This article is about the video game. For the garment temperature-control material, see Outlast Technologies. For the Netflix Series, see Outlast (TV series).
The game was released for Microsoft Windows on September 4, 2013, PlayStation 4 on February 4, 2014, and Xbox One on June 19, 2014. Linux and OS X versions were released on March 31, 2015 while a Nintendo Switch version was released on February 27, 2018.[2]Outlast received critical acclaim for its atmosphere, horror elements, and overall gameplay. As of October 2024, the game has a playerbase of 37 million.[3]
A sequel, Outlast 2, was released on April 25, 2017, while a prequel, The Outlast Trials, was released on March 5, 2024. The Murkoff Account, a comic book series set between Outlast and Outlast 2, was released from July 2016 to November 2017. A film adaptation is also in development.
Gameplay
The player can see their surroundings and other enemies in the dark, using the night vision mode on their camcorder.
In Outlast, the player assumes the role of freelanceinvestigative journalist Miles Upshur, as he navigates in Mount Massive Asylum, a dilapidated psychiatric hospital in the mountains of Lake County, Colorado, that is overrun by homicidal patients.[4] The game is played from a first-person perspective and features some stealth gameplay mechanics.[5] The player can walk, run, crouch, jump, climb ladders and vault over objects.[6] Unlike most games, however, the player does not have a visible health bar on the screen and is unable to attack enemies. The player must instead rely on stealth tactics such as hiding in lockers, sneaking past enemies, staying in the shadows, and hiding behind or under things to survive. Alternatively, the player can attempt to outrun their pursuer.[7] If the player dies, the game will reset to the most recent checkpoint.[5]
Most of the hospital is unlit, and the only way for the player to see while in the dark is through the lens of a camcorder equipped with night vision.[4] Using the night vision mode will slowly consume batteries, of which there are not many, forcing the player to scavenge for additional batteries found throughout the hospital.[8]Outlast makes heavy use of traditional jump scares and audio cues, which alert the player if an enemy has seen them.[9] If the player records specific events with their camcorder, Miles will write a note about it, providing further insight into his thoughts. Documents can be collected, which offer backstory and other expository information about the facility, including pages taken from patients' diaries and reports from the hospital's staff.[8]
Developer Red Barrels have pointed to the survival-focused gameplay in Amnesia: The Dark Descent (2010) as a primary influence on the combat-free narrative style of Outlast.[10]Found footage horror films like Quarantine (2008) and Rec (2007) also served as influences.[10]
Plot
Freelanceinvestigative journalist Miles Upshur receives an anonymous e-mail about inhumane experiments at Mount Massive Asylum, a remote psychiatric hospital owned by the notoriously unethical Murkoff Corporation. Upon entering, Miles is shocked to discover its halls ransacked and littered with the staff's mutilated corpses. He is informed by a dying officer of Murkoff's private military unit that the hospital's deranged inmates, known as "variants", have escaped and are freely roaming the grounds. The officer implores Miles to escape and reveals that the main entrance can be unlocked from the hospital's security control room.
As Miles moves on, he is suddenly ambushed by hulking variant Chris Walker, who knocks him unconscious. While incapacitated, Miles meets Father Martin Archimbaud, a self-appointed priest with schizotypal personality disorder, who claims that Miles is his "apostle" and sabotages his escape by cutting off power to the entrance. Miles restores power in the control room, but Father Martin injects him with an anesthetic. He also shows Miles footage of the "Walrider", a ghost-like entity that kills patients and staff alike, which he claims is responsible for the hospital's dilapidated state.
Regaining consciousness, Miles finds himself trapped in a decaying cell block filled with catatonic and demented patients. He escapes through the sewers to the main wards, pursued by Walker and two cannibalistic twins, only to be captured by Richard Trager, a former Murkoff executive driven insane. Trager amputates two of Miles' fingers and prepares to do the same to his tongue and genitals. However, Miles escapes to an elevator, inadvertently crushing Trager to death between floors when he attacks him. Miles then reconvenes with Father Martin, who tells him to go to the hospital's chapel.
