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Outlast survival guide
Outlast (opens in new tab) is the newest PS4 addition to the PlayStation Plus Instant Game Collection, and its frankly terrifying. You must explore the Mount Massive Asylum and uncover the strange goings on there, but unlike other survival horror games you have no weapons at your disposal. This means confrontations with the twisted inmates can only end one of two ways–you escape, or you die.
If you rush into the madhouse completely unprepared youll quickly end up like the unfortunate chap in the image above, so weve put together a set of survival tips to keep you alive through the dark corridors and foreboding wards that lie within its walls.
Trying to track down all of the collectibles? Then be sure to also check out our Outlast Document and Note location guide (opens in new tab).
Look ahead
If you charge around the Asylum like a bull in a china shop, youll soon attract the attention of the inmates and things will turn sour fast. The key to survival is taking a stealthy approach, and always checking the area ahead before you proceed.
By using L2 and R2 you can lean to the side to look around obstacles, and if youre stood by a doorway or wall youll lean on it and peek out–try not to get freaked out when your hand appears on screen to brace yourself! While peeking you can also pull up your camcorder and use the zoom function to see further ahead, to get a better idea of whats to come.
When opening doors, hold down Square then nudge the left stick to reveal which direction it opens in. You can then slowly push in the required direction to move the door quietly ajar and see whats on the other side before choosing your moment to proceed.
Use your ears
Obviously being able to see an enemy in front of you is a dead giveaway that troubles ahead, but audio clues can be just as useful for locating your foes. Listening out for their muttering voices or approaching footsteps can give you advanced warning of their presence and allow you time to hide before they arrive.
Likewise, when hiding and unable to fully observe the room youre in, you can use the sound of the inmates footsteps fading away to determine when youre back in the clear. In certain areas you can even work out where theyre patrolling by listening to the sound their steps make on different surfaces.
Ration your batteries
There are plenty of dark areas to navigate within the Asylum, and unless you plan on bumbling around blindly youll need to use the Night Vision mode on your camcorder. However, this constantly drains your battery life when activated so try to use it sparingly and be sure to switch it off as soon as you reach a better lit location.
Always be on the lookout for glowing spare batteries and grab as many as possible to hold in reserve–you can carry up to 10 in Normal mode but this capacity is reduced on the harder difficulties. Pressing Triangle at any point while in camera mode will insert a new battery, but you should avoid doing this until the previous one has completely expired to get maximum use from your limited supplies.
Although its often a hindrance, the darkness can also be useful in some situations as it allows you to hide from patrolling enemies–make sure you dont move when theyre near though, or the sound may give away your position.
Switches are noisy
There are a number of puzzle-like tasks that you need to complete in order to proceed through the game, most of which involve activating switches or turning on machinery. Although these are a requirement to move the story forward, they invariably make a lot of noise that alerts nearby enemies and draws them to your location.
Whenever you find yourself in a situation where you need to push a switch or pull a lever, take a minute to survey the area first and identify the nearest hiding place. That way, as soon as you trigger the next event you can quickly get yourself out of sight, and whoever comes to investigate will safely pass you by.
Know your enemies
Although encounters with them are pretty frightening, bear in mind that inmates will appear at the same locations every time, which means you should be subjected to much fewer scares once you start identifying where they can be found.
Enemies that move around will always follow the same scripted patrol routes, so by taking your time and observing them you can spot opportunities to slip past undetected. Make sure you say hidden or keep a safe distance away while watching them, otherwise youll end up initiating a chase sequence.
Always have an escape plan
Familiarise yourself with your surroundings while exploring the Asylum and make a mental note of any hiding places you see along the way. Should you unexpectedly bump into an enemy youll need to turn on your heels and flee, and knowing where the nearest hiding spots are could save your life.
When escaping a chase sequence you first need to make sure you break the line of sight with your pursuer so they dont observe where you go, which can be achieved by turning corners and shutting doors behind you, then find a place to hide once youre out of view and wait for them to pass.
Enemies have the ability to vault over obstacles but they cant crawl/squeeze through gaps or climb up ledges, giving you escape routes where hiding isnt an option. Remember–you are faster than your foes so you can always outrun them.
Death is not the end
Naturally the whole point of survival horror games is to stay alive, but if you get caught and killed in Outlast its not the end of your game–unless youre playing on Insane mode, but theres more on that in the next slide. If you do meet your demise at the hands of a crazed Mount Massive resident, the worst that will happen is youll be sent back to the previous checkpoint to try again.
Although this gives you a safety net and makes dying a much less scary prospect, you can still lose a generous amount of progress if you were in the middle of a multi-step task at the time. Bear in mind that although you can pause and save the game at any point, if you reload this file afterwards youll resume at the last checkpoint you passed, so theres no benefit in terms of preserving progress to saving regularly during a play session.
Beat Insane mode
To unlock one of Outlasts two gold Trophies youll need to finish it in Insane mode, which is described as the ultimate heart-attack experience–it’s the hardest difficulty available and has no checkpoints or save game opportunities, meaning a single death at any point will wipe out all your progress and send you right back to the beginning.
The increased difficulty means enemies must be avoided at all costs, as any of them can kill you with one or two blows. Also, you can only carry two camcorder batteries at a time and there are a lot fewer spares to be found, meaning youll need to remember the location of these power packs and backtrack to collect them as and when theyre required.
Make sure youve played through the entire story at least once before attempting Insane Mode, as you need to know exactly where youre going and what you need to do in advance so you dont get caught out.
Good luck
So, those are our survival tips–hopefully weve given you enough information to keep out of the inmates clutches and stay alive, because now youre on your own. Use our advice to push on through the Asylum, and uncover the truth about the mysterious events taking place inside.
Looking for more help to extend your gaming longevity? Heres our Dont Starve survival guide (opens in new tab). Or, if youd prefer to cleanse the horror from your palate, What if video game characters were sold in a pet shop? (opens in new tab)
