Jimquisition: Jimquisition Awards 2013 - Horror of Outlast

Evonisia

Your sinner, in secret
Jun 24, 2013
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I've heard good things about Outlast, but didn't expect it to show up. Well done, small little horror game, well done.
 

Goliath100

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Sep 29, 2009
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Interesting choice...Not really, 5 out of 7 Survival Horror games from indies is normal. May be higher, haven't played it. Do it have a intentional player arc?
 

Casual Shinji

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Not that I've played Outlast or Amnesia, but these new horror games seem to be just anonymous first-person guy wandering around.
I miss the character driven horror games.
 

Jimothy Sterling

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Apr 18, 2011
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Casual Shinji said:
Not that I've played Outlast or Amnesia, but these new horror games seem to be just anonymous first-person guy wandering around.
I miss the character driven horror games.
The characters in Amnesia are named and have dialog. Not anonymous at all.
 

Silentpony_v1legacy

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Jun 5, 2013
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I would have actually put Machine for Pigs instead of Outlast. I found the horror to be a little more cerebral. Outlast was ten kinds of scary, but to me it felt like the same jump-scare every time. I mean with Amnesia the horror subtly changes from of the pigs, to what are the pigs, to where are your kids, to what does the machine do, to what did YOU do, etc...
But for Outlast it always was the dude dejur chases you through increasingly derelict rooms. Maybe its me, but seen one blood filled surgery room, seen them all. Or seen one decidedly empty wheelchair underneath a flickering light, again, seen them all.
Ultimately, Outlast ran out of steam for me...
 

Casual Shinji

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Jimothy Sterling said:
Casual Shinji said:
Not that I've played Outlast or Amnesia, but these new horror games seem to be just anonymous first-person guy wandering around.
I miss the character driven horror games.
The characters in Amnesia are named and have dialog. Not anonymous at all.
Scrumpmonkey said:
These games are excellent, you shouldn't let pining for yesteryear put you off.

I guess you could call these more 'atmosphere driven horror games'. The industry hasn't been doing great story driven 'horror' games for a while. The genre has kind of splintered. I guess you could call the Walking Dead a very story driven horror game but it is more adventure.
As I said I haven't played them, and Outlast actually looks really good. I heard it was going to be available on PS4, so I'll definately check that out.

I guess it's just the old Silent Hill fan in me talking. Where the horror wasn't just used to scare you, but to reveal whatever skeletons the protagonist might have hidden, and to get into their head. It helped bring more weight to the fear I think.
 

Something Amyss

Aswyng and Amyss
Dec 3, 2008
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Jump scares CAN be fun, so I would partially agree. However, they can also be overused, tedious, and therefore boring.

Not having played outlast, I can't speak to which way they went, but I do tend to believe Jim. Why? Because Jim told me to.
 

Pinkamena

Stuck in a vortex of sexy horses
Jun 27, 2011
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Seems like an interesting game. I believe I bought it during the last sale.
 

chiggerwood

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May 10, 2009
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Holy hell do I disagree with Jim on this one. I played Outlast and found it to be really, really, really boring, except for the parts where I was laughing or just mildly amused. Everything was so over the top that it seemed more like parody than anything else (especially the overly polite pair of rapist), the scares were so predictable and mechanical I felt as if I were to look behind the characters I would see the spring that they were hooked up to, the camera was annoying, batteries were everywhere so I was never in danger of running out, and the main character is an idiot who broke into an insane asylum, so I couldn't have any less sympathy for him if I tried. OH! And the name of the nutty house was "Mount Massive Asylum" not even D horror movies have names THAT bad.
 

Therumancer

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Nov 28, 2007
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Casual Shinji said:
Not that I've played Outlast or Amnesia, but these new horror games seem to be just anonymous first-person guy wandering around.
I miss the character driven horror games.
To be fair character driven horror games tend to miss the point by pretty much telling you "the character is afraid of this" as a way of pulling things out of your control and forcing certain reactions artificially. The anonymous, silent, protagonist does a better job of putting the player into the story, at least in this genere. Not to mention he simple fact that on an indie level budget becomes an issue, and writing for the protagonist and voicing them (which is expected nowadays) can be a huge expense, especially since the protagonist is always there and would be expected to react to everything.

