The next game that I wanted to look at was Outlast.This is a first-person survival horror game set in what appears to be at first glance a run down asylum, with barely anyone in it or anyone in charge. The main character, Miles, who you play as, is a freelance journalist wanting to find out about the asylum after he receives information from someone we only know as 'The Whistleblower'. The story then follows Miles as he goes around the asylum, at first with confidence until he finds that all of the staff are dead and the members of the asylum are free to walk around the environment. Along the way he meets many people who wants to tear him apart along with others who tell him to first get out as soon as possible, but then one who tells him he must stay and fight.
The overall setting for this game is immensely creepy and horrifying, but stunningly beautiful at the same time in terms of its design. The house in which the game it set has many different locations and offers true exploration, as long as you don't mind running into some of the inmates on the way. The fact that you can explore everywhere gives you the sense of freedom but combining this with the location makes it feel claustrophobic and small as you make your way down tight corridors and squeeze your way past obstacles and through vents. It has the unusual talent of making this massive house seem so small, as if there is nowhere to run to and nowhere to hide.
The reason that I wanted to look at this game so badly is because it is one of the best horror games that I have seen that is set in such an amazing location. The environment itself has been wonderfully designed taking every aspect of a mental asylum into context and ensuring that each room is designed with every detail resulting in perfection. The atmosphere of the whole game is spooky to say the least and every turn you make in the game brings you somewhere new in the house, somewhere that could have a inmate standing against a wall. He might ignore you, or he might wait till you've walked past and then chase you, you never know when something is going to happen.
This game is probably the best survival horror game that I could have looked at. It tells a story of why you are there in the first place and also follows what you have to do to stay alive. The environment is what makes this game though and the storytelling that it produces. We find things written on walls, hidden clues to the story found in rooms you wouldn't even think of looking in, and all the while you have to be on your toes as inmates prowl the asylum looking for you. It is certainly a fantastic game that I would recommend to the braver people out there looking for something to keep them on edge but at the same time want an engaging storyline with an environment that has been expertly designed to bring fear to everyone who enters.
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