Outlast

[Kreekakon]

I watched Pewdie's part 1 of his playthrough, and most of it consists of the same stuff we saw from the demo (Meaning the demo consists of footage from early game mostly), nothing too impressing in there.

Although it could get better later in the same way AMFP might (Many people said the startying of AMFP is one big tease which gets better, and better), and Cry said in his video description that while it was predictable at times it was still very enjoyable.

[Cuyir]

First Dead Space was what I call "fun scary". I got the platinum trophy in it because it was really easily replayable. Dead Space 3 had its moments that were truly scary but in the end it's just a really good fun game. Dead Space 2? Never again.

That's really interesting (assuming it's 'Never again' because it's too horrifying)

Do you reckon you could say what it was in particular that made it so much scarier than Dead Space 1 for example, or even more than Amnesia?

I think DS2 managed player resources better. I was always staring at an ever dwindling ammo and health recovery item count while in the first one they rained items on the player. It always seemed to throw you into encounters when you least expected and wanted them to happen. It was a relatively common occurrence to be nursing an injury and dealing with ammo shortages when BAM, stuff happens. Forced one to be very careful with ammo, do stupid shit (melee stuff) and use improvised weaponry.

The more relate-able environments in DS2 also helped a lot. The brain processes the information and it says "this is relatively close to what I think colonies in space would look like. Basically a huge space mall with living areas and what have you...wait...what was that sound? Did a woman just scream? waitaminute whose's guts are those?" And you get the schtick lol. The school, with the wave of killer toddlers, also helped the fear become cerebral. Normal average everyday looking things (BUT FROM SPACEEEEE) made it scarier for me.

The way they deal with

Spoiler below!

returning to the USG Ishimura was incredible. They made the damn ship scarier than it was in the first game. Your memories of the place are still pretty vivid and then seeing it again gives you a sense of "oh no, not again"

Great stuff.

It was also very mentally taxing. Each encounter took peace of mind and comfort from me, something that barely happened in the first one. Couple that mental fatigue with the sometimes bleak story taking place and you have yourself a doozy of an experience. Example:

Spoiler below!

when Isaac sends Ellie away, after going through a rough area and finally killing that crazy fuck who hurt Ellie, his reaction to dooming himself is horribly palpable. It's the closest I've felt to feeling like a protagonist in a horror game feels like. You and Isaac had just gone through hell and back. Had multiple moments that took comfort away (the elevator boss fight was too much for me, seeing how I have a fear of closed spaces), many close calls, suffered though his insanity and etc. And just seeing that made me feel his fear and helpless-ness. That "i'm going to die and there's nothing I can do about it".

And I think that's it really. Better atmosphere and ambiance; harder to survive and less resources; mentally taxing, etc. Didn't even get too specific with

Spoiler below!

Issac's insanity and his issues with Nicole,which are all pretty important to the whole experience. It'd make this post longer than it needs to be but i'll just say that that aspect of the game which i glossed over is also very key in why i think Dead Space 2 is amazing and impactful.

To me Dead Space 2 is better AND scarier than the first one, but how do I find it scarier than Amnesia?

It's a surprisingly brief answer: to ME facing dangers is scarier than running from them.

If you are killed in Amnesia it's because you either had bad luck or did something wrong. So you are forced to start over and thus all that build up and atmosphere crumbles away. In games where you have to fight that are well crafted like Dead Space 2 was, having to FIGHT these things and, indeed, run from them at times (like when I didn't have enough items near the end and the last boss was near so i began using the force gun as a shotgun to clear my way and run) makes it scarier for me.

If you die in Dead Space 2, which obviously also happens, it's a different feeling than in Amnesia and Penumbra and etc. How? You HAVE to face the monsters AGAIN. You HAVE to make sure you don't blow off all your ammo on them. You HAVE to make sure you take as little damage as possible. All while dealing with the excellent atmosphere. All those considerations that are running through my mind make encounters a bigger deal than they were in Amnesia.

In Amnesia it was drastically different for me. Getting caught meant three things: 1)Run run run run run, 2)get hit and run run run run and 3) oh god i'm cornered blaaargh die> restart> try again > sigh.

