Exit the insane of the Mount Massive asylum. Even if it retains certain links (ten) with its predecessor, Outlast 2 starts on new bases, although it still embodies a journalist armed with a camera and his press card. The adventure opens in a helicopter as reporter Lynn Langermann and her companion and cameraman Blake Langermann (the hero, therefore) go to Arizona to investigate a dark affair. Indeed, a young woman named Jane Doe was found on the side of a road, pregnant, covered in dirt and murmuring verses from an unknown book, before killing herself by hanging. Responsible for investigating the origin of such behavior, the couple does not really have time to make their mark since their helicopter crashes a few minutes after the start of the game. After recovering his senses, Blake realizes his girlfriend has disappeared. The only thing left at the scene is the body of the pilot, flayed alive and impaled on a cross. Atmosphere... Faithful to the first episode, Outlast 2 does not bother with overly complex mechanics: the character is not a superman, and he must therefore hide or run to hope to survive.
REPORT FROM THE EXTREME
We also find the famous camera which, here, will be used to produce a report by filming certain key points and other documents of interest. It also has an amplification system that allows you to see in the dark, provided you have batteries. Compared to the first Outlast, we note the appearance of a very powerful microphone with which it is possible to identify enemies from afar thanks to the sounds they emit - which makes the VU meter oscillate. The first thing you notice when you look at Outlast 2 is obviously the graphics whose quality has been enhanced, Unreal Engine 4 requires. The decorations are better finished, the textures look better, and if the game does not offer the most beautiful rendering of all time, it nevertheless offers some lighting effects that will stand out. Moreover, the use of the camera always adds this cradingue filter typical of the series, this old VHS style popularized since The Blair Witch Project. Announced as particularly open, Outlast 2 does not really offer an open world, and the progression is almost as linear as in the first episode. Claustrophobics will nevertheless appreciate being able to evolve a little more in the open air, although the scenery of this dark valley of Arizona is even more anxiety-provoking than the corridors of the mental asylum of Mount Massive.
Faithful to the first opus, Outlast 2 remains a real video game nightmare and crystallizes all the perversity that animates the developers Red Barrels.
This linearity has only one goal: to serve the purpose of the game and to freak out as much as possible. On this point, we are delighted to announce that Outlast 2 manages to free itself from the first opus by offering (a little) less jump scares. An aspect that is largely compensated by the general atmosphere of the game, which has become much more shocking and frightening than in the first game. The sets are literally chilling in the back thanks to this new ultra polished environment. From now on, our extreme reporter will have to face Christian fundamentalists divided into several sects. The main one is the Testament of the New Esekiel, which includes 80% of the population of this ironically god-forgotten place. Led by a guru called Sullivan Knoth, this clan is based on a new bible written by the aforementioned sir. Without wanting to go into too much detail, the book prophesies the coming of the Devil himself in the form of a newborn, which pushes the natives to massacre all infants as well as foreigners (including Blake) who could potentially impregnate their wives. An excellent scenario, but on which Outlast 2 ultimately puts very little, dedicating almost none of the too few cutscenes to it. To grasp the full substance of the story, it will therefore be necessary to read the smallest sheets picked up along the way.
DIE & DIE & DIE AGAIN
Too bad, the cinematics only serving in the end to outbid the morbid, the atmosphere is already of a sacred level between the sets and the phases of gameplay. If the horror is indisputably present, the fear remains confined to the novelty. However, if the first opus killed it with too repetitive mechanisms (the three objects to recover), Outlast 2 falls into a similar fault. Several phases of the game - including the famous games of hide and seek in the cornfields - are quite difficult, especially since the more time the player spends there, the more the enemies become perceptive and effective in tracking. Add to that the fact that slowness consumes batteries; we will spend most of our time sprinting and getting killed when things go wrong. A state of affairs which worsens in certain passages, literally transforming them into a very frustrating Die & Retry. Inevitably, after the eighth time, and when you know the location of each enemy and its pattern at your fingertips, fear is already very far away. Still, Outlast 2 knows how to get your heart pumping with horror visions and particularly excruciating scenes, like when a wife is stretched in front of her husband to get him to talk. Sequences that are appreciated in small doses, because by playing in one go, you end up getting used to the unbearable and unhealthy atmosphere of the place. To really enjoy Outlast 2 in the best conditions, we recommend night games, helmet screwed on the skull for one or two hours max.
We must not forget, either, the incredibly effective soundscape which remains based on a mixture of suspicious noises, complaints and howls of distant pain. Proof that Blake is not the only one to taste in the dismal valleys of Arizona.
An approach which will also have the merit of prolonging the pleasure because, like the first part, the game ends relatively quickly (between 8 and 9 hours of play, less if you already know the Die & Retry passages) and does not doesn't really have any replay value. Small touch of permissiveness probably added by the developers who, too, had to struggle: we now have bandages to heal ourselves. As rare as the batteries, these allow you to get by if you ever manage to get rid of an enemy who catches you, by shaking the mouse in all directions. Overall, and except for a few very frustrating passages, the adventure remains excellent and will give rise to nightmares among the most sensitive players. We must not forget, either, the incredibly effective soundscape which remains based on a mixture of suspicious noises, complaints and howls of distant pain. Proof that Blake is not the only one to taste in the dismal valleys of Arizona.
