Outlast

Outlast
Developer(s)	Red Barrels
Publisher(s)	Red Barrels
Writer(s)	J. T. Petty
Composer(s)	Samuel Laflamme
Engine	Unreal Engine 3.5
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4
Release	Microsoft Windows September 4, 2013 PlayStation 4 NA: February 4, 2014 EU: February 5, 2014
Genre(s)	Survival horror
Mode(s)	Single-player

Outlast is a first-person survival horror video game developed and published by Red Barrels, a company founded by programmers previously involved with video game franchises such as Prince of Persia, Assassin's Creed, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and Uncharted. It was released on September 4, 2013 for Microsoft Windows and on February 4, 2014 for PlayStation 4.

Gameplay

Outlast boasts a story-driven survival campaign told in first-person narrative and set in a dilapidated psychiatric hospital overrun by homicidal patients. Its presentation is similar to the found footage genre popularized in horror films. The protagonist is incapable of combat, except for scripted sequences allowing him to shove enemies out of his way. Without any traditional weapons, players are expected to navigate the facility's ransacked environment with parkour; vaulting over low obstacles, crawling, and sliding through narrow gaps. In addition, the character may survive encounters with assailants by hiding inside staff lockers or under beds; more intelligent opponents may search the room for an allocated period before moving on.

Since much of the setting is unlit, players are expected to use a video camera to see, via a night vision option. Use of the equipment consumes batteries, which must be scavenged and replaced as the storyline progresses. Plot details unfold through notes taken by the protagonist as footage is recorded through his camera.

Plot

Miles Upshur, a freelance investigative journalist, receives an anonymous tip from a source identified only as a whistleblower. The lead tells of inhumane experiments committed at Mount Massive Asylum, a remote psychiatric hospital situated deep in the mountains of Lake County, Colorado. Entering the asylum, Upshur is horrified to discover the mutilated corpses of the staff, including a dying SWAT officer who warns him to get out while he still can. As he investigates further, Upshur finds the asylum's patients, known as "Variants", freely roaming the grounds and hostile towards him, particularly a hulking sadist named Chris Walker. Approached by Father Martin Archimbaud, a cult leader who considers himself a priest, Upshur is told he was sent by "God" to be his witness to the night's events. It soon becomes clear that Archimbaud has no intention of letting Miles escape, and that he worships a supernatural entity known only as The Walrider, which he claims caused the breakout.

Trapped inside, Upshur is forced to work his way through Mount Massive and evade several Variants, including a pursuing Walker, and a pair of cannibalistic twins. Chased through the male wards, Upshur is rescued by a descending dumbwaiter, only to be captured by his savior, a delusional executive named Richard "Rick" Trager, a "doctor" who experiments on patients. Upshur watches as Trager amputates two of his fingers. He soon manages to escape into an elevator. Grabbed by Trager while the elevator is still moving, a struggle ensues which results in Trager being crushed between floors. Upshur encounters Archimbaud again along with The Walrider, which Upshur can only see through his camera. Reaching an auditorium with a playing reel, Upshur learns The Walrider was created by Dr. Rudolf Gustav Wernicke, a German scientist taken in by the CIA after World War II. Wernicke was developing a "Morphogenic Engine" for Nazi Germany, which employs severe psychological trauma and dream therapy to generate a malevolent nanite-driven being.

Finding Martin in the asylum's chapel, Upshur witnesses his self-immolation on a crucifix. Told he can escape by an elevator, Upshur uses it, only to be tricked and descends into an underground facility beneath the institution. Followed and attacked by Walker, Upshur watches as The Walrider murders him gruesomely. Locating an aged Dr. Wernicke, Upshur learns The Walrider is a result of nanotechnology experiments, and that it is being controlled by catatonic patient Billy Hope. Instructed to shut off Hope's life support system, Upshur does, but is seized by the weakened and hostless Walrider, which savagely beats and fuses with him. Nearing death, he staggers towards the exit, where a security team led by Wernicke fires upon him. Wernicke then realizes Upshur is the Walrider's new host, and panicked screams and gunshots are heard as the screen fades to black and the credits roll.

Characters

• Miles Upshur: The protagonist of the game. A freelance journalist whom uncovers secrets which resides within Mount Massive Asylum. Voiced by Shawn Baichoo
• Variants: Hostile patients and inmates that roam the halls
• Father Martin Archimbaud: He considers himself a "priest" and helps Upshur throughout the game, only to lead Upshur into a trap. Voiced by Andreas Apergis
• Chris L. Walker: The largest and strongest of the Variants. Walker pursues Upshur relentlessly throughout the game. Voiced by Chimwemwe Miller
• The Twins: Mysterious twin Variants who show signs of cannibalism. They mention that they desire Upshur's "tongue and liver." Voiced by Neil Napier and Alain Goulem
• Dr. Richard "Rick" Trager: A delusional executive, a "doctor", who experiments on his fellow patients. Voiced by Alex Ivanovici
• The Walrider: The game's primary antagonist. It is hosted by patient Billy Hope, who is on a life support system in the asylum's underground facility
• William P. "Billy" Hope: A patient at Mount Massive and experimental test subject, the host of The Walrider
• Dr. Rudolf Gustav Wernicke: The creator of The Walrider. Wernicke was presumed dead, but is kept alive by a sympathetic Hope who believes the doctor might be his father. Voiced by Marcel Jeannin

Release

It was released on September 4, 2013 for digital download through Steam, and it was also released on February 4, 2014 for the PlayStation 4 as the free monthly title for PlayStation Plus users.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	79.94% (PC) 76.53% (PS4)
Metacritic	80/100 (PC) 78/100 (PS4)

Review scores

Publication	Score
Eurogamer	7/10
Game Informer	7.5/10
GameSpot	7/10
IGN	7.8/10
Joystiq	4.5/5
PC Gamer (US)	7.5/10
Metro	7/10
Destructoid	9/10

Outlast was met with mostly positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic the PC version holds an 80/100, and PS4 version of game holds a 78/100. At GameRankings, the PC version maintains a 79.94%, and the PS4 version holds a 76.53%. It has been received with a number of accolades and awards from E3 2013, including the "Most Likely to Make you Faint" honor, and one of "Best of E3".

