Outlast
Games review
As of Aug 11, 2026, Outlast is rated 80/100 on Metacritic (59 critic reviews), and 96% positive on Steam (138,085 reviews). Each source is shown in its own units, never blended into one score.
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Different sources measure different things, so each is shown in its own units and never merged into one number.
Is Outlast worth it in 2026?
A 96% positive rating from over 138,000 Steam reviews is not a fluke, Outlast earns it by doing one thing exceptionally well: making you feel genuinely powerless and afraid, built on atmospheric horror, strong sound design, and a no-combat design that forces you to run or hide rather than fight back. Critics were more measured at 80/100, which tracks, because the game has real limitations, the base game is short enough that players explicitly call it unsatisfying without the DLC, technical bugs can invalidate permadeath runs through actions as routine as tabbing out, and the lore, while praised for depth, leaves enough threads unresolved to frustrate some players. Jump scares are present, but the consistent praise for sustained atmosphere over cheap frights suggests they are not the whole show.
Horror fans who want sustained dread and helplessness over action, and who will buy and play the Whistleblower DLC, since the base game alone will feel brief to most players.
The base game is short and will feel incomplete without the DLC. Technical bugs, including ones triggered by simply tabbing out, can destroy permadeath achievement runs through no fault of the player.
AI-generated editorial synthesis of the source scores and sampled review themes, not a hands-on test. Reviewer experiences and allegations are not independently verified facts.
Pros
- atmospheric horror experience17
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- Bloody hell, it's been ages since I played this game on console and after a long time I decided to give it another crack, and as I expected it still manages to deliver that feeling...
- I still remember when I was a kid and saw Outlast for the first time. I was so scared that I couldn't even bring myself to play. The menu music alone was enough to make me nervous,...
- this game scary as hell, got my clih tweaking. But when you got the hang of it, it really easy to beat the game on insane mode
- compelling story and lore10
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- one of the best horror game i ever played, although i almost pissed myself while playing however i enjoyed playing every single minute and the vibes i just can't explain, i highly...
- Една от най-добрите хорър игри, в които съм играл. Въпреки че преди години съм гледал gameplay на „Outlast“, да я играя сега е съвсем различно преживяване. Има истинско усещане за...
- Outlast is a great horror game, and although its short, its quite dense with content. I never felt like any point in the game was padding or that it couldve of been cut. The dlc...
- good graphics quality6
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- you will ♥♥♥♥ your pants. ---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☐ Beautiful ☑ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☑ Ve...
- One of the most atmospheric horror and outright scariest games I've played. Great audio and visual design. Looks surprisingly good in 4K. Love it.
- This game had me genuinely feeling the adrenaline and fear right from the start. Having to rely on the camera's night vision while constantly worrying about running out of batterie...
- excellent sound design5
see reviews +-
- I still remember when I was a kid and saw Outlast for the first time. I was so scared that I couldn't even bring myself to play. The menu music alone was enough to make me nervous,...
- One of the most atmospheric horror and outright scariest games I've played. Great audio and visual design. Looks surprisingly good in 4K. Love it.
- This game had me genuinely feeling the adrenaline and fear right from the start. Having to rely on the camera's night vision while constantly worrying about running out of batterie...
- helplessness without combat4
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- This game completely lives up to its reputation. I tried playing it when it came out but I was too young and scared, so I never finished it. However, a few days ago I decided to gi...
- Една от най-добрите хорър игри, в които съм играл. Въпреки че преди години съм гледал gameplay на „Outlast“, да я играя сега е съвсем различно преживяване. Има истинско усещане за...
- Outlast is one of the best horror games I've ever played. You cannot fight enemies, you rely solely on running and hiding which adds an element of intensity that other games of the...
- strong dlc content4
see reviews +-
- Една от най-добрите хорър игри, в които съм играл. Въпреки че преди години съм гледал gameplay на „Outlast“, да я играя сега е съвсем различно преживяване. Има истинско усещане за...
- Outlast is a great horror game, and although its short, its quite dense with content. I never felt like any point in the game was padding or that it couldve of been cut. The dlc...
- There are many games I don't write reviews for with this game I felt compelled to do so. Just a heads up this review isn't really informal but just my opinion. Outlast is brilliant...
Cons
- short game length3
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- It's a good game, quite azap and scary, but also is really short if you dont play the dlc
- Outlast is a great horror game, and although its short, its quite dense with content. I never felt like any point in the game was padding or that it couldve of been cut. The dlc...
- There are many games I don't write reviews for with this game I felt compelled to do so. Just a heads up this review isn't really informal but just my opinion. Outlast is brilliant...
- technical bugs and glitches3
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- I played this game over and over again because of the permadeath achievement, a lot of the times I didnt even die but sometimes tabbing out of the game to share my screen, change m...
- Its really fun and has a lot of lore which I think shows how much thought was put into the franchise. But can be confusing sometimes. A bit buggy but an overall 10/10 game.
- Very good game,very little bugs,amazing horror
Themes and quotes are drawn from 38 sampled reviews with text; the scores above reflect all 138.1K ratings. Counts are how many of the sampled reviews mention each point.
Rated near Outlast
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