The difference comes from having to face the enemies. There's almost no considerations to take into account in Amnesia in a way. You had to conserve oil but I mostly never used it so moot. You had to make sure not to take many hits but you weren't expected to fight them so you could get away with not being perfectly healthy.

So dying in Amnesia was tiresome, annoying, time consuming and not scary (maybe jump scare scary) while in DS2 dying had a mental toll for me.

[Adrianis]

Thanks man that's a really good explanation, interesting to see a totally different take on it.

From what I've seen in Thomas Grips GDC presentations, they put a lot of effort into trying to make sure people don't die in Amnesia, working from the assumption that death and the necessary repetition / trial & error situation that creates is a huge factor in reducing the sense of presence, and therefore the level of fear you experience.

That certainly matched up to my feelings, dying in either DS game turned it into a mechanical challenge, i.e. checking the timing & where enemies were coming in from & what weapons to use when, so i could get it right, rather than the initial shock reaction and not knowing what to do. By contrast in Amnesia the fact that you never repeat a chase sequence or get trapped by the same enemy again kept me guessing, so I couldn't analyses & make plans, and that scared the shit out of me. I get comfortable with a system I can understand & predict, and I just couldn't do that with Amnesia, DS2 on the other hand I found it easy to do that, because the formula was the same as the first

You having the complete opposite reaction, therefore, is good to know

Apologies for the off-topic everyone

[Bridge]

I've only played it for a little less than an hour, but I am quite terrified so far. The atmosphere is incredibly thick with great lighting and music IMO. Can't really speak for how good it is yet, but it seems different from what the trailers lead you to believe it is.

[DnALANGE]

I've only played it for a little less than an hour, but I am quite terrified so far. The atmosphere is incredibly thick with great lighting and music IMO. Can't really speak for how good it is yet, but it seems different from what the trailers lead you to believe it is.

In any GOOD or BAD way...
- - -
Still don't know if i will buy it..
Don't really want to buy a game that last less then 5 hours of gameplay.
For me that is a MODIFICATION...
That is IMO what i think that is.
My mod here on AMensia "MM" took like 3 hours of gameplay and INVESTIGATOR should be like 5 hours of gameplay!
So.. i will wait till people here tell how long the gameplay should\could be...
Don't get me wrong here...,
i LOVE AMNESIA and horrorgames but... less then 5 hours of gameplay for such a long delay-> for {amnesia machine for pigs} ...

[Derxor]

I pre-ordered first thing when i heard about the game, I'm pretty excited about it (not as much as amfp) but still pretty great. Bad thing is I'm on vacation and i won't have my computer untill the 9th so ill just play it after i finish amfp. Also noticed that my favourite youtuber (Markiplier) is gonna do a full walkthrough kind of like when he did SCP so I'm very couldn't be happier right now

[Alex Ros]

Just played for a few hours. Got thru a couple of locations. And what can I say is that Outlast is not scary or intriguing at all. The tactics, game mechanics are ABSOLUTELY similar to Amnesia or Penumbra. Shameless thievery of Frictional ideas. No weapons, simply hide in the lockers, under beds in the darkness, etc. Storyline is well-worn, nothing new at all, just an asylum where some experiments took place, some mystical background of the place itself, the mountains. So... just got ABSOLUTELY bored... meh...

Well, technically it looks just great. Nice modeling and textures. Quite detailed level design, if not to pay attention to the fact that abandoned mental hospital space is... is worned into holes. Nothing else to say. Nothing new, stinky copypast in a shiny packaging. IMO.

[Wooderson]

I have to say, those two big burly gentlemen have very nice peni*cough!* voice actors and are pretty cool.

[Cuyir]

Shameless thievery of Frictional Games' ideas?

Wouldn't that make Frictional Games guilty of "stealing" from the first adventure games?

Or every platformer after Mario bros. guilty of stealing from Mario?

Every shooter after Wolfenstein guilty of plagiarism?

Etc etc etc.?

I'm sure there are games that try to be wannabes but most cases it's just devs using a gameplay style/genre. You don't have to reinvent the wheel for each new game. A massive amount of GOOD (read: GOOD) games use mechanics that have become gaming staples and either polish them to a sheen or add something to it.

[felixmole]

Outlast got 83/100 according to Metacritics, so it shouldn't be too bad.