Crouching in the dark with night vision enabled paints the world in the now signature green hue, which is made creepier when stalking zealots and heretics both seek you out with glowing eyes. Some may dispel the effectiveness of "jump scares" but, like before, Outlast 2 pairs jump scares with tension in a way perhaps no other game does as well. Over the course of eight gameplay hours, you'll have to participate in a brutally violent and gory bout of hide-and-seek where you have no means of defending yourself. More than that, it leaves no room for a favorable argument for religion because it says the most accurate interpretations leave no room for anything but brutality.Īs much as the game is not for the happily religious, it is even less suitable for the faint of heart. Along with an intriguing side-story that drips out via flashbacks, the overarching narrative seems to be an indictment on those who commit atrocities in the name of religiosity. They haven't fallen dangerously far from the word of God, they're following it to each and every word. Knoth and his believers happily destroy nonbelievers and moderates indiscriminately, as demanded by their scripture.
It's in these story beats, where Blake is constantly coming up against zealots who maim, murder, rape, and disembowel in the name of their deity, where Outlast 2 speaks loudly and perhaps controversially.
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Examining how Knoth's word is both incongruous with our contemporary values and largely a rewrite of the Old Testament with much of the same iconography and outcomes (but could be any holy book, for that matter), Red Barrels' full and biting commentary comes into view. That's the obvious reading, but just below that basic interpretation is the fact that the Gospel of Knoth hardly reads any different than real life religious texts that are read and beloved by billions globally. On the surface, Temple Gate is a grotesquely violent cult with morals all out of alignment with our modern society. It takes only a moment before you and your wife are separated amid a backwoods clan of religious zealots praising both God and Father Knoth, the snake-tongued leader of their cult, Temple Gate. Characters and environments alike look properly modern, especially with regards to the game's lighting techniques, which is crucial. Right away it's noticable that the success of the original game and the years since it released have been kind to Red Barrels Studio, as Outlast 2 looks much better than its predecessor. The game opens in a helicopter where the investigative power couple is en route to look into the disappearance and subsequent killing of a pregnant Jane Doe in the isolated Arizona desert. Players claim the role of Blake Langermann, who is a cameraman for his journalist wife, Lynn.
#Outlast 2 game review series#
Outlast 2 is another title in the recently popular first-person horror genre, which this series helped popularize years ago with its debut. What then does a fundamentalist look like in the modern world, one who adheres even to the chapters that condone things like human sacrifice and rape? Welcome to Outlast 2's Temple Gate, where it is not the gospel that must be adapted to a modern audience but rather the congregation that reverts to an ancient time of faith-based brutality. It's all-or-nothing in the eyes of the many gods who are alleged to have authored the many texts. They disregard moderates the same way they do heretics or nonbelievers. These books demand a wholehearted approach. The intention to consume religion in moderation seems to resolve some of these issues and it's why we see a lot of modern people skirting some of the inconvenient or disagreeable parts of their holy books, but to do so is actually to disobey the books they're trying to cherrypick for its best ideas. Even if you don't find faith in the absence of evidence - and in spite of counter evidence - to be an alarming view to hold, a fundamentalist's interpretation of any allegedly god-sent scripture is often littered with ideas that are at best awkwardly antiquated and at worst downright illegal in a modern world. Outlast 2 Outlast Red Barrels Xbox Game Pass Xbox Cloud Gaming Game review Review Stealth Mark Delaney Religion is scary.