Outlast is a first person thriller surrounding a journalist and his investigation into the downfall of an insane asylum.

The premise of the game is a horror walkthrough, and with that in mind the publisher Red Barrels very successfully created that environment within the game. My rule for horror films has always been: if you watch it in the light of day and can still be terrified by what you see, then it is successful, that rule also applies to this game.

The gist of the story is that you (Miles Upshur) get an anonymous tip off that there were improper medical practices partaking in the asylum and you thought to leave it upon yourself to investigate it. Upon arrival you find that the institute is derelict, but as all good horror narratives lead… you go along with it anyway. I can guarantee you, speaking from experience most journalists would not do the same. To introduce you into the game, you are driving along a country road, at night, in the middle of a storm, starting to sound familiar…? Once you pull up to your destination, that being the giant gates to the airy asylum, you look to your left to see a handheld camera on the passenger seat. Now, a small hint to those planning on investing in this game the handheld is your friend, but use it wisely. The handheld allows for night vision, and that really is its sole purpose, not documenting footage – this isn’t Fatal Frame. Once you leave the car you are introduced to the controls, very basic and straight forward: such as X = jump, O = squat, left analogue = walk, etc. You will then stumble across the must-have of every game: a collectable. This is in the form of a physical file. You can read the file, it will usually just give you a bit of backstory, and obviously there is a trophy for collecting them all.

At this point the game does follow the clichés of a typical thriller and a basic video game, but that really is the extent of it. Upon entry the game is littered with jump scares, to the point where if you find yourself in a safe environment you still don’t trust it, and so you shouldn’t. Despite the gameplay being entirely narrative driven, the player can still find themselves completely in the dark at times (literally). Not that it’s a bad thing, this sets you up with the challenge. Ninety percent of the time there will only be one way you can go and the game does not leave you very open for options to explore anyway. For those adventurous players there are still nooks and crannies within the game map, this is where you’ll find the likes of collectibles (files) and those all-important camera batteries. Yes, the handheld runs on batteries, obviously Miles wasn’t smart enough to bring himself some spares. But this elaborates on my previous point – make sure you use the handheld wisely and sparingly. The life of the handheld also depends on the difficulty that you choose at the beginning of the game. So if you’re up for a challenge make sure you choose ‘Nightmare’. Only the most skilled of gamers could complete this on ‘Insane’.

There are not many protagonists in the game, but there are a few psychopaths in the asylum that stand out from the rest. Rick Trager is one that particularly springs to mind, not the first character that you meet but definitely the most memorable.

Is this game good? It’s fantastic. I’m not over-selling it here, Outlast has it’s good and bad points but overall Red Barrels have done a great job here. It really has it all, a rich interesting story-line, a somewhat surprising plot-twist, and characters you’ll be seeing in your nightmares. I’d highly recommend choosing this over a classic horror film evening with your friends, guaranteed to scare the pants off of anyone.