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The next 'Outlast' game is a Cold War co-op fight for survival
'The Outlast Trials' shakes up the series' formula by focusing on co-op survival.
'Outlast 2' will seriously creep you out this April
The follow-up to hit survival-horror game Outlast is coming to PC, Xbox One and Playstation 4 on April 25. Outlast 2 will attempt to raise the creep factor with more genre-defining "WTF" moments than were possible in the first game, due to budgetary restrictions.
'Outlast 2' is all about documenting your own mental breakdown
Philippe Morin wants to break your brain. As a creator of the grotesque, critically acclaimed horror series Outlast, he delights in dissecting the psychology of terror and dreaming up new nightmares for video game fans. Look at Outlast 2. Morin's latest project -- due out for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 this spring -- promises to play with the idea of isolation in unexpected ways. The game throws players in the middle of the sprawling Northern Arizona desert, but the setting isn't designed to generate the feeling of freedom. If Morin gets his way, this vast environment will make players feel claustrophobic, crushed by all the open space and consumed by fear of the horrors it might be hiding. "This time we could afford to pursue a little more thoroughly the psychological layer," Morin says. "Internally what we've been saying is, the first Outlast was meant to take away your physical integrity, and the second Outlast will take your mental integrity."
Revisit 'Burnout: Paradise' for free on Xbox next month
Xbox's Games With Gold subscription service has come a long way. At the start of the generation, Games With Gold offered very few AAA titles, its game lineups paling in comparison to Sony's PlayStation Plus counterpart. Over the last couple of years however, Microsoft's service has seen a very noticeable rise in quality.
Prepare for terror with the 'Outlast 2' demo
With Halloween fast approaching, it's a good time to build out your collection of spooky games. Outlast, a first-person thriller set in a psychiatric hospital, was a huge hit in 2014, and now developer Red Barrels is working on a sequel. To pique your curiosity, it's offering a free demo on Xbox One, PS4 and Steam. I can't vouch for its scariness, but my colleague Jess Conditt was appropriately terrified, jumping and shrieking at E3 last June. It follows two journalists, Blake and Lynn Langermann, as they investigate a murder deep in the Arizona desert. Scary stuff. The teaser will be available until November 1st. If you're still pining for some Outland lore, there's also a comic book series called The Murkoff Account you can check out -- two of five issues have been released so far, explaining some of the events between the first and second games.
'Outlast 2' drops you in a desert for a fresh batch of nightmares
The Outlast 2 demo made me jump and shriek in the middle of the E3 show floor, in Microsoft's rowdy Xbox space where I was surrounded by swashbuckling pirates, roaring racing games and joyous fans. With my clammy fingers gripping an Xbox One controller, headphones hugging my ears, Outlast 2 sucked me in. Its setting, a pitch-black northern Arizona desert, was impressively immersive -- not to mention accurate to the actual Supai region that inspired it. I should know: I've backpacked through the area. The Outlast 2 demo is horrifying, wonderful, gruesome and downright marvelous -- in a bone-chilling kind of way.
Terror returns in 'Outlast 2,' confirmed for fall 2016
Outlast was one of the most horrifying games of 2013 -- and perhaps of all time. Our review called it a "perfect nightmare" of gore, mental strain and tense sound design, and the Whistleblower DLC, which followed in 2014, was similarly heart-pounding. Just two days before Halloween 2015, independent studio Red Barrels has unveiled Outlast 2, due next fall for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Mac. Details are scarce, but we know that this sequel will be a brand-new beast. "The game will be a survival-horror experience and it will take place in the same universe as Outlast, but it will have different characters and a different setting," Red Barrels co-founder Philippe Morin outlined in October 2014. A brief teaser trailer released today suggests Outlast 2 will continue the franchise's theme of haunting religious imagery.
