I don't give negative reviews often, but this was genuinely such a mediocre experience and a extremely disappointing sequel to one of the best horror games that I feel like I have to. I'll be comparing it a lot to the original here. This is kinda a rant, so be cautious
Starting with the good: graphics are awesome on a technical level, primarily lighting. But to be honest, I don't think it looks THAT much better than the original. I think the horror aspect of the game is also equal to or even better than the original (huge maybe). This is mainly because of the theme though. Religious cults and supernatural entities fascinate me much more than the humanoid monsters we saw in Outlast 1.
And now the cons... Again, a lot of these is primarily because I'm comparing it to the original. First, the story is very meh. The plot is generic- investigators become stranded in an area filled with maniacs, the protagonist tries to find his wife. I don't necessarily mind the generic plot, but I feel like nothing really happens. Searching online, there is actually a big story here, but it's all buried behind notes. While it's a cool thing to do, I really don't think the main story should be so barebones just because the notes contain so much info. The game also alternates between present-day and childhood timelines (school sections). Without reading the notes, I found the childhood section pointless, since it felt so disconnected from the main timeline.
Now I wanna talk about the gameplay, because this is my main problem. I felt there was little to do but run in this game (if you were spotted). In the original, closing doors was invaluable and you could also block off doors with these cabinets. Doors are nowhere near as important in this game. All they really do is block the enemy's sight so you can hide, and there's not really much else you do besides run. Related to this, there were many times where I felt like I was out of sight when I hid, but nope. Enemies walked directly to my hiding spot and pulled me out. This game was a lot more frustrating than the first for sure. Then there's the childhood sections. I actually liked them because they tend to be more supernatural, but the way they abruptly change can be so annoying. If the story explained this better, it would probably be fine, but it just felt like I was playing through 2 stories at once and not knowing why. Good time to talk about the levels here too. I think it's mostly fine, definitely a few hiccups here and there like any game, but overall, I really feel like the enclosed space of the first game allowed for much more intense and well-designed areas. It can often be unclear on what you're expected to do (Blake's dialogue sure as hell doesn't help guide you), and some sections are genuinely just you scrambling around and hoping you're going in the right direction. In general, the first game felt more gameplay focused while this one felt more story focused gameplay wise... if that makes any sense. In this game, there are a ton of chase sequences. Just run, and there might be a little thing you interact with that acts like a QTE, then move on. The chases are so overused here that it just got tiring. It's really not the worst thing ever, but such a downgrade in my opinion. Felt like those walking simulator-style horror games, except that those are usually much shorter experiences so they don't overstay their welcome.
There's a lot more I could say, but I think I've said too much already. It's really an ok horror game, so I don't think you'd regret getting it on sale.
TLDR: Bad Outlast game, ok horror game. 3/10 Outlast game, 6/10 horror game