The PC gaming website Rock, Paper, Shotgun gave Outlast a very positive review, noting that "Outlast is not an experiment in how games can be scary, it’s an exemplification." Marty Sliva of IGN rated the game with a score of 7.8, praising the horror elements and gameplay while criticizing the environments and character modeling.

Whistleblower DLC

A DLC pack called Outlast: Whistleblower serves as an overlapping prequel to the original game. The plot follows Waylon Park, the anonymous tipster to Miles Upshur and shows the events both before and after the main plotline. The Windows version of Whistleblower was released on May 6th, 2014 worldwide and the PlayStation 4 version was launched on May 6th, 2014 in North America and on May 7th, 2014 in Europe.

Plot

Waylon Park, after witnessing the torture of Eddie Gluskin in the "Morphogenic Engine", sends an anonymous e-mail to Miles Upshur on the corruption of Mount Massive Asylum. Shortly after sending it, he is caught by his employer, Jeremy Blaire, who at first the player thinks Blaire has seen him send the e-mail, but does not, and has Park committed as a "Morphogenic Engine" test subject. After The Walrider breaks free a few hours later, Park manages to escape his restraints amidst the chaos, taking a camcorder with him.

Encountering several prisoners along the way, Park struggles to stay alive and soon encounters Frank Manera, a cannibalistic prisoner who kills and then eats a fellow prisoner in front of Park, all before setting his sights on the protagonist.

Watching as surviving guards and personnel try to escape from the newly freed prisoners, Park searches for a radio to contact the authorities. Eluding Manera on several more occasions, Park reaches a radio, only to be attacked by Blaire; destroying the radio, Blaire insists that Mount Massive's secret remain hidden, before leaving Park to die at the hands of inmate Chris Walker.

Park escapes to the vocational block and is quickly chased by an inmate named Dennis and is forced into the area with Gluskin, who survived the initial experiments earlier on but became psychotic through the tests. Gluskin plans to perform a very crude sex change with a buzzsaw on numerous male patients in order to try and create a perfect wife, and some of his creations are seen whilst fleeing, such as a dead male whose genitals were mutilated and arranged to resemble a vagina, then had an adult male's head placed between the legs in the new "vagina" to simulate birth.

Running from Gluskin, Park falls into an elevator shaft, where a piece of debris lodges in his ankle. Forced to limp, Park is soon captured and held hostage for 12 hours by Gluskin. Park watches Gluskin again attempt to turn a male prisoner into a female, only to get frustrated and slam the prisoner's face into a buzzsaw. About to be mutilated by Gluskin, another prisoner appears and attacks Gluskin, allowing Park to escape. Injuring his other leg fleeing, Gluskin soon recaptures Park, and attempts to hang him in a gymnasium along with several other bodies; Park's struggling causes Gluskin to be tangled in the rope, suddenly raising and impaling him on a metal pole.

As daylight breaks, Park continues onwards, finding that military forces have arrived and are killing indiscriminately; Park sneaks by as they are killed by The Walrider. Passing a group of windows, Park sees a nearby chapel on fire (the ending to the first game) and numerous characters from the original game being killed by the military.

Reaching the main reception, Park finds a wounded Blaire sitting at the exit, pleading for help. Approaching Blaire, he stabs Park in the stomach, declaring that no one can survive, only for The Walrider to appear and violently kill him, presumably to assist Park in his escape. Hobbling to the security gate, Park enters Miles Upshur's car, only to spot a Walrider-possessed Upshur stalking towards him. Turning the car around, a dark mist approaches the vehicle, only for Park to break through the gate and escape.

In an epilogue scene, a fully recovered Park is warned by an unseen man about attacking the Murkoff Corporation. Prepared to upload his footage of Mount Massive to a news leak site, Park is told that Murkoff will be irrevocably damaged and he will have some sense of justice, but the lives of Park and his family will be in serious danger; Park hesitates for a moment, uploading it just as the screen turns to black and the credits roll.

Characters

In addition to cameos from previously seen characters of Billy Hope, The Twins, Chris Walker, Father Martin, Rick Trager (postmortem), and Miles Upshur, the prequel introduces several new characters to the story.

• Waylon Park: The protagonist of the DLC. A software engineer working in the asylum, The Whistleblower, the one who sends an anonymous tip via e-mail to Miles Upshur. Also voiced by Shawn Baichoo
• Jeremy Blaire: The antagonist of the DLC. Head of Mount Massive Asylum and responsible for the "Walrider Project" and several other illegal experiments from the Murkoff Corporation. Voiced by Matt Holland
• Frank Antonio Manera: A cannibal who butchers and consumes people with a mechanical saw. He attempted to "cook" Park alive in a crematorium. Voiced by Edward Yankie
• Eddie Gluskin: A misogynist and serial killer, nicknamed "The Groom" as he subjects male victims to genital mutilation in an effort to make the "perfect wife". Voiced by Graham Cuthbertson

External links

• Official website