I’ve been a horror game fan for a very long time, probably since the days of the original Dead Space on Xbox 360. If horror or even just spooky themes count, then it’s even longer, going back all the way to the likes of Ghostly Grove or Haunted Hall in Donkey Kong Country 2. Spooky stuff is always a blast, but actually terrifying stuff? That’s another story. Try as I might, I just can’t get all the way through terror-focused games, and I think Outlast is the cause. I picked it up thinking it was just typical horror, but boy was I wrong!

(Take care watching this one. Even now I think it’s pretty unsettling.)

By the time Outlast came out, I’d already played the likes of Resident Evil and Dead Space, so I thought it’d be no big deal. “It’s just another horror game, right?” I thought. And, for some out there it probably was. For me, though, it was something next level. See, in most horror games, even more recent ones like the last couple of Resident Evil games, the scares are contained in a way. Like, unless you’re making your way through a new area or are in a specific zone that a powerful enemy is patrolling, you’re usually “safe”. 

Heck, in Resident Evil, even Mr. X and Nemesis have to respect the “save” rooms. So you have at least a little control as the player. That control is lacking in Dead Space, but the actual looming threat is rather minor, so it’s not that big of a deal. Now, it’s been a while so I might be remembering wrong, I recall no such sense of safety throughout my time in Outlast. The game ramped up the tension immediately and never let it drop!

Every moment I spent in Mount Massive Asylum was altogether too heavy. Every sound set me on edge, every little wisp of shadow set me halfway out of my seat! And how could it not? You spend almost the entirety of the game in complete darkness surrounded by deranged, even borderline monstrous people; all of whom represent a serious threat. There is no fighting, no option to defend yourself, only running away and holding your breath in the dark until your pursuers give up the chase.

Your one and only advantage against the dangerous unfortunates trapped alongside you in this place is a little camcorder with night vision functionality, one that’s in constant need of fresh batteries by the way. Mount Massive is a terrifying place even with the night vision available, yet Outlast still forces you to play without it half the time anyway in order to save power! 

Realistically, you can only use it to figure out routes through dangerous rooms or to confirm whether you’re still being chased or followed. Seriously, it never lets up! Not even after a jump scare sends you running out of your room! It’s just, well, it’s Outlast I guess.

Since my experience with Outlast, I’ve tried to play similar games like Alien: Isolation or even older ones like Amnesia: The Dark Descent to very little success. It might be that I was just never cut out for these games where your character is powerless with no choice but to run and hide, but I can’t help but wonder if Outlast just fried my tolerance for that sort of gameplay. For me, I guess, it really was (and still is) the scariest game ever made. Maybe one day I’ll try to go back and beat it, but I don’t think it’ll be any time soon.

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Have you ever played Outlast? What was it like for you? What’s your personal scariest game ever? Let me know below, and be sure to hang out for more Spooktober fun coming this week and lasting all this month!

Image from the Outlast Steam page