The much anticipated horror survival indie title 'Outlast' hits the U.S. PlayStation Store this week as a free download for the PlayStation 4 console. 'Outlast' joins the dozens of other free digitally downloadable games as part of Sony's Instant Game Collection, a privilege enjoyed and made available to subscribers of the PS Plus service.
Developed and published by Red Barrels, an independent video game company based in Québec Montreal, Canada, 'Outlast' is a horror survival game that places you in the shoes of Miles Upshur, a journalist bent on exposing the dark secrets locked behind the walls of Mount Massive Asylum.
On Computerandvideogames.com, Philippe Morin, the co-founder of Red Barrels, explains the plot:
In the remote mountains of Colorado, horrors wait inside Mount Massive Asylum. A long-abandoned home for the mentally ill, the facility was recently re-opened by the "research and charity" branch of the transnational Murkoff Corporation. Taking advantage of the Asylum's history and remote location, they've been operating in strict secrecy. That is, they were until the reporter arrived. Acting on a tip from an anonymous source, independent journalist Miles Upshur has broken into the facility, and what he is about to discover inside will walk a terrifying line between science and religion, nature and something entirely other. Trapped with nightmares old and new, his only hope of escape will lie with the terrible truth at the heart of Mount Massive.
Unlike a majority of other horror games that came before it, 'Outlast' does not provide the player with any weapons to fight the mutilated anomalies within the asylum. Equipped only with a camcorder with night vision capability, the player is required to either hide, run or die.
The PlayStation 4, as compared to the original PC version launched last year, has an additional "Insane" difficulty mode. This mode pits the player with low health, fewer batteries, no checkpoints and no way to save your game. "It's do or die. Survive or start again," Morin states