That said Outlast *IS* a good choice, I think it wound up delivering better than either Amnesia II or Huntsman: The Orphanage which were the other two games of the genere I had been watching and purchased.

I personally am awaiting for someone to look back on "Legacy: Realm of Terror" which was a horror Adventure/RPG hybrid from many years ago, give it some credit for what it did, and start making more games similar to that. "Realms Of The Haunting" is another overlooked game that combined RPG elements with horror and wound up being rather solid and innovative, especially for it's day.
 

Casual Shinji

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Scrumpmonkey said:
No you very obviously haven't played either Amnesia game have you. These are not just cheap scare games, that is the exact thing the games actually do. Amnesia is predicated on trying to find out what the NAMED protagonist did to make them want to erase their memory, the basis of the game is getting inside his head. I'm not sure why you're arguing this point, you're basically saying "I have no idea what I'm talking about, no experience or knowledge of the product, but I'm going to make a public judgement anyway"
Woah, woah, I'm not attacking anyone here! I'm just responding to what I've seen from both games. If I'm wrong about that, then I'm wrong. I'm not in anyway declaring that they both suck or whatever.
 

Big_Isaac

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May 24, 2012
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You know, maybe I would have been more surprised by your pick... if you didn't put the name in the title of the video. Just saying.
Can't you leave the names out of the video titles until, say, friday or saturday and then put them in afterwards?
 

Scorpid

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Jul 24, 2011
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Anyone that says that outlast is just jump scares is dumb. The creepiest moments were when you saw patients you didn't know if they were one of those 90% of harmless fellas or that 10% that was trying to eat your face. So when you edged up to them even with chance on your side, you still held your breath. And then there was the dude in the strafe jacket that had nothing against you, he just wanted to follow you.... everywhere you went.
 

Casual Shinji

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Therumancer said:
To be fair character driven horror games tend to miss the point by pretty much telling you "the character is afraid of this" as a way of pulling things out of your control and forcing certain reactions artificially. The anonymous, silent, protagonist does a better job of putting the player into the story, at least in this genere. Not to mention he simple fact that on an indie level budget becomes an issue, and writing for the protagonist and voicing them (which is expected nowadays) can be a huge expense, especially since the protagonist is always there and would be expected to react to everything.
Again, coming at this from a Silent Hill perspective, it's not about producing scares by showing the protagonist be scared. You could say that a running gag with the SH series is that the protagonists never seem to be scared, despite running around through Hell. Acting surprisingly calm and casual even after everything they've witnessed.

Having a (well) characterized protagonist can add to the disturbance. For example, the fact that you're playing a character who doesn't seem to be afraid of the horrors around him can already be really creepy.

I regards to indie developers, I don't think I'd even want a Triple-A horror game anymore at this point. Triple-A has has more or less become all about showing off, and that's a death sentence for horror. No better way to kill the fear than to have an Achievement/Trophy flash up with the accompanying ping.
 

Jimothy Sterling

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Apr 18, 2011
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I'm much waiting for the ps4 release of this.. i bought it when it came out.. but I really just want to couch play it.. not that I couldn't couch play it on the pc...
But I guess I wanted to support this sorts of games coming to the ps4 ... so that... good pick.. I also maybe would have gone with machine for pigs... but this one was probably more effective as a horror game.

Erm.. yeah that!
 

Jimothy Sterling

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Big_Isaac said:
You know, maybe I would have been more surprised by your pick... if you didn't put the name in the title of the video. Just saying.
Can't you leave the names out of the video titles until, say, friday or saturday and then put them in afterwards?
It wasn't my call. I'm looking into it now.