Miles reaches an auditorium and learns that the Walrider was created by Rudolf Wernicke, a German scientist brought to the United States during Operation Paperclip. Wernicke believed that intensive dream therapy conducted on traumatized patients could connect swarms of nanites into a single malevolent being. Miles also learns that the experiments were originally part of the MKUltra program. In the chapel, Miles finds a crucified Father Martin, who gives him a key to the lobby elevator that he insists will take him to freedom before immolating himself. Miles takes the elevator, which descends into a subterranean laboratory.
Walker arrives and attacks Miles, only to be eviscerated by the Walrider. Miles locates an aged Wernicke, who confirms that the Walrider is a biotechnological nanite entity controlled by Billy Hope, a comatose patient of Murkoff's experiments. Wernicke orders Miles to terminate Billy's life support in the hopes that it will destroy the Walrider. Miles accomplishes the task; however, just before Billy dies, the Walrider attacks Miles and possesses his body. On his way out of the laboratory, a heavily injured Miles encounters a Murkoff private military unit led by Wernicke, which guns him down.
While a horrified Wernicke realizes that Miles has become the Walrider's new host, panicked screams, gunfire, and mauling sounds are heard as the screen fades to black.
Outlast: Whistleblower
A downloadable content, Outlast: Whistleblower, was released for Microsoft Windows on May 6, 2014, PlayStation 4 on May 6, 2014, and Xbox One on June 18, 2014.[11]Linux and OS X versions were released on March 31, 2015.[2] It serves as an overlapping prequel to the original game, showing the events both before and after the main plotline, and follows Waylon Park, the anonymous tipster to Miles Upshur.[12]
Plot
Software engineer Waylon Park works at Mount Massive Asylum, entailing maintenance to the "Morphogenic Engine", which allows Murkoff scientists to manipulate lucid dreams in the hospital's comatose patients. After witnessing the engine's effects on the abused patients, a horrified Waylon sends an anonymous e-mail to Miles Upshur to expose Murkoff's inhumane experiments. Shortly after, Waylon is summoned to the laboratory's operations center to debug a monitoring system.
When Waylon returns to his office, his supervisor Jeremy Blaire has him detained and exposed to the engine after discovering his e-mail. However, Waylon escapes his restraints when the Walrider is unleashed. He roams the increasingly decrepit facility as surviving guards and medical personnel flee from the newly freed variants, searching for a shortwave radio that he can use to contact the authorities, all the while eluding cannibal variant Frank Manera, who wields an electric bone saw. Just as Waylon manages to find a working radio transmitter, Blaire destroys it and tries to suffocate Waylon, but is forced to flee by an approaching Chris Walker.
Waylon finds his way into the hospital's vocational block, where he is captured by Eddie Gluskin, a serial killer obsessed with finding the "perfect bride" by killing other patients and mutilating their genitalia. Gluskin tries to hang Waylon in the hospital's gymnasium with his other victims, but during the struggle, he is entangled by his pulley system and a sudden weight shift causes him to be fatally impaled on a loose section of rebar. As dawn breaks, Murkoff's private military unit arrives at the hospital, intent on eliminating all the variants. Waylon slips past them and escapes into the lobby, where he finds a gravely wounded Blaire.
Blaire suddenly stabs Waylon and insists that no one can know the truth about the hospital before the Walrider kills him. Waylon then stumbles out the open main entrance and towards Miles' jeep, which is still parked near the entrance. He drives away as Miles, now possessed by the Walrider, also emerges from the hospital. In the epilogue, Waylon is sitting at a laptop with his camcorder footage, ready for upload to expose the hospital's experiments. An associate informs him that it will be more than enough to ruin Murkoff, but is warned that they will seek to retaliate against him and his family. Despite some initial hesitation, Waylon uploads the footage.
