The car drifts down the road in the dark. A large facility, Mount Massive Mental Asylum, looms in the distance, growing larger as the car approaches it. Going through the entrance, the gates lock behind you, leaving you trapped in the deserted courtyard. Armed with little more than a video camera with a short battery life, you plunge forward toward the asylum.
It soon becomes apparent that things have taken a sinister turn. The bodies of the asylum’s staff litter the hallways, suggesting an unsettling demise, and the crazed inmates, now running free and rabid, have overthrown the asylum. You should leave and get help. A rational person would, but you press forward farther into the asylum.
A dying SWAT officer greets you and warns you of the horrors within the asylum. He suggests with his dying breath that you should get out while you still can. Turning a corner, a hulking monstrosity charges to attack you. Grabbing you, he throws you through a window, and you fall downward, thinking you should have taken the officer’s advice.
Welcome to “Outlast,” a first-person survival horror game by Red Barrels Games, in which players assume the role of Miles Upshur, a freelance journalist who finds himself trapped in an out-of-control asylum.
Released last year for computers and coming out this week on Playstation Plus, “Outlast” instigates a frantic and heart-pounding experience through the trip exploring the asylum. Lacking a combat system, players have no option to fight off the horrors that surround them. Instead, the players must evade and hide from attacking inmates by using the environment to their advantage. Lockers dispersed throughout the game may offer temporary safety, but often enemies will search rooms, looking for players.
The video camera, which has a night vision function, is theplayer’s only asset, but with a short battery life, players will have to search the environment for replacement batteries. Being able to see often means the difference between life and death, especially when being chased down dark hallways.
Throughout the game, players are constantly hunted and pursued by Walker, a strong and powerful inmate intent on hunting his prey. Running through the dark hallways, the charging predator will give chase relentlessly. Hiding under the bed or in lockers won’t offer much refuge. Often Walker will smash open lockers or peek under beds in pursuit of his prey.
“Outlast” is a mature game and isn’t for everyone. The game has many instances of both nudity and gore. Parts of it may be disturbing to some people, but if you’re looking for a dark, gritty, terrifying experience, then welcome to the asylum.
