When comparing Outlast vs Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair, the Slant community recommends Outlast for most people. In the question“What are the best PS4 games that run at 1080p and 60fps?” Outlast is ranked 7th while Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair is ranked 28th. The most important reason people chose Outlast is:
Outlast combines its tense atmosphere, creepy setting, stellar sound design, and a cast of horrifying inpatients to deliver a truly nightmarish experience. The developers even replaced the usual flashlight found in horror games with a camcorder, which has this really creepy nightvision mode.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Really scary
Outlast combines its tense atmosphere, creepy setting, stellar sound design, and a cast of horrifying inpatients to deliver a truly nightmarish experience. The developers even replaced the usual flashlight found in horror games with a camcorder, which has this really creepy nightvision mode.
Pro Unpredictable inpatients make exploration more tense
Outlast proves that people can be much scarier than ghosts. As you explore the dark hallways of the insane asylum, you’ll encounter many inpatients. Some of them good, some of them bad, but all of them crazy. So it’s sometimes really hard to tell which one will attack you. While some of them make it very obvious by holding knives or looking especially atrocious, sometimes they will attack unexpectedly. This uncertainty will creep inside your head, making exploration a lot more tense.
Pro Your character is really agile
Unlike most horror games where your character is clumsy and slow, in Outlast your character can actually move really well. Not only is your character fast enough to be able to outrun most enemies in the game, he also knows how to parkour. You can jump, grab ledges and climb them, and even slide over a table during a chase. This makes it a really refreshing horror experience.
Pro Fun theme that does not take itself too serious
Much like a B movie, the game is themed as a low quality experience with dated looking graphics and a convoluted/outrageous story. The premise being, you are one of four playable characters whose job it is to destroy the onslaught of invading alien giant insects. There is little beyond this to be fleshed out, it is more aimed at being mindless fun. Luckily the little bit of story and dialogue you do get in the game often is a bit tongue in cheek, as it the game is often self aware of its role to play.
Pro Endearing pure action gameplay
The premise of the game is to constantly be blasting giant alien insects in a slightly open world environment. Each level starts in a large sandboxed open world arena where alien insects will swarm the area. It is up to the player and the character they choose to use (of which there are four choices, each with their own skills/powers) on how killing these creatures will be carried out. Some of the available weapons for the different characters will be things like hand grenades, rocket launchers and automatic rifles. These weapons will be used in order to kill as many of the alien creatures that you can. Somewhat of a mindless style of play, blasting away anything that moves, but is appealing in its design due to the destruction that can be carried out. Each stage allows for compete destruction of all of its structures, meaning if there are enemies behind a building, you can just destroy the building in order to get to them. Overall the gameplay is quite fun and quirky in its B movie theme and design that allows for a never ending flow of creatures and areas to blast your way through.
Pro Good co-op support
Players can play together locally and online in a cooperative manner, helping each other to defeat giant insect aliens that are attacking the city. The local co-op can be played on different devices (LAN) or even on the same device through split screen. The online multiplayer allows for easy access to friends and random people in order to play together.
Pro Solid PC port
EDF is a pretty good port for PC (originally a PS2 game ported to PS4) with a constant 60fps during gameplay (no matter how many giant insects are on screen) as well as good keyboard and mouse controls with a few PC centric settings to be found in the menus such as anti-aliasing (only on or off). This is all able to be done in full HD (1080p).
Cons
Con A little too reliant on jump scares
In some parts of exploring the insane asylum there are too many jump scares one after another. After a while it loses its scare factor and instead becomes somewhat annoying. This feels like a missed opportunity to build on the dark and gritty atmosphere of the insane asylum.
Con No substance, unrealized potential and utterly disappointing
Once you get past the jump scares, gore and shock value you might find that there's very little to keep you invested and going back for more. Boredom may sink in nearing the end, with a sense of longing for the game to just be over. However, the night vision mechanic was fresh and unique at the time and introduced a sense of suspense, which other developers have lent from Outlast since. If you're a fan of traditional western horror games you will not disappointed, but if you're looking for something more to your horror games besides learning paths and jump scares, you might want to steer clear of Outlast.
Con Cliche story
The typical horror story protagonist goes to investigate a location that simply oozes danger. As if the abandoned SWAT trucks, locked doors, and boarded up windows were not telling enough, the protagonist realizes his terrible mistake right when there's no way back already.
Con Not a ton of polish
While a mainstay of the series (and some would argue the whole point of its design), the polish of the game is a bit rough. Voiced AI is constantly repeated and poorly delivered. There is little story to be found and the graphics, while playing at a constant 60fps in full HD, leave a lot to be desired.
Con May not appeal to everyone
The gameplay can get a bit repetitive and the lack of polish may be a turn off. While there is a good bit of content, many may not want to spend the time with a game they consider cheap looking that has little incentive to play other than mindlessly blasting away giant insect aliens.