Development
Outlast was Red Barrels' first game, although the team had worked on big AAA games in Ubisoft prior like Prince of Persia, Assassin’s Creed, and Splinter Cell. The game was made in 14 months with a team of 10 people.[13] Red Barrels' CEO Philippe Morin said in 2018 that they initially could not find anyone to invest in the project for 18 months, which means 18 months without salary. Fortunately, they were able to get the funding from Canada Media Fund for $1.36 million CAD.[14]
Release
Outlast was released on September 4, 2013, for download through Steam, and it was released on February 4, 2014, for the PlayStation 4 as the free monthly title for PlayStation Plus users.[15] In December 2017, Red Barrels announced that Outlast, including the Whistleblower DLC and Outlast 2, would be coming to the Nintendo Switch in early 2018.[16] The title was released by surprise on February 27, 2018, under the title Outlast: Bundle of Terror via Nintendo eShop.[17]
Outlast received generally positive reviews from critics. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the Xbox One version 80/100 based on 6 reviews,[20] the Microsoft Windows version 80/100 based on 59 reviews,[18] and the PlayStation 4 version 78/100 based on 33 reviews.[19] It has been received with numerous accolades and awards from E3 2013, including the "Most Likely to Make you Faint" honor, and one of "Best of E3".[26]
The PC gaming website Rock, Paper, Shotgun gave Outlast a very positive review, noting that "Outlast is not an experiment in how games can be scary, it’s an exemplification."[27] Marty Sliva of IGN rated the game with a score of 7.8, praising the horror elements and gameplay while criticizing the environments and character modeling.[24]
GameSpot gave the game a positive review as well stating that "Outlast isn't really a game of skill, and as it turns out, that makes sense. You're not a cop or a soldier or a genetically enhanced superhero. You're just a reporter. And as a reporter, you don't possess many skills with which you can fend off the hulking brutes, knife-wielding stalkers, and other homicidal maniacs who lurk in the halls of the dilapidated Mount Massive Asylum. You can't shoot them, or punch them, or rip pipes from the walls to clobber them with. You can only run and hide".[28]
On October 23, 2014, Red Barrels revealed that due to the success of Outlast, a sequel was in development.[29] It was initially intended to be released in late 2016, but was delayed to early 2017 due to complications during development.[30] Subsequently, the release date was further pushed to Q2 2017, despite the intended Q1 2017 release. On March 6, 2017, Red Barrels announced that a physical bundle, Outlast Trinity, would be released for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on April 25.[31]
The sequel, titled Outlast 2, was made digitally available for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on April 25, 2017; and came to the Nintendo Switch, alongside Outlast, in February 2018.[16] It takes place in the same universe as the first game, but features a new storyline with different characters, set in the Arizona desert.
Outlast 3 was announced in December 2017, though no time frame or target platforms were confirmed.[16] During this announcement, Red Barrels said that because they could not easily add downloadable content for Outlast 2, they had a smaller separate project related to Outlast that would be released before Outlast 3.[32] The project, teased in October 2019, is a prequel for both Outlast games, called The Outlast Trials, and is set in the Cold War. The game was released on May 18, 2023 via early access for Microsoft Windows, and for a full launch on March 5, 2024 on Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5.
Film adaptation
On October 30, 2024, it was announced that a film adaptation was in development at Lionsgate, with Roy Lee producing and J. T. Petty, who wrote the original game, penning the screenplay.[3]
Related Research Articles
Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc is a 2003 platform game developed and published by Ubi Soft, and the third major installment in the Rayman series. It follows Rayman in his quest to stop an evil Black Lum named André from taking over the world with his army of hoodlum soldiers, which includes finding a cure for his best friend Globox after he accidentally swallows André. It was released for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft Windows, and on OS X by Feral Interactive in 2004. It was also released for the Game Boy Advance, N-Gage and mobile phones as a 2D platformer.
Silent Hill 2 is a 2001 survival horror video game developed by Team Silent, a group in Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2. The second installment in the Silent Hill series, Silent Hill 2 centers on James Sunderland, a widower who journeys to the town of Silent Hill after receiving a letter from his dead wife. An extended version containing a bonus scenario, Born from a Wish, and other additions were published for Xbox in December of the same year. In 2002, it was ported to Windows and re-released for the PlayStation 2 as a Greatest Hits version, which includes all bonus content from the Xbox port. A remastered high-definition version was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012 as part of the Silent Hill HD Collection. A remake developed by Bloober Team was released on October 8, 2024 for the PlayStation 5 and Windows.
