Outlast 2 developer Red Barrels released a demo for their upcoming horror game yesterday in Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC. I sat down for a late night playthrough to see if the demo could bring the scares. It does.
The demo is only downloadable up until November 1st and is a pretty great way to kick off the spooktastic month of October. Taking control of cameraman Blake Langermann, you’re out to solve a mysterious murder in Arizona. You’ll explore farm full of very angry, scary dudes attempting to discover the truth.
The demo is pretty short but doesn’t ease up on the horror one bit. Learning lessons from P.T. and Layers of Fear, the demo mixes raw jump scares with some shifting architecture to create an added layer of paranoia.
The original Outlast’s focus on spatial exploration isn’t really here; there’s no extended cat and mouse stealth sequences like in the original game. Instead, the brisk pace leads you from moment to moment, culminating in a fantastic chase sequence through a cornfield.
With the sequel delayed until 2017, this is an excellent chance to get a sense for how the game is progressing. Turn off the lights, put on some headphones, and dive in. Maybe you’ll prove a bit braver than I was!