Outlast
Games review
As of Jun 23, 2026, Outlast is rated 96% positive on Steam (136,410 reviews), and 80/100 on Metacritic (59 critic reviews). Each source is shown in its own units, never blended into one score.
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Is Outlast worth it in 2026?
Thirteen years after release, Outlast still earns a 96% positive rating across 136,410 Steam reviews, and that is not nostalgia, reviewers are still calling it a masterclass of extreme horror. Stripping the player of all weapons is the entire design philosophy: the helplessness is the mechanic, and it is what makes the atmosphere work in a way that combat would immediately undercut. Critics landed at 80/100, and that 16-point gap from the Steam score is meaningful, the structural complaints that cluster in critic-style thinking are real: the hide-in-locker loop is the only loop, and the ending does not pay it off, which matters in a six-hour linear game with no replayability hook. There is also a reported infinite loading glitch that, in a short linear game with no mechanical variety to fall back on, can be a session-ender. The Whistleblower DLC is widely praised as strong additional content, and the game runs well on low-end hardware.
Horror fans who want sustained dread built entirely around evasion and helplessness, players who find tension in being hunted rather than in fighting back, and who can stay engaged with a single-mechanic loop for the length of a short, linear playthrough.
The hide-and-seek loop is not one element among several, it is the whole game, and if it goes stale early there is no combat system, no mechanical variety, and no strong ending waiting on the other side.
ReviewPond's conclusion, drawn only from the verified scores and review themes below. Not a paid or editorial opinion.
Different sources measure different things, so each is shown in its own units and never merged into one number.
Pros
- genuinely scary atmosphere10
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- The game is inspired by the Alan Memorial Institute in Montreal which led dark psychological experiments on people in the heart of Montreal in Quebec, Canada, my hometown. Besi...
- Outlast is a first-person survival horror game developed by Red Barrels. It is widely regarded as one of the scariest horror games ever made, thanks to its terrifying atmosphere, d...
- When it comes to first person horror games, but also horror games in genral, in my opinion, you can't get anything scarier that Outlast + DLC - To this day! It's basically first p...
- classic horror game6
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- 13 years later and outlast Is still one of the best horror games ever made. Outlast Is a masterclass horror game In terms of extreme horror genre. Even If exaggerated at times wi...
- I love Outlast so much, I remember used to watch PewDiePie playing it on YouTube. Today is the day I 100% it. Such goated horror game.
- When it comes to first person horror games, but also horror games in genral, in my opinion, you can't get anything scarier that Outlast + DLC - To this day! It's basically first p...
- no weapons, helpless gameplay6
see reviews +-
- Outlast is a first-person survival horror game developed by Red Barrels. It is widely regarded as one of the scariest horror games ever made, thanks to its terrifying atmosphere, d...
- When it comes to first person horror games, but also horror games in genral, in my opinion, you can't get anything scarier that Outlast + DLC - To this day! It's basically first p...
- The first Outlast is a fantastic horror game and now an overlooked landmark in the genre that was possibly the best "raw-horror" game before Resident Evil 7 came out and perfected...
- whistleblower dlc praised4
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- As a part of me resulting my childhood trauma I had to finish this game. Did me facing my trauma help? no. Was it one of the best horror experiences? absolutely. Whistleblower migh...
- Bought this with the hopes that it'd be scary and was massively disappointed. The gameplay loop of "hide from scary ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up looking enemy in a locker or under a bed otherwise you...
- Oh my god. What a game. It's scary and amazing. I loved playing Outlast. I got the lunatic achievement for beating the main game on insane. I still need to do whistleblower on insa...
- effective jumpscares3
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- Really great game with some genuine scares, both in terms of jumpscares and tense situations! This is my kind of survival horror, where it's all about surviving from beginning to e...
- Just finished it for the first time after seeing a bunch about it online and honestly I highly recommend it. Even after watching full playthroughs of the game, I was still absolute...
- Intuitive puzzles, wonderful atmosphere, smooth controls, and genuinely terrifying jumpscares, this is a great game.
Cons
- repetitive hide-and-seek loop2
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- boring walking simulator, not even scary at all i've seen games on roblox more scary than this.
- Bought this with the hopes that it'd be scary and was massively disappointed. The gameplay loop of "hide from scary ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up looking enemy in a locker or under a bed otherwise you...
- poor level design1
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- Bought this with the hopes that it'd be scary and was massively disappointed. The gameplay loop of "hide from scary ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up looking enemy in a locker or under a bed otherwise you...
- weak ending1
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- Pretty fun. The only two things that are bad. No fighting. The ending was pretty lame. But a game worth to play if this game is on sale but not worth the full price. i hope outlast...
Themes and quotes are drawn from 23 sampled reviews with text; the scores above reflect all 136.5K ratings. Counts are how many of the sampled reviews mention each point.