There are many frightening things in this world. Some of them are to be expected – for instance, giant, violently writhing millipedes and whatever primeval force gave Gary Busey the power to “smile.” Other things, meanwhile, are less expected. Things like penguin mouths. And still others are so expected that they’ve lost their chill-inducing mystique entirely. That’s where videogame monsters enter the picture. I mean, it’s always monsters, right? Around corners, in ventilation shafts, being president – they’re so predictable. So I can definitely respect Outlast – a new PC-only scare-’em-up from folks who worked on Splinter Cell, Prince of Persia, Assassin’s Creed, and Uncharted – and its plan to instead focus on intelligent, truly evil (or at least crazy) human beings.

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