Survival horror sequel Outlast 2 in development
Independent developer Red Barrels delivers terrifying news just in time for Halloween, announcing that it is developing a sequel to its first-person survival horror game Outlast. "After shipping the [Xbox One] version of Outlast, we took some time to analyze our situation and we quickly realized we had at least another horror game in us," Red Barrels co-founder Philippe Morin told horror-themed news site Bloody Disgusting. "So, yes, we are working on Outlast 2." Morin notes that Outlast 2 will shift its setting and inflict the series' trademark cruelty on a new cast of characters. "The game will be a survival horror experience and it will take place in the same universe as Outlast, but it will have different characters and a different setting," he said. "We might go back to Mount Massive Asylum one day, but for now we have new ideas and themes we'd like to explore and we think we're cooking up something special. "We're still a small indie studio (12 people), so we'll need a little bit of time to ship our next game, but hopefully it will be worth it." Outlast premiered for PC platforms in 2013, and later hit the PlayStation 4 as a free download for PlayStation Plus subscribers. A release date and target platforms for Outlast 2 were not announced. [Image: Red Barrels]
Deals with Gold: Outlast, Rayman Legends, Dragon Age
This week's Deals with Gold on Xbox Live discounts three games and one add-on for Xbox One users. Players can download Rayman Legends at 40 percent off, Outlast for 25 percent off and Worms Battlegrounds at 40 percent off. Additionally, the Battlefield 4 Support Shortcut Kit is also 33 percent off this week for both Xbox One and Xbox 360 versions of the game. Xbox 360 players can save money on RPGs this week as well, with Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2 both 75 percent off. The sequel's Mark of the Assassin and The Exiled Prince DLC packs are both half-off, just in time for Dragon Age: Inquisition's launch on November 18. Lastly, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is 67 percent off and its Teeth of Naros and The Legend of Dead Kel add-ons are also half-off. This week's deals are good through Monday, October 20 for Xbox Live Gold subscribers. [Image: Ubisoft]
Have you been downloading your free PS Plus games?
Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida recently discussed the continued dissonance between the audience's perception and reality of independent games and AAA titles. In particular, he mentioned the download rates of games available for free to PlayStation Plus members. "I hear complaints [about the lack of AAA games]. I do realize that some people are only interested in big-budget AAA games. I don't really understand those people. I don't know if they've tried some of the indie games and decided they're not interested," said Yoshida to GI.biz.
Xbox One seeks asylum, Outlast available now with DLC
Xbox One players can book some time at the Mount Massive Asylum, now that Outlast has made the jump from PS4 and PC to the Microsoft system. Red Barrels' mentally ill horror is $20/£16 on the Xbox One store, while its Whistleblower DLC is also available for $9/£7.19. As our review explains, Outlast's DLC picks up where the main game left off, i.e. with your heartbeat pounding. "Everything in Whistleblower is turned up to 11," Joystiq's Jess Conditt screamed as she sprinted down the hallway, "the blood, the twisting layout of the building, the number of bodies hanging from the rafters, the nudity and the sexual exploits of the patients of Mount Massive Asylum." If you yet to complete the game, you really should. After all, nice guys finish Outlast*. [Image: Microsoft] *we regret nothing
Joystiq Weekly: Nintendo's future, Outlast DLC review, Mother's Day and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. Most of us have joked that Nintendo revealing a Pokemon MMO would shut down the world due to how perfectly the series would fit in the genre. That's thankfully still a joke and the economy is safe for now, but Nintendo's talk of further exploring NFC toys presents an equally worrisome possibility: what if they make a Skylanders-style Pokemon game that's more successful than Pokemon Rumble? They'd have to start with a limited portion of the Pokedex at first, sure. But what if the series achieved enough financial success to support 719 different Pokemon-shaped hunks of plastic? It'd be like the trading card boom all over again, except accumulated masses of figurines wouldn't be something we could hide away in a binder. No, they'd claim boxes of space, slowly consuming our garages until we finally discarded the full box of Goldeens that we know we'll never be able to trick someone into trading for. And if those Goldeens aren't properly recycled, they'll just accumulate into an oceanic clump, a mass with lifeless eyes staring down at the sea floor, at a life it will never truly know. Pretty bleak future, huh? Don't worry, there's so much to help block out these worrisome thoughts after the break. We've got financial news from Nintendo, Activision and EA, reviews for Sportsfriends and Outlast's "Whistleblower" DLC, and a feature where the Joystiq Staff's mothers share their perspective on our childhood gaming habits and our current professions. Dive in after the break - just mind the floating graveyard of Goldeens.
