
Outlast 2 is one of the most beautiful games on Switch, and also one of the ugliest. This sequel to the hit indie shocker Outlast (which hit the eShop earlier this month as Outlast: Bundle Of Terror) provides a strikingly evocative, bone-chillingly atmospheric game world for you to creep through. The use of light and shade in its depiction of the Arizona wilderness, not to mention some excellent sound design (accentuated by a new sound-tracking mechanic), are occasionally enough to make you gasp in appreciation rather than horror.
Make no mistake though, this is indeed a horrific game. While the original was hardly a walk through the Mushroom Kingdom, Outlast 2 almost makes it look as such. Trading themes of grim medical experimentation for sickening religious perversion (in every sense), Outlast 2 sets out to one-up its predecessor on the shock count. For better or worse, it manages to do so at every step. The game's tale of warring cults in a remote US community certainly serves to raise the stakes for some trademark hide-and-seek gameplay, even if it does stray into regions of questionable taste from time to time. Frequent flashback sequences, meanwhile, ground the queasiness in a more relatable everyday setting and add extra shade to protagonist Blake Langermann.

Needless to say, those of a particularly sensitive nature should move well along. Hardened horror nuts will find that Outlast 2's new, more open setting throws up a whole bunch of memorably tense set-pieces. You haven't been truly scared in a game until you’ve been hunted by deranged cultists in a moonlit cornfield. As in the first game, our protagonist is quite literally hopeless in a fight, so you must use your environment to your advantage. You can climb into a handy oil barrel, slip under a blood-stained bed, or duck into a nearby wardrobe to avoid patrolling goons and Terminator-like stalkers. This time your environmental camouflage options have increased in tandem with the scope of the levels, so you can also crouch in long grass or water, or hop into a hollow tree stump. In each case, hiding means robbing yourself of situational awareness, so the tension is maintained.
Once again your only tool here is a camcorder, with which you must document the horrors of the case that you and your reporter wife are working. Outlast 2 brings a more immersive recording system to the table than the original game, enabling you to record or snap key occurrences and texts and view them back with a press of '-'. A handy side function of this recording device is a night vision mode, and it's through this grey screen that you'll experience the game's murkiest sections. There's an almost comical number of prohibitively dark sections in Outlast 2, and cranking up the gamma setting will only get you so far.

In a way it's a shame that to have you experience such a convincingly realised game world through a grainy filter. Maybe it's because we played the original just a few weeks before, but we found the novelty of this mechanic was definitely starting to pall by the end of our time with the sequel. When you're ambling through the game at a steady pace, successfully picking your way through each stealthy challenge, the game is at its most brutally effective. Pick at the game's seams, or fail to determine exactly what it wants you to do, and its limited nature starts to grate.
Like the original, you'll eventually realise that this is basically a walking simulator (or rather a running-away simulator) with limited scope and interactivity. What's more, if you don't tackle its stealth system perfectly, you'll fall frustratingly short again and again, and will be forced to start afresh following another gruesome death animation. Of course, the key to any good horror movie is the suspension of disbelief on the viewer's part. If you approach Outlast 2 with a determination to be absorbed by its impressively realised world, there's nothing on Switch quite like it.
Conclusion
Outlast 2 ramps up the tension and the technical achievement from the original, with one of the most stunningly atmospheric game worlds around. The level design has expanded along with your stealth options, creating a handful of truly memorable moments. It definitely isn't for everyone, though. Themes of religious perversion and abuse make Outlast 2 (un)comfortably the most horrific experience on Switch, while the limitations of its stealth mechanics can try the patience.
Comments 46
I'd like to give these games a go at some point but I'm in no rush. I'll probably wait for them to hopefully go on sale as they're a bit on the expensive side of things as far as eShop downloads go.
Want both these still but would like to clear some back log first. So many games I never even started.
Maybe I'll get this on a sale but I'll have to finish the original first.
"If you approach Outlast 2 with a determination to be absorbed by its impressively realised world, there's nothing on Switch quite like it."
That's exactly what I'll be doing. I done it with Layers of Fear and its one of my most memorable gaming experiences in years. I don't remember any horror movie giving me such a sense of dread as exploring that mansion did. I done it with Detention too and thoroughly enjoyed its unique take on horror games. I'm also doing it with Outlast 1 but haven't got round to finishing it yet. Thoroughly enjoying that too though, just not finding it scary. It definitely makes you jump though and it's an absolutely brutal and gory experience. Yes there are flaws in the seams of each game but even the best horror movies have those. Just go in with the mindset that you're going to absorb yourself in its world and enjoy (fear) the ride.
I will get both of these at some point but probably will wait for a price drop to be honest
I won't play this in handheld mode, it's a much better experience on the big screen, and its only £9.99 on psn at the min, so I think for the first time in ages, I'll pick PS4 over switch.
@BenAV To be fair, the price is justified really as they have far higher production values than the vast majority of indie games on the Eshop.
I wish more devs would put that amount of effort on their ports. Nice review
@OorWullie layers of fear didn’t do it for me, I really tried, as horror is my fav genre but it seemed like a slog and didn’t keep me engaged. I might try it again as you speak highly of it, it just felt nothing was happening and I went in with the premise that it was a patient game?
