You know that heavy, serious movie in your Netflix queue that you always mean to watch, but never turn on? You’re just never in the right mood to take on whatever subject matter it features, so instead you binge four episodes of Star Trek back-to-back that end up being twice as long as the serious movie?
Outlast is the videogame version of that serious movie for me.
Survival horror games aren't what they used to be. Once upon a time, they were about survival and horror. It makes sense. It's what the genre is called, after all. These titles would encompass qualities of mystery and exploration as the player fought to stay alive with every step. Over the years, they've increasingly become about action, gunfights, and an overload of cheap jump scares. I prefer the former, despite a plethora of the latter.
HIGH The new and improved forensics procedures.
LOW The laughably bad plot.
WTF Practically everything good about the first game is bungled here.
Finished Manhunt (PlayStation 2) today for the first time. It was an interesting experience. Although it certainly lives up to its reputation as being an extremely graphic and gory game, there was a lot more to it than just that… the story and setting (death-row convict is rescued from the chair only to be thrust into a kill-or-be-killed game of hide and seek) were engaging, and the work with tone and mood were excellent. The stark, brutal feel and incredibly bleak outlook of the game’s entire world were very well-realized. There's also quite a bit of meat to chew on for people who like to delve into meta-commentary, but I'll save that for another post.
I haven't actually gotten around to playing Condemned 2: Hobocide yet, mostly because I'm just not in the mood to beat hobos to death with a rusty pipe at the moment. Perhaps because it's winter and I don't see them around as much. Who knows? Anyhoo, I happened to notice […]
There is a school of thought that suggests that if a work of art is able to affect someone, whatever that effect may be, then that art is successful. So it's possible that the mere fact that Condemned: Criminal Origins made me feel like a significantly worse person for playing it is proof of its effectiveness.
According to ESRB, this game contains: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
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