Outlast
© Red Barrels
Outlast and its sequel have become known for their creative jump scares which play upon each game’s chilling atmosphere. In the first game, you play as Miles Upshur, a journalist looking to unravel the secrets of Mount Massive Asylum. While a respectable endeavour, Miles makes the mistake of going alone, at night, without a means of defending himself. Bad idea.
After getting trapped inside, you’ll have to guide Miles deeper and deeper into the mess of madness to find a way out. The farther you go, the scarier things become. If you’re spotted by an enemy, your only option is to run and hide. There’s no way to fight back. In the event your skull is crushed by Chris Walker, you’ll have to restart from the last checkpoint and try again.
Even if you grow accustomed to the terror, Outlast is a game that truly tests your sanity as you struggle to get past certain tricky areas. Meanwhile, Outlast 2 changes the setting around and places you outside in the country town of Temple Gate. In place of cramped corridors, you’re given more ground to cover, not that you’d want to. In Outlast 2, there are more places for enemies to lurk, waiting to pounce.
If you have a good pair of headphones, you’ll want to use them to listen for footsteps and approaching enemies in order to give yourself time to hide. Like the first game, if you’re caught, you’re killed and have to restart from the last checkpoint. Outlast and Outlast 2 are games that’ll have you screaming out obscenities late into the night, and if that’s not the best way to spend your Halloween, we don’t know what is.