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth is a survival horror video game developed by Headfirst Productions for the Xbox in 2005 and for Microsoft Windows in 2006. It combines an action-adventure game with a relatively realistic first-person shooter and elements of a stealth game.
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly is a Japanese survival horror video game developed and published by Tecmo in 2003 for the PlayStation 2. It is the second installment in the Fatal Frame series, and features an independent story with little relation to the first title. The story follows twin sisters Mio and Mayu Amakura as they explore an abandoned village and experience encounters with the paranormal. Their lives quickly become threatened when the village spirits begin to possess Mayu and target them as sacrifices for an ancient ritual. Players must use a camera with powers of exorcism to defeat enemies and uncover the secrets of the village.
Saw, also known as Saw: The Video Game, is a survival horror video game that was developed by Zombie Studios and published by Konami for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. The game was released on October 6, 2009, in North America and later that year in other regions. The Microsoft Windows version was released on October 22, 2009. Part of the Saw film franchise, the game is set between the first and second films.
Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X is an arcade flight video game developed by Ubisoft Bucharest and published by Ubisoft for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and by Gameloft for BlackBerry PlayBook, iOS, Palm Pre, Android and Symbian^3. It was released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in North America on March 3, 2009, for Windows on March 17, for iOS on December 9, for BlackBerry on January 8, 2010, for Palm Pre on April 2, for Android on September 13, and for Symbian on January 16, 2011. A Wii version was announced, but was ultimately canceled. In September 2010, a sequel titled Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X 2 was released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The Microsoft Windows and Wii versions were released in November 2010. In November 2018, Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X was added to the Xbox One's Backwards Compatibility list although only through physical media as it is not available on the Xbox Marketplace.
Batman: Arkham Asylum is a 2009 action-adventure game developed by Rocksteady Studios and published by Eidos Interactive in conjunction with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Based on the DC Comics superhero Batman and written by veteran Batman writer Paul Dini, Arkham Asylum was inspired by the long-running comic book mythos. In the game's main storyline, Batman battles his archenemy, the Joker, who instigates an elaborate plot to seize control of Arkham Asylum, trap Batman inside with many of his incarcerated foes, and threaten Gotham City with hidden bombs.
J. T. Petty is an American filmmaker and video game writer. Petty's film and short novels contain elements of the horror genre. As writer for the Ubisoft video games Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and its sequel Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, Petty created the character Sam Fisher. He also wrote the survival horror games Outlast, Outlast 2 and The Outlast Trials.
Batman: Arkham City is a 2011 action-adventure game developed by Rocksteady Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Based on the DC Comics superhero Batman, it is the sequel to the 2009 video game Batman: Arkham Asylum and the second installment in the Batman: Arkham series. Written by veteran Batman writer Paul Dini with Paul Crocker and Sefton Hill, Arkham City was inspired by the long-running comic book mythos. In the game's main storyline, Bruce Wayne is incarcerated in Arkham City, a super-prison enclosing the decaying urban slums of Gotham City. He dons his alter ego, Batman, and goes on a mission to uncover the secret behind a sinister scheme orchestrated by the facility's warden, Hugo Strange.
Alice: Madness Returns is a 2011 action-adventure game developed by Spicy Horse and released by Electronic Arts for Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game is the sequel to American McGee's Alice (2000) and was directed by series creator American McGee.
Metro: Last Light is a 2013 first-person shooter video game developed by 4A Games and published by Deep Silver. A sequel to the video game Metro 2033 and the second installment in the Metro series, its story follows Artyom, a young soldier living in the Moscow Metro after a devastating nuclear war. Tasked with finding the mysterious Dark Ones, Artyom must venture to different parts of the metro system, and the surface filled with radiated gases, and fight against different factions and mutated monsters. The game improves on various gameplay mechanics of 2033, and introduces elements such as weapon customization.