Play It On A Mac: Outlast
In this weekly series I'll show you how to get your favorite Windows-exclusive PC games running on OS X. For more information on the programs used, check out the Play It On A Mac explainer. For suggestions and/or questions about any game, feel free to contact me on Twitter. Outlast is one of the scariest games I've ever played. It's a complete horror show from start to finish, and you rarely get a chance to stop and relax. Unfortunately for Mac gamers, Outlast hasn't made it to OS X in the time since its September 2013 debut on Steam, and with the newly-released "Whistleblower" add-on once again giving gamers a good scare, it's time for you to give it a go on your Mac. Here's how. CrossOver Outlast has a status of "Untested" on the official CrossOver compatibility list, so I gave it a spin myself. I managed to get it installed successfully under a generic bottle, but the game still refused to start up successfully. I'm guessing this is one of those games that will need some special attention and custom tweaks to be done in order to get it running in CrossOver, and unfortunately I'm not well-versed enough to make that happen. Parallels As usual, the install went fine with Parallels. After starting up the game using some modest Parallels settings it was clear that this game would require a little bit more "oomph" to produce a playable result. I changed things a bit and got it running well at about 15 to 20fps on "Very Low" settings. Definitely not ideal, but it is playable. Parallels 9 settings: CPUs: 6 (out of 8) Memory: 12GB (out of 16GB) Video memory: 1GB Performance: Faster Virtual Machine Power: Better Performance Boot Camp Wow, what a difference! The Boot Camp install of Outlast plays so much better than in a virtual machine, it's quite remarkable. Some games don't benefit that much from the switch between the virtual machine and a proper Boot Camp install, but this one definitely does. I was able to get 25 to 30fps on medium/high settings with little trouble. I'd advise turn off motion blur in the game's settings menu, and also enabling vertical sync, as the game has some pretty horrible screen tearing issues without it. Aside from that, it plays great in Boot Camp. Verdict If you're going to play this one on your Mac -- and you definitely should, because it's a fantastic game -- Boot Camp is definitely the best bet. Depending on your machine specs, you might find a Parallels version to be fine, but Outlast greatly benefits from the Boot Camp option.
Outlast 'Whistleblower' review: Dismemberment plan
This is a review for Outlast's "Whistleblower" DLC, it contains spoilers for the main campaign and DLC. As the developer of a horror game, where do you go after brutally chopping off your main character's appendages? After chasing your protagonist down hallways dripping with blood and locking him up with hordes of mutilated, homicidal maniacs, what's your next step? Obviously, the only logical move is forced gender reassignment surgery performed by a man in a tuxedo. Clearly, you need a man masturbating over a pile of mutilated corpses. Of course, someone must chase the protagonist down with a buzzing bonesaw. Obviously. The Groom – he's the one with a violent obsession for turning a male patient into his loving wife – isn't even the weirdest part of Outlast's "Whistleblower" DLC. Everything in Whistleblower is turned up to 11 – the blood, the twisting layout of the building, the number of bodies hanging from the rafters, the nudity and the sexual exploits of the patients of Mount Massive Asylum.
Soup's on: Outlast's Whistleblower DLC cooks up a bloody trailer
It may look like a damning indictment of socialized health care - not to mention food preparation standards - but the above footage is actually the launch trailer for Whistleblower, a DLC expansion slated to reach survival horror hit Outlast on May 6. Though Whistleblower offers players a first-hand look at the events leading up to the horror experienced in Outlast, it's not quite a prequel. According to developer Red Barrels, Whistleblower sets the stage for Outlast, then adds a wholly new chapter to the end of the story. The key thing to know though, is that Whistleblower still takes place within the Mount Massive Asylum, so expect the same kind of eerie, gory scares that made Outlast a hit. On debut, Whistleblower will be available at a price of $9 from both the PlayStation Network Store and Steam. More information is available on the developer's website.
