Hi duders. Just wondering why I haven't heard anything from either giant bomb crew? Have they mentioned it? No quick look? Is there something I'm missing?

There's a 2nd Outlast?

Patrick doesn't live here anymore.

I'm sure they'll come around to doing a QL eventually. The staff usually doesn't do launch day Quick Looks unless one of them has a personal interest in it. None of them seem very big into horror games, but this would get more talk from the crew if Patrick Klepek was still with them.

Every time I see "Outlast" I think "Outland". That game was awesome, and here I thought a sequel had sprung out of nowhere.

@justin258 said:

Yep. Every time. Great platformer!

No one cares about horror games.

Ever since they canned Dead Space there haven't been any good ones.

EDIT: Well actually despite never having finished it, I did think Evil Within was doing some cool stuff. It just happened to be doing a lot of less cool stuff at the same time. I'll have to finish that some day.

Yeah, there was only a solo Quick Look for the original game, so it didn't exactly set the world on fire for the GB crew. Maybe if this gets plenty of praise, they'll try and do a QL this week.

I think of the voxel-based adventure game from 1999 called "Outcast". But there was a sequel already that got cancelled. Bummer.

I keep thinking "Outrun"

I don't listen to the bombcast a lot, but from what I did see/hear, I don't remember any of them other than perhaps Patrick talking about Outlast. There aren't that many threads on it and I was going to make one yesterday about it seeing who is interested in it; had it written up before I decided to just not make one. I'm interested even though aside from the demo they showed, I haven't really looked into the game until yesterday where I read what the story was about, and when the game comes out. It comes out soon! I just now read that it does take place in the same universe as the first. Curious to know how that it. The fact that a sect is an enemy in this game intrigues me; evil cults in fiction are pretty good bad guys to me. I've said it before, but if someone took the cult from Eyes Wide Shut or The Wicker Man and made them more threatening and present, that'd make for a fascinating experience.

Edit - ... It's out tomorrow. I thought it was next month! Wow, don't know where my mind was when I saw the release date just yesterday.

Not surprising. Very little marketing for it. I didn't know there was a second Outlast even in development until a week or two ago.

@humanity: Resident Evil 7 is the best horror game since dead space 2

Because the Gb crew aren't super enthusiastic about horror games in general. I really miss Spookin with Scoops...

Outlast 2 looks great btw.

Dead Space was never horror, it was always just an excellent action game. You're too powerful, mobile and capable to even consider anything in that game a threat.

The Evil Within was certainly horrific, I'll say that much.

I just think of Outkast. The hit hip hop duo.

There's an Outlast 2? Neat.

I thought the demo was cool, not sure i'd pay money for it though. The first one was very light on mechanics and relyed a bit too much on jump scares and I dont see that changing in 2.

Didn't realize until today that the game came out tomorrow...this year is too crazy.

Can't wait for the game though

I remember liking the first one, but the demo for the second kind of just made me feel gross.

@terminallychill: my understanding is that the main game will leave you with a similar feeling. I want to say one of the reviews out mentioned the feeling of needing to take a shower.

@a_moore714: Well, thanks for the heads up hahaha. I'm not jumping on it but I'm not opposed to playing it eventually.

@justin258: I forgot about that game. Well, I'm adding that to my retro collection list now.

Outlast is better than Resident Evil 7 in the spoopy department. That being said noone on the crew really plays these games and the first one wouldn't have gotten talked about at all if Patrick wasn't here at the time.

@the_nubster: Dead Space 2 was absolutely horror. The other ones I can see an argument against, but the original had amazing pacing and wasn't like an action game.

I guess this series outlasted him.

Pun points?

I was always of the understanding that GB aren't really into horror games, most of the team anyway. I know Jeff certainly isn't.

Kind of disappointing that it doesn't seem to be getting much attention. I'm only an hour in, but it seems like they've expanded a lot about the first game. Some of the new mechanics like the microphone and the ability to review your footage are cool additions.

-groans-

@humanity: Dead Space 1 always seemed the closest to horror for me. Dead Space 2 seemed afraid to let the player go without experiencing something, whether that was a combat arena or a setpiece. Dead Space 1 was happy to let the creaks and moans of the Ishimura fill time. Still, though, Isaac's mobility and the stopping power if the default weapon sucked out any fear. I actively enjoyed the combat encounters in those games; a weird criticism for a video game but one that applies to horror titles specifically.

Dead Space was a fantastic horror game, there was something about that game that really stood out. The silence of space and the sound effects made it very creepy.

@the_nubster: I don't know, I think it might apply more to survival-horror, although I think it most definitely qualifies in that category, but horror in general is more about the ambient atmosphere than anything else. I always applauded Dead Space for being able to very successfully toe the line between tense, atmospheric moments filled with dread, and great action sequences and gamesplay without one having to compromise the other.

@humanity: Alien: Isolation?

