Outlast is a first-person horror stealth game set in a mental asylum.
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Story & Themes
An investigative reporter, Miles Upshur, has received an anonymous tip about Mount Massive asylum, but once he arrives things are very wrong. Bodies litter the floor, and the asylum is destroyed. Murkoff is a division of a company that seems to have been experimenting on people for profit, but its scientists are now dead and the place has been overrun by “Variants.” The Variants aren’t the only scary guys there, though—one aslyum patient shows Miles a recording of what appears to be an invisible monster—-the Walrider—tearing apart a SWAT team that arrived on the scene shortly before Miles got there. It turns out that the Walrider is a patient in a coma-like state whose consciousness has manifested as a monster due to the experiments of Murkoff, led by a German Nazi scientist.
As the main character, players cannot fight. Instead Miles wields a camera with night vision enabled. It is a constant battle to keep the camera supplied with batteries, as losing power will also take away his only source of light. He must escape Variants and meet objectives such as finding key cards, obtaining entry to locked doors, and gathering notes to find out what has happened.
There some religious themes, primarily due to one of the inmate’s preoccupation with being a priest. Miles encounters several religious messages as he wanders the asylum’s hallways.
Other main themes include medical experimentation, humanity, control, and—by virtue of the game’s mechanic—the nature of powerlessness.
Heads Up!
Violence The game is extremely violent, although much of the violence has been done prior to the main character entering the scene. Blood covers the walls, and scattered corpses litter the asylum. It is realistic and gory. Medical experimentation is insinuated and referenced. The protagonist’s fingers are cut off in one scene.
Scary Imagery Outlast is intensely scary due to its nature as a horror game, but it also plays off the fear of the unknown and fear of powerlessness. It is visceral horror, but also psychological horror. Much of the game involves hiding and running away from enemies, and the protagonist’s heavy, frightened breathing can be heard consistently. A large amount of time is spent in the dark as well, peering through a night vision camera. Jump scares are a mainstay of gameplay.
Sex & Nudity Full-frontal nudity is depicted, and in a violent situation.
Strong Language Strong language is used.
Discrimination Because the game takes place in a mental health institution, many of the bad guys are mentally ill people. They have been experimented on and morphed from their original forms into monstrous ones, but the fact remains that these are very negative depictions of an already marginalized and feared group of people.
Conversation Starters
We would strongly advise discussing how a horror game like Outlast impacts players in terms of fear and nightmares. This game is meant to provoke anxiety (in adults), and some players might respond negatively to the intense adrenaline rush it inspires. That being said, here are some other conversation starters:
- Do you think this portrayal of mental health is fair or realistic, especially given that people who suffer from mental illness are more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violence?
- Do you know anyone who suffers from mental health problems, even if they aren’t institutionalized?
- Why do you think mental health patients make good “monsters” in horror games or movies? Is there something about it that is innately scary to people, or is it just the fear of the unknown?
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