Outlast's Whistleblower DLC creeps into next month
The new Whistleblower DLC for Outlast slipped from April to May, but don't think you'll be safe for too long. The PC and PS4 asylum horror admits its first piece of additional content on May 6, although PS4 users in Europe get an extra day of sanctuary until May 7. The unfortunate soul you play in Whisteblower is Waylon Park, a software engineer who's contracted to work at the Mount Massive Asylum prior to the events of the game. After seeing what unscrupulous things the staff's getting up to, Park feels compelled to expose the establishment to the press. If you've played Outlast, you of course know that his plan went perfectly and everybody lived happily ever after. Especially this (probably NSFW) guy. [Image: Red Barrels]
Outlast reopens its gates with Whistleblower DLC in April
Outlast receives its first DLC in April both on Windows PC and PS4, obliterating any hope that you'd escaped the Mount Massive Asylum for good. The first-person survival horror features reporter Miles Upshur investigating the creepy hospital, and the "Whistleblower" DLC details the events that led him to the asylum's foreboding gates. Whistleblower stars Waylon Park, a software engineer working for the Murkoff Corporation, which owns and runs Mount Massive. After spending two weeks at the asylum, Park felt he had to email Upshur and other journalists to spill the beans on the secret horrors of the asylum - probably not the best idea from a self-preservation point-of-view, but there we are. Whistleblower doesn't just chronicle these events, though, with developer Red Barrels noting "it will actually stretch past the events of the first game to show the final chapter in Mount Massive Asylum's story." The above image is from the main game rather than the DLC, but we'll let you decide for yourself if you want to see the gruesome screenshot Red Barrels published alongside this week's news. Really, who drinks soda just before dinner? Revolting. [Image: Red Barrels]
Joystiq Streams: How to properly Outlast on PlayStation 4 [It's over!]
Here's how you're supposed to approach dilapidated, dark, abandoned insane asylums:You don't go in them. Why would you go in there? Forget any monsters that might be lurking, you can't see anything! There might be old folding beds and stuff on the floor. Twisting an ankle is a real threat. Anthony John Agnello, Joystiq Community Manager, doesn't care about those dangers! He'll be playing the PS4 version of Outlast on Joystiq Streams today at 4PM EST on the Joystiq Twitch channel. Anthony has never played Outlast a day in his life, knows nothing about it beyond the basic premise, and plans to play it as though he has no survival instincts at all. Richard Mitchell, Joystiq's Reviews Content Director, will be hanging in the chat, relaying your questions and mockery to Anthony with aplomb. Tune back in right here at 4PM EST to watch or go to Twitch to watch and chat! [Image: Red Barrels]
PSN Tuesday: Outlast on PS4, pre-order Dark Souls 2, South Park
Outlast is out on PS4 in today's PSN update, alongside PS3 games Dustforce, Castlestorm Complete Edition, Adam's Venture Chronicles, Truck Racer and Furmins + Stardrone Extreme Bundle. Outlast, you'll remember (unless you blocked the memory to save your psyche), is the horror game from Red Barrels that places players inside a corrupt insane asylum with the broader task of discovering why everyone there is so grossly homicidal. It's $20 on PSN, but free for Plus members. A bevy of PS3 pre-orders are live now as well: Dark Souls 2, South Park: The Stick of Truth, Tales of Symphonia Chronicles and Call of Duty: Ghosts' first DLC pack, Onslaught. That last one is pre-order-able for PS4 as well. Vita gets Dustforce, King Oddball and Surge Deluxe today. See the full lineup on the PlayStation Blog. [Image: Red Barrels]
PS Plus: Outlast on PS4, Metro: Last Light on PS3 this week
Outlast, a PlayStation 4 survival-horror game set in a psychiatric asylum, will be available free to PlayStation Plus subscribers starting tomorrow. The service also has a prominent freebie for the PlayStation 3 with Metro: Last Light, the atmospheric first-person shooter based on the post-apocalyptic Metro series from Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky. A PlayStation Blog post also reminds us of a discount for Dustforce, down to $8 tomorrow, and the imminent end of free downloads for the PS3's remastered Shadow of the Colossus. [Image: Red Barrel]
