What I like most about Outlast 2 is that it doesn't just use its themes as set-dressing. It’s fear of the drastic measures people will take to ensure their salvation, the burden of guilt, and whether or not the big guy up top exists and gives a damn. It's not a fear about being hunted, artistic viscera spills, or neatly arranged corpses on spikes (though there’s plenty of that stuff).

It’s one of the most bizarre ending sequences I’ve witnessed, tapping into a fear I’ve known since my first week at Sunday school.

Long after the final minutes of Outlast 2, I felt queasy, uncertain that what I saw had actually happened. If you're having trouble navigating Outlast 2's dark farmland or can't figure out how enemies keep spotting you, check out our beginner's guide. And when you’re dashing through it, nearly out of battery while a ‘man’ screams biblical verse and shoots fiery crossbow bolts past your head it’s both thrilling and nauseating, all propped up by an incredible soundtrack. It’s stunning artistic and graphical work. Subtle lighting casts trees and figures like paper silhouettes against muted backdrops, and convincing effects like the camera’s depth of field and visual noise make the world look real at a glance.

Red Barrels’ commitment to building such a disorienting horror simulation is as admirable as it is annoying. While the original Outlast could depend on the hospital’s architectural pathways to direct the player, pulling off subtle signposting in an outdoor setting can’t be as obvious without compromising the feeling of being lost and helpless. The area was a wild goose chase killbox, built only to confuse. The way out was a short sprint not far from where the sequence begins, a quick hop over a pile of wood pallets piled next to the fence. Red Barrels’ commitment to building such a disorienting horror simulation is as admirable as it is annoying.Įarly on, I wandered the same cornfield for 30 minutes, crawling the perimeter and making several suicide runs to scope out the buildings for an exit.

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