Outlast 2 is a first-person shooter psychological horror survival video game developed and published by Red Barrels. It is the sequel to the 2013 video game Outlast, and features a journalist named Blake Langermann, along with his wife Lynn, roaming the Arizona desert to explore the murder of a pregnant woman only known as Jane Doe. Blake and Lynn get separated in a helicopter crash, and Blake has to find his wife while traveling through a village inhabited by a deranged sect that believes the end of days are upon them.
Shortly after the release and popularity of Outlast, Red Barrels announced the sequel. A gameplay demo was then released at both PAX East and E3 2016 on April 22 and June 15 respectively, with a release originally slated for Autumn 2016. Due to development delays, the game was ultimately released on April 25, 2017 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The Nintendo Switch version released on March 27, 2018 on the Nintendo eShop.
The game was met with generally mixed to positive reception upon release, with praise going towards the graphics, sound design, and atmosphere. Criticisms were reserved for the general story, context sensitive gameplay design, amount of gore, and difficulty.
A third installment in the series, entitled The Outlast Trials, is set to be released in 2021.
Gameplay
Outlast 2 is a first-person survival horror game that, like its predecessors Outlast and Outlast: Whistleblower, is a single-player campaign. It is set in Northern Arizona. The game continues the found footage characteristics from the first game. The player controls the investigative journalist Blake Langermann, who investigates a dilapidated rural area in Supai,[3] near the western edge of the Colorado Plateau.
Langermann cannot fight except in scripted scenes, but must run and hide from the numerous hostile members of Temple Gate.[4] The player can crouch, run, jump, walk, vault, slide and climb much like the first game and can hide in lockers, barrels, wardrobes, beds, pools of water, tall grass, cornfields, and inside of houses. He has a limited stamina meter and the player must manage how long he runs, lest he becomes exhausted and move more slowly.
Langermann possesses only a camcorder, which has night vision capabilities, though the camcorder’s batteries are also drained when night vision is used. Compared to the first game, Langermann’s status as a cameraman means he carries a more advanced camera, one with clearer footage, zoom, and a sensitive microphone that can be used to detect distant footsteps and other noises. The player is equipped with an inventory system displaying the amount of footage recorded on the camera and the items they are carrying. Spare batteries suitable for the camcorder and medkits to heal are spread throughout the game.