It's like $8 on PSN right now, sony discounting anything that comes out on switch the same day lol
@PC_Screen Agreed. Red barrels did a damn good job and I wanna see anyone claim the Switch isn't a viable platform for horror games
@Spoony_Tech What kid of backlog do you have facing you?
On behalf of Anti-Matter, rest assured he's gonna pass on this.
I like the sound of this.
Awesome can’t wait
@Deathwalka Think of it as a haunted house simulator. There's not really much gameplay other than walking, opening drawers/cupboards and looking for notes that reveal more about what went on and the type of character the guy your controlling is with the odd puzzle here or there. It starts off mildly before it starts to ramp things up in the creepy and crazy stakes as he descends further into insanity. You never know what's through the door, round the corner or even behind you. I absolutely loved exploring it, the tension it created and found it really clever how the house constantly changes behind your back . I knew going in that there was not much gameplay involved other than exploring but I've now played through it twice for the different endings and came across several new horrors on the way. I've also played through the DLC which I really enjoyed too.
@BenAV no they aren’t. Very reasonable I think
@OorWullie il give it another chance and see, just purchased outlast 2 though so that will be first!
@gcunit omg if antimatter played either game there would be no holy water left at his local church.
These games totally aren't for me but it's nice that horror fans have something.
@MERG Well it's probably not as bad as I think but the problem is the length of the games I still want to play. Skyrim, EOV, Doom, Alliance Alive (just picked up today) and still want to collect all the moons in Odyssey. Maybe a couple of more smaller indie games as well but I have beat a lot of them that I own now.
I'm trying to take my time with my games more and get less games this year. Also Zen Pinball takes up a lot of my time as well.
...just let me know when it's safe to come out...
@Robotron2084 My first play through took me around 6 hours and the DLC about 3 hours. There are multiple endings available depending on certain actions you make on your way through,3 I think for both the main story and DLC. So you could play through the main story fairly quickly. Go to your other games and then go back to the DLC and maybe try to get the different endings.
I gave up on the first game because i couldn't find any torch batteries and died too many times as a result. Does this game change that?
@Spoony_Tech Having Skyrim on a backlog means a long backlog. You always did like your pinball, didn't you. Did you plane Xenoblade 2...excellent game. I'm slowly trying to get the hang of Darkest Dungeon. I love but dang it's hard!
NINTENDO LIFE, do something with users' comments. A reply (message #57 for example) for a comment that is all the way up to the beginning (message #4 for example) is reminding me the internet of 2000. Be up to date. (Take hints from Eurogamer).
@Rika_Yoshitake Sony (like their fans) are always passive aggressive toward Nintendo X)
The game is also available dirt cheap on PC, so PS4 version is not even needed. Switch has poratbility factor!
Getting it when I get paid
This game is definitely not for the faint of heart. I've seen my share of mature games and movies and such, but this game absolutely managed to make me uncomfortable when I watched a Let's Play of it, so keep that in mind.
I am WAY too much of a wimp to play these...
@Cosats Are you asking them to put the newest comment first? If so I always hated that. The original comments all get left behind.
Outlast 2 was one of my most anticipated games last year having loved Outlast and Whistleblower. Was so disappointed.... its all over the place. Scary moments, sure, but those awful, repeated flashbacks in the school are sooooo boring. Think the devs had a bigger budget and didnt know how to utilize it. Shame ... adored the first 2 games.
@OorWullie I thought Layer of fear suck it has way to many cheap jump scares and was way to short
It sounds expertly crafted, but very much not my cup of tea.
Nice review. I'm really digging some of these new horror titles on the eShop. Outlast and Outlast II are definite buys for me later down the road.
Reviews are all over the place for this - Rather do the $10 Steam version. Not a big deal if actually not good at that price.
Even on Switch, I'm not touching that piece of garbage with a 10 foot pole
I'll stick with resident evil 7. Having other consoles is a really novel concept.
@OorWullie @sandman89 Not necessarily trying to say that they should have made the games cheaper or anything, just that it's a bit expensive for me personally when there's regularly other eShop releases which I'm more interested in for less money. Buying both would set me back $73.40 (AUD) which is a lot more than I typically spend on physical releases even.
Can someone please explain to me why Switch version of time game 4 times more expensive than PC version? What is so special about switch version?
this is really how it looks on Switch?
@gatorboi352
you are so clever, i'll follow and learn.
(nods head, found a kindred spirit)
@BenAV first one is £19.99 and second is £26.99 I think. Not out the way at that. You don’t have to buy both at same time.
@sandman89 $33.45 and $39.95 in the Australian eShop. There are very few digital only games over $30 and that's about my limit unless I'm really desperate to play something. If they ever go on sale then I'll probably pick them up otherwise I'm pretty content to just play other things.
@Spoony_Tech More like have the replies form a chain under the one they're replying to, preferably a collapsible one. Sort of like Disqus.
@SmaggTheSmug Now that I wouldn't mind. If I want to see what everyone is saying about one specific comment I can just click and read.
I have a feeling though they like to see 100 comments in an article though and things won't change.
Now they just gotta make a horror game based on bacon to dis Muslims I’d like to see the criticism on that 🤣
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