Grand Theft Auto V is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, following 2008's Grand Theft Auto IV, and the fifteenth instalment overall. Set within the fictional state of San Andreas, based on Southern California, the single-player story follows three protagonists—retired bank robber Michael De Santa, street gangster Franklin Clinton, and drug dealer and gunrunner Trevor Philips, and their attempts to commit heists while under pressure from a corrupt government agency and powerful criminals. Players freely roam San Andreas's open world countryside and fictional city of Los Santos, based on Los Angeles.
FIFA 14 is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts worldwide under the EA Sports label. It was released in September 2013 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo 3DS and Windows. It was released as a freemium, under the title FIFA 14 Mobile, for iOS and Android on 23 September 2013 and for Windows Phone 8 on 28 February 2014, although much of the game is inaccessible without an in-app payment. It was a launch title for both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in November 2013. The PlayStation 2 version was only released in PAL territories and Spanish-speaking markets, and was the last game released for the system in the Americas. The PlayStation Portable version was only released as a digital download in North America.
The Evil Within is a 2014 survival horror game developed by Tango Gameworks and published by Bethesda Softworks. It was directed by Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami. The game centers on protagonist Sebastian Castellanos as he is pulled through a distorted world full of nightmarish locations and horrid creatures. Played in a third-person perspective, players battle disfigured nightmare-like enemies, including bosses, using guns and melee weapons, and progress through the levels, avoiding traps, using stealth, and finding collectables.
Batman: Arkham is a superhero action-adventure video game series based on the DC Comics character Batman, developed by Rocksteady Studios, WB Games Montréal and Camouflaj, and published originally by Eidos Interactive and currently by Warner Bros. Games. The franchise consists of four main installments and a spin-off, along with four smaller titles for mobile devices, two virtual reality games, tie-in comic books, and an animated film. The continuity established by the games is often referred to as the Arkhamverse.
Outlast 2 is a 2017 first-person psychological survival horror video game developed and published by Red Barrels. The sequel to Outlast (2013), it revolves around cameraman Blake Langermann, who works with his journalist wife Lynn to investigate the murder of a pregnant woman in the Sonoran Desert. When both get separated in a helicopter crash, Blake has to find Lynn while traveling through a village inhabited by a deranged cult that believes the Judgement Day is upon them.
Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games. A standalone expansion pack to the 2010 open world Western game Red Dead Redemption, it adds a non-canonical zombie horror–themed single-player campaign, two multiplayer modes, and cosmetic additions to the environments and characters. Set in an alternate timeline from the base game's story, the plot follows returning protagonist John Marston, a former outlaw who sets out to find the cause of and possible cure for a zombie plague that has infected his wife and son. Marston liberates towns overrun by the undead and assists non-playable characters with side quests along the way.
Perception is a first-person horror-themed adventure video game developed by The Deep End Games and published by The Deep End Games and Feardemic. It was released for Microsoft Windows on May 30, 2017, followed by the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions on June 6, and by the Nintendo Switch version on October 31. The story follows Cassie Thornton, a blind woman who perceives the world using echolocation. The player assumes the role of Cassie and must use her unique skill to explore a large mansion in Gloucester, Massachusetts and uncover its secrets.
The Town of Light is a psychological horror adventure game developed by LKA and published by Wired Productions. It was released for PC on February 26, 2016, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on June 6, 2017, and Nintendo Switch on February 7, 2020.
The Outlast Trials is a 2024 first-person psychological survival horror video game developed and published by Red Barrels. It serves as a prequel to both Outlast (2013) and Outlast 2 (2017) and revolves around test subjects who are involuntarily recruited in a mysterious Cold War experiment.
↑ Chen, Grace (February 4, 2014). "PlayStation Store Update". blog.us.playstation.com. Archived from the original on February 12, 2014. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
↑ Livingston, Christopher (September 11, 2013). "Outlast review". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on September 13, 2013. Retrieved September 12, 2013.
↑ Wood, Chandler (June 16, 2013). "Outlast (PS4) – E3 Preview". PlayStationLifeStyle.net. Archived from the original on August 24, 2013. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
