During the height of the Cold War, in a world besieged by fear, the Murkoff Corporation finds its calling: kidnap test subjects, surgically implant night-vision goggles, and then let them loose inside a giant game of hide and seek. The prize is freedom, but the risk is either death... or insanity.
Canadian developer Red Barrels is no stranger to things that go bump in the night. 2013's Outlast and its 2017 sequel Outlast II were all about blending the fear of the unseen with the fear of being seen by whatever was lurking in the darkness. In a way, the similarities to a childhood game of hide and seek are quite clear the not knowing if you'd been rumbled as you tried to stay quiet and motionless, even though you could see your pursuer inching closer to your hiding place.
Wrapped up in a heavy storyline involving the criminally insane, murderous cultists and MKUltra mind control experiments gone awry (not that they could go any other way), the Outlast games offered something of a unique horror experience in that they encouraged players to avoid confrontation and rely squarely on the flight component of the autonomic nervous system. Creeping through the unlit corridors of Mount Massive Asylum or among the cornfields and outbuildings of Coconino County with only the night-vision mode of your video camera to aid your investigation and escape, there was something truly primal about Outlast's brand of survival/psychological horror that, while arguably reliant on many tropes of the genre, also made them some of the most intense games of their generation.
SOCK PUPPETS
Denne historien er fra September 2023-utgaven av PC Gamer US Edition.
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Denne historien er fra September 2023-utgaven av PC Gamer US Edition.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Special Report- Stacked Deck - Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big.
Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big. Four years later, its successor Inkbound’s launch from Early Access was looking more like Sandwich Big.I’m not just saying that because of the mountain of lamb and eggplants I ate while meeting with developer Shiny Shoe over lunch, to feel out what the aftermath of releasing a game looks like in 2024. I mean, have I thought about that sandwich every day since? Yes. But also, the indie team talked frankly about the struggle of luring Monster Train’s audience on board for its next game.
SCREENBOUND
How a 5D platformer went viral two months into development
OLED GAMING MONITORS
A fresh wave of OLED panels brings fresh options, greater resolutions and makes for even more impressive gaming monitors
CRYSIS 2
A cinematic FPS with tour de force visuals.
PLOD OF WAR
SENUA’S SAGA: HELLBLADE 2 fails to find a new path for its hero
GALAXY QUEST
HOMEWORLD 3 is a flashy, ambitious RTS, but some of the original magic is missing
FAR REACHING
Twenty years ago, FAR CRY changed the landscape of PC gaming forever.
THY KINGDOM COME
SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE is the culmination of decades of FromSoftware RPGs, and a gargantuan finale for ELDEN RING
KILLING FLOOR 3
Tripwire Interactive's creature feature is back
IMPERFECTLY BALANCED
Arrowhead says HELLDIVERS 2 balancing patches have 'gone too far'
