Outlast

[Derxor]

I think we can safely move this thread to the outlast thread maybe??

[Derxor]

I think that by watching the gameplay I'm just spoiling it for myself. But I actually am kind of disappointed on what I'm seeing. But as I said before, I can't judge just by watching a video so I don't regret preordering (yet) (even though it costed more than amnesia but I hope Ill have some fun with it, after all, that IS the point)

[Chrysler]

I am about one hour into the game (at the pumps). I agree that the setting and the camcorder stuff could be from a cheap horror film but it's still very well executed. Graphics look great and it runs well even on my old machine. Encounters are already much more frequent than they were in Amnesia and they seem to work better for me. I'm really positively surprised of this game.

[Paddy™]

I'm about an hour and a half into it and I feel the exact opposite I hate to shit on anyone's hard work, but I'm not feeling this game at all. I mean, I'm having fun with it, but I feel almost nothing in terms of atmosphere, fear, stress, intensity, etc.

I'm not sure if the masses of harmless NPCs are a good idea; their presence seems to further diminish any feeling of dread which might have been there otherwise and simply present more opportunities for the hackneyed "crazy guy" animations to become noticeable.

Ahhh I know it's too early to write the game off but I can't help feeling disappointed by it.

I'm also an infinitesimally, tiny, wee, little bit annoyed by the tag line; "based on real cases of mental illness!". Besides the fact that it puts me in mind of the tag line for The Human Centipede ("100% medically accurate!") it feels tactless. It's not an exploration of mental illness or a story about mental illness or anything of the sort, it's a statement which has no purpose other than to make the characters seem scary in and of themselves. I suffer from mental illness, which is stigmatised enough, but this is...I dunno how to explain it, but it makes me feel like I need to take a shower. Again, I'm honestly only a tiny bit annoyed by it, but just wanted to mention it. There, I feel better now.

[Cuyir]

Yeah I agree. Didn't know about that silly tagline.

Whenever I see any tagline like those or "BASED ON REAL EVENTS" I instantly lose all interest in x.

Just an automatic reaction.

I still want to check it out but not right now. Don't have the money and i'm sure my computer wouldn't run it at a level i'd want it to run at. So i'm putting it in the backburner.

[Froge]

I watched several Outlast videos on youtube, including pewdiepie's, and it seems to me there is no subtlety. Crazed buff guy comes out and kills you way too often, and there is no sense of dread.

[Alex Ros]

At last I have finished Outlast...

First, I must admit graphics are incredible. Sometimes it looked like a reality, real video or photography. Especially at the final underground "white" location. Surely, most of such a big visual impression was provided by engine alone. But also level design is surely high top notch, detailed and artistically well-thought-out, I mean combination of colors of the objects and interiors is artistically well-thought-out. As a result it was just a pleasure for eyes while playing Outlast.

Second, first person view model and a whole set of animations for hands and other body parts are real great. It wasn't just a clumsy body to observe, it was animated extraordinary carefully with a lots of tiny lively nuances. For example, when you're leaning and just see your hands touching doorframe it's truly rising the effect of presence. Total win.

As for everything else, there's nothing interesting at all.

Gameplay is repetitive and boring. Push the buttons here, find a key there, turn on some valves elsewhere and so on and on and on... Annoyingly boring and pointless, no connections with a story at all. Just simple quests for quests. At the same time you have to run or hide from quite stupid AI monsters. Without any real pauses. Same rhythm whole game. Total absence of a single well-thought-out builded-up scare. Man, I can't be frightened all the time! If game tries to scare me all the time I am vice versa not scared at all... meh, unscary horror game.

Storyline is usual, nothing new at all among all those thousands of asylum scary stories. Outlast is just another one psycho story with all those brutal medical experiments and poor helpless patients tortured and twisted into monsters with a little bit of German folk mystics.

Finally, as a result just finished the game and there's nothing to remember, no new experience at all, no story or characters or scenes to remember. Well, of course, absence of a nice story and intrigue is the main reason why Outlast gifts nothing to remember. If there could be unusual intriguing twisted plot carefully injected into quests and gameplay everything could be 10/10. But as it is it's only 5/10, not bad, not good, just in the middle of nowhere.

IMO.

Anyway, I do recommend to play it. Outlast is not a bad game. Not bad at all. It's just usual, nothing new, but there's nothing to really complain on too. I do not regret that I've wasted 2 evenings on Outlast, not satisfied emotionally, but truly do not regret at all.

[Adrianis]

Thanks Alex, that was a helpful review, pretty much confirmed what I was afraid of. I think I'll get it much later on, only really to see how well they did the 'first person body model', as another review talked about how well they did that, I'm interested to see it. Like you I really don't care for asylum/hospital horror with medical experiments etc etc etc, its such a burned out concept.

Sounds like they had a great team of artists & programmers but no one with creative control that had any interesting ideas, such a shame.



As a side note, have to disagree with this

Surely, most of such a big visual impression was provided by engine alone

The engine alone can't just make stuff look good, it can only define a kind of 'capacity' for how good something can look, i.e. how good it's lighting model is, how it performs when using dynamic lights & complex shaders etc. Its totally up to the artists to make it look good, they deserve all the credit

[Wooderson]

I'm about an hour and a half into it and I feel the exact opposite I hate to shit on anyone's hard work, but I'm not feeling this game at all. I mean, I'm having fun with it, but I feel almost nothing in terms of atmosphere, fear, stress, intensity, etc.

I'm not sure if the masses of harmless NPCs are a good idea; their presence seems to further diminish any feeling of dread which might have been there otherwise and simply present more opportunities for the hackneyed "crazy guy" animations to become noticeable.

Ahhh I know it's too early to write the game off but I can't help feeling disappointed by it.

I'm also an infinitesimally, tiny, wee, little bit annoyed by the tag line; "based on real cases of mental illness!". Besides the fact that it puts me in mind of the tag line for The Human Centipede ("100% medically accurate!") it feels tactless. It's not an exploration of mental illness or a story about mental illness or anything of the sort, it's a statement which has no purpose other than to make the characters seem scary in and of themselves. I suffer from mental illness, which is stigmatised enough, but this is...I dunno how to explain it, but it makes me feel like I need to take a shower. Again, I'm honestly only a tiny bit annoyed by it, but just wanted to mention it. There, I feel better now.

Are you really Travis Bickle? Because i'm David Wooderson nice to meet you.

[closetgamer0302]

My sister streaming Outlast in prep. for the new Amnesia which she will also be streaming. Will be fixing quality as we go.

twitch.tv/closetgamer0302