Outlast actively fell into the disgusting take on mental illness from archaic horror's past. I'm quite happy how little fanfare the sequel is getting even if they've replaced those elements with faith and sexual desires instead. (Outlast 1 made me feel personally ridiculed in its representation of mental health and the medical treatment of it - I'm not going to easily forgive and forget after such a feeling).

I don't think they've really covered horror games much in a while.

Hate to echo "because Patrick is gone" but it's kinda true that some genres get coverage because they're loved by a staffer. I doubt GB gets much coverage of flight sims or non-Forza racing games without Drew.

I hope the new hire is into horror. Probably asking for too much with that but there it is.

Even money the YouTube screecher set got review copies pretty early. Maybe earlier than mainstream press.

@doomguy2: Alien: Isolation is reaaal good. A little too long, but real good nonetheless. The entire build-up towards the ending is also just terrific.

As for Outlast 2. I hear it's Outlast 1, but with a genuinely interesting, well-made and varied setting. That was just about my only complaint against the first game, so sounds like Imma' probably end up lovin' this one, too. Apparently the story is actually half-way decent in this one? Bit tough to take their ward on that one as I thought the story was an absolute train-wreck in the original game, but that they took the DLC in an interesting direction if nothing else. Salvaged that to some degree.

Whatever it turns out to be, mind you, it ain't gonna' be no SOMA, though. Now there's horror writing done.. Well, bordering on perfectly.

Speaking of..

@humanity: Dead Space 1 is probably on my top 5 games of all time, creeping closer to top 3 as the years go by. That said, if you haven't yet had the pleasure, SOMA is so fucking good. And I'm real picky when it comes to my horror games/movies. That thing is amazing, and memorable in the same way The Thing is, in that it leaves with this filling and lingering sense of unease long after the experience has ended.

@the_nubster: The difference between Dead Space 1 and 2 always seemed to parallel the jump from Alien to Aliens in film. In both cases, the first is a claustrophobic horror experience, while the second is more of a thrill-ride that expands on the first. All four of them are among my favorites, though.

@do_the_manta_ray: Just wanna echo what you said about SOMA

God DAMN what a good story and ending. Sure it's not as scary and tense as a lot of other horror games but this was the vision they intended and it delivered spectacularly through the great story.

@frostyryan: Oh man...... That ending is a gut punch.

@do_the_manta_ray: I have played SOMA and I agree that it's really memorable. Some of the monster bits are real bad and detract from the pacing of the story but the atmosphere is top notch. I especially loved the way they handled environmental interaction - not too complicated but tactile enough to give that feeling of immersion. The story also was intriguing, and as you mentioned, stayed with you afterwards.

@humanity: I wouldn't even call SOMA a horror game. There was only one part I felt "scared", I guess? It was extremly low on horror elements.

Maybe I'm just jaded, the game is both more about environmental and character driven storytelling than focusing its horror elements as an fully immersive experience.

People wanting an horror game out of SOMA certainly played the wrong game, however the game plays terrorcards way more better than its horrorcards parts. The near-ending expecially was both fucking gruesome and hopeful for me. They really made you feel like you had to carry the world in your hands, quite literally and that it would be over if you do something, or even anything wrong.

EDIT: Didn't like Outlast, probably won't enjoy Outlast 2.

I'd say SOMA is absolutely a Horror game, it's just that the 'horror' elements are kind of lousy when compared to the bits of that game that are genuinely unsettling. I'm sure the sort of existential dread present in SOMA is well trodden territory in science-fiction, but it was one of my first exposures to this sort of story and was left both impressed and unnerved.

I think the genre of horror has an ambiguous definition left up to subjective opinion. That being said, in my opinion horror seems to always include common themes. Specifically, horror tries to immerse the audience into a world of wanton brutality where the protagonists must adapt and overcome to survive. I almost want to say that a sci-fi theme is required for horror to work in this way, since the plot concept needs to be so abnormal that it is shocking, but I think there are too many exceptional examples. For instance, franchises like SAW, Hostel and The Purge all have strong horror elements, despite it being well within the realm of reality.

As for Outlast 2, I already broke down and am downloading it now. Growing up on survival horror games, I really enjoyed the first Outlast. However, playing Outlast so many years after it was released, I used guides extensively. So I may as well go through Outlast 2 before I have the chance to run to the guides.

BTW, my most favourite element of any horror game is boss design, and in that aspect Outlast kicked some serious ass. There are some non-mainstream horror games I really liked in the past but I won't go back to them because they are lacking in the boss department, such as Cold Fear (they just couldn't make it perfect, could they).

On the beastcast Dan said it was "meh", so there you have it!

It was talked about on the Beastcast 101 by Dan... Maybe he will do a QL at some point.

I played it for 2 1/2 hours and have no desire to pick it up again any time soon. I consider myself very, very lenient when it comes to horror games and this one just sucks. When it's not laughably shocking, it's frustrating and when it's not frustrating, it's boring. Yes, I only played very briefly, but I'm probably at least 1/4-1/3 of the way through the game now and have little to care about.