaving you in terrifying nothingness. More can be collected throughout the game, but you always need to consider conserving your power so that you're not suddenly caught being chased by murderous patients with no idea as to where you should go.

And it's this sense of constant helplessness which separates Outlast from other survival-horror games. From start to finish, there is literally no way of fighting enemies, so you have to constantly be mindful of their positions and be prepared to run and hide if the need arises. But whether you hide under a bed, in a locker or even simply in a fireplace; nowhere is safe. On more than one occasion I was brutally dragged out from my hiding-place and killed on the spot. Yet I loved every minute of it.

I'm a huge fan of horror already, but Outlast dragged me in and didn't let go until the very final credits rolled. The atmosphere created within the first mere moments of game-play sticks with you until the end, and causes the scares to be even more insidious and real than they ever could have been without this incredible sense of immersion. This is also due to the amazingly creepy sound-design and the game's refusal to pull anything back, particularly when it comes to gore. It's rather rare whilst playing Outlast to not see a dismembered torso or deformed, skulking, deranged killer, but it's all necessary to create a game which is this scarily engrossing.

I have very few problems with Outlast, but the consistent need to wait for enemies to pass by certainly becomes slightly tiresome towards the end. That's not to say it's not always terrifying when you begin being chased, but after the third or fourth time of being killed, things get a little repetitive. This is particularly apparent in the cat-and-mouse sequences featuring a huge prison-guard, but it never becomes so common that it ruins the experience. Without giving anything away, the plot also wraps up completely differently to how you would expect, which I wasn't a huge fan of, but it was still entertaining nonetheless.

Outlast is a terrifying game which hooked me almost instantly. Like with most 'scary' forms of media, it has to be enjoyed properly by sitting in complete darkness with the sound up high, but if you can endure the constant barrage of horror, then it's a hugely enjoyable experience which I would definitely recommend.

Everything you're looking at of perfection from the storyline, atmosphere, characters, gameplay, voice acting, music, graphics and visuals is in this game. Don't miss this amazing experience, cause you'll never find anything like it.

(Moment of silent to people who didn't play this game)

This is the best horror game I have ever played in my life, this will make your scream and scared throughout the game from time to time and sometimes you will jump on your seat. it's like a horror movie like if you have seen movie "The Grave Encounters" this game has a touch of that movie.

This game is very unique in a way that you have no weapon with you and can't shoot or through anything and you just have to walk or run in the game saving your life.

I got so addicted of that game that in the end I felt so sad that it's ended, I wanted to play more.

Must play this game if you want to be scared. ........

This is another one of my favorite survival horror games, it's a first-person perspective game but it's not an actioner, here you really have no weapons (which makes sense since you character is a reporter so he probably had no combat training not that it would do any good against what you face) of any kind at all your only weapon is your wits and evasion from the mutants.

I really like the plotline which is intriguing and sort of like the 80's horror film "The Dead Pit" as it's about an asylum that harbors a deadly secret of evil experimentation. And as you get further in the game you begin to uncover a lot more as we see things get stranger and deadlier.

The graphical detail from the character animation of the experimented mutants whom are just menacing, ugly, and creepy with those glowing eyes you see, well okay I know that just the night vision light reflection but all the same it really ads to how creepy they are. And there not totally stupid they have sharp hearing and sight, if you make too much noise they'll hear and if you're not far enough away or hidden well enough then they come toward you. There are some gore effects as well, though the game isn't too bloody nor does it really on it more on atmosphere and suspense which to me is where the game truly excels.

The asylum looks great it's one of the best arenas for survival horror games, the grit and grime which remind me of some of the scenery from the horror film "Session 9". I've always found asylum creepy as their not always the friendliest environments as their really confining, oppressive combined with the psychological sickness going around just spells unfriendliness all around. Though it's those ones that are shut down that really give me the creeps as you see the amount of decay and grime, it sorts of makes me wonder how the heck this asylum in the game passed the health inspections. But the dark dank gritty environment around you just reeks of oppression, evil, and death everywhere you turn.

The gameplay is great it's a little similar toward "Alien Isolation" (which that's a different story and one I already reviewed) along with "Clock Tower" where in those games you have the rely on your wits to win.

You are just constantly tense and on your toes from beginning to end, it's literally a deadly game of cat and mouse. As I was walking I was afraid that in the next corner I'd see another mutant along the way or maybe in the next dark corridor. You just never truly know when those mutants will pop out or are stationed, which caused me to think of the best places to hide as well as the best route in case I needed to run. There were even moments I jumped, and I like that I don't get that feeling often.

There are plenty of places to hide, the best one no doubt is the locker which effectively works so long as they don't hear or see you enter. It's one of the best places to hide as you keep hidden till you don't see and hear it anymore. However, it's the not the most reliable, if you hide in the same place too long the mutants will find you, so make sure alternatives are available.

I like that you have a camera that has a night vision light which is very useful for lighting up the dark places. However, the batteries on that light drain quickly, and once their out your pretty much fraked so make sure you find plenty of batteries and use the night vision sparingly.

The chase sequences are thrilling and really exciting almost reminds me a little of the chases from the game "Mirror's Edge" as I am getting chased either by one big mutant or even a group of them I'm just hoping I can get far enough away from them on time. And with obstacles in the way be able to think and react quick enough on my feet.

So, check into this asylum if you dare.

Rating: 3 and a half stars

This is pure 10 out of 10.

Outlast is by fat the best horror game of this era, probably the best ever.

The last time I was this scared and delighted in a horror video game was when the original Alone in the Dark came out.

The gameplay is incredible simple, yet it's so incredible clever that pay the way for you to be scared.

You cannot fight, you cannot shoot, this is a first person non-shooter in which you will have to run for your life and document everything.

If you're fan of horror games and scary sh.it this will definitely fill your bill.

Go play it !