This is the point where it’s made clear that Outlast 2’s narrative is going to wander off in unexpected directions. Then, despite every horror movie ever made demonstrating why it’s a terrible idea, plus the creepy blue glow surrounding it being a clear “Stay away!” sign, Blake investigates a well and things get really weird. Setting off for a nearby house seems like the right thing to do, right up to the moment it’s made obvious that the area near the crash site is home to something terrible that’s twisted its people into a deadly sub-human mob. Blake is mostly fine other than being badly shaken up and incredibly sore, but he’s got no idea what happened to his wife and is understandably desperate for help. They’re investigating the death of an unidentified pregnant woman but this gets cut short when their plane goes down over Arizona. You’re Blake Langermann, the cameraman half of a husband and wife team of investigative journalists. Unlike the slower build-up of Outlast, Outlast 2 gets straight to the fear. It’s a lot of ground for a short demo to cover, but horror is only effective if you’re not ready for it. Terrible events happen in emotional, psychological, physical and supernatural formats and there’s even a cheap but effective jump-scare or two just to keep you on your toes. The new story is set in the same world as the original game with no immediately obvious crossover in setting or characters, but the same feeling of never knowing what new type of horror is showing up next was obvious even with a mere twenty minutes of hand-on time. It did well enough to guarantee a sequel, in fact, and after a short time with the demo it’s obvious that Outlast 2 is aiming to be more, bigger and meaner. Outlast came out of nowhere to become one of the most intense games of the last several years, thanks in no small part to its unflinching dedication to being as brutally horrific as possible, as often as possible.
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