Outlast Website

In The Beginning...

Outlast 2's clusterfuck of a story brings you to the eyes of Blake Langermann, the series' only speaking protagonist -- a fact Red Barrels thankfully dropped for all their other games. Blake and his wife? (Girlfriend? Fiancee? We get next to no exposition on her, the most we get about her is Blake shouting her name 400 times) Lynn. Lynn and Blake are journalists exploring the murder of a pregnant teenager out in the Supai region of Coconino County, Arizona. On their plane ride, a mysterious flash happens, and the pilot immediately crashes the plane (oOoOoOoO scary). Blake wakes up after a long time being blacked out (the player's only solace from his incessant talking) to find their pilot skinned on a stake and LYNNNNNNNNN missing. What follows is a SEVEN-AND-A-HALF-HOUR exploration of a cult that makes no sense, a cult leader who makes no sense, weird deformed cult followers who make no sense, and finally an ending with a return of our favorite mind-controlling governmental organization:

the Murkhoff Corporation!

The Settings and Mechanics

The original Outlast game takes place in Mount Massive, a closed off asylum, with doors and hallways and good game play. Outlast 2, however, mostly takes place outside. This gives the unindented consequence that while the developers added invisible walls to wide open fields, meaning a good portion of the game is re-playing the same sections to guess where exactly in this 2 square mile field the developers want you to go, and if you fail it sets you back about 8 minutes at any one time. Blake also loses his glasses when the plane initially crashes, which is so close to a good game decision by the developers that I'm almost impressed. However, instead of going the correct route and making the player rely on the camera to see for certain portions of the game... Blake just mystically gains his full sight back and doesn't use glasses the entire game because continuity doesn't matter, right??? Instead, the camera acts almost exactly the same as the original game, just the added bonus of Blake screaming the same three swear words over the entire SEVEN-AND-A-HALF-HOURS. I have that man saying "shit" and "damnit" burned into my brain.

Sulivan Knoth: The Plumpy Padre

Ah, Sulivan Knoth, the villian not villan of Outlast 2. Knoth acts as the sort of Jim Jones type cult leader, a man who has intercourse with whoever he wants, and doesn't allow his "apostles" to take any kind of medication, despite being secretly medicated himself for cardiac diseases and syphills, the latter of which is he spreads very quickly throughtout hs commune. My biggest problem with Knoth is that he's just not a good viillian. He's not very scary, he's not a great character and he's barely ever seen! I have less of a problem with Knoth himself being bad, the rest of the game is terrible so he fits right in. But to give the world the heavy hitters of Outlast (2013) -- Chris Walker, The Twins, Father Martin, RICHARD TRAGER -- and to follow that up with a let down of a villian seems like such a middle finger to the entirety of the first game.

The Lousy Deaths

Oh my god, this game can't have a good death to save its life (pun 100% intended). Knoth, Marta, and Nick and Laird are the most letdowns, seeing as they were the actual main villains in the game. Knoth dies in a cut scene by cutting his own throat, which, with how much the game tried to hype this guy up, completely flatlines the entire 3rd act. Marta, a villain who's been following you most of the game, is very close to finally killing Blake before -- and I'm not making this up -- being impleaded by a flying cross... yeah, also in a cutscene. Nick and Laird, the main Heretics and the game's best attempt at good villains, are pushed off a cliff by two unnamed men in a cutscene. I can't make this up; all of the "main" deaths happen not with Blake's hand in cut scenes. For reference, Trager is killed in the first game after Miles lures him into an elevator before closing it quickly and crushing him between the floors. Chris Walker does die in a cutscene, not by Miles' hand, but the way he is killed is handled so well and gives the character the sendoff it needs. Walker is crushed against a wall by Billy Hope's Walrider before being sucked into an air vent and left there. I'm not surprised the deaths in Outlast 2 are underwhelming. The first game's deaths are so good because you're invested in the story and want to know how it ends. Walker being killed is arguably the climax of Outlast (2013), the dude who has been terrorizing you for hours and has killed 50+ just in Mount Massive is finally given his comeuppance in a visually exciting way. In contrast, Knoth is never really a problem; he's not shown as incredibly scary or intimidating, so his death means nothing. It solves no problem, and it doesn't initiate a sigh of relief from the player.

Oh God, it's Finally Over

I will cut my final rant short, with just one sentence to finish out my critique of this bone headed game. The entire explanation to the story, what makes everythin make sense, is hidden in a note, burried on a river bank, 50 paces away from where the character actually needs to be to progress the story.

Better Game!