A few seconds after starting down the path, beams of light appeared behind me from the area I had just vacated.

It occurred when my path forced me to travel through a cornfield. One sequence that sticks out to me came early on in the game. So you have to choose your moments and decide when you can see just enough on your own to make it through an area of near darkness enabling you to conserve your cameraвЂ™s energy for the sequences you know will be in total darkness. This in and of itself means that you cannot use it all the time. ItвЂ™s only useful as long as you are able to find batteries to power it. Your only resource is your video camera, which you use in night vision to make your way around in the dark. YouвЂ™re trying your hardest to open doors slowly so as not to make them creak in an otherwise silent environment. Suspense between enemy encounters is built up so well because, by the time you get used to the mechanics and play style of the game, you are proceeding methodically slow. It took me so long to play through the campaign only because things would get so tense. And these feelings, the horror, terror, and moments of sheer panic, are all palpable. Helpless to do anything but watch in horror, hide in terror, sneak around with the constant feeling of needing to wet yourself, or run away in blind panic. This is where Outlast diverges from anything else IвЂ™ve played. Heck, you donвЂ™t even get a wrench! If you encounter an enemy the only choice you have is this one: Do you run and hide? Or do you die? The difference between this game though and any other horror-genre one? YouвЂ™re missing your shotgun, youвЂ™re missing your 9mm, youвЂ™re missing your flamethrower.

If you want to finish the game you must eventually steel your courage and move forward. Do you stay hidden in a rusty barrel for several minutes or push on towards the gloom and total darkness of a creepy wooded area? The choice is just an illusion. The difference between Outlast 2 and other horror genre game is that it takes away any sense of control this is something of an irony in a game where youвЂ™re physically in control of your characterвЂ™s actions. It definitely helps with the immersion factor and I highly recommend it for the complete Outlast 2 experience, but thereвЂ™s more to it than that. Well, thereвЂ™s something to be said for playing completely in the dark with headphones on.

Why did I put myself through this? I can handle horror films, both of the jump-scare and of the horror-porn variety, so why is it that this game had my stomach in knots and my hands trembling. I hate it for the fact that it compelled me to complete it in spite of it being a wholly uncomfortable and oft-times frightening experience.

Outlast 2 xbox one