When comparing Outlast vs Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition, the Slant community recommends Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition for most people. In the question“What are the best PS4 (PlayStation 4) games?” Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition is ranked 51st while Outlast is ranked 82nd. The most important reason people chose Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition is:
You'll immediately notice how nice it feels to attack the enemies with each slash, strike and shot having an impact behind it. Enemies will flinch, get thrown back and get suspended mid-air from your attacks, making it feel like you're always the dominant force. It's especially amusing seeing an enemy flail about and slamming it into the ground with your demonic arm. Some of the stylistic elements add fun as well. The prime example is Nero's greatsword the Red Queen, which is equipped with a motorcycle-like gear shift. You can use the gear shift mid-combo to add a flame effect to your sword. This increases your damage and the range of your combos and also looks very nice. It's especially awesome to see your character ascend in a whirlwind of flames.
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 combat
You'll immediately notice how nice it feels to attack the enemies with each slash, strike and shot having an impact behind it. Enemies will flinch, get thrown back and get suspended mid-air from your attacks, making it feel like you're always the dominant force. It's especially amusing seeing an enemy flail about and slamming it into the ground with your demonic arm.
Some of the stylistic elements add fun as well. The prime example is Nero's greatsword the Red Queen, which is equipped with a motorcycle-like gear shift. You can use the gear shift mid-combo to add a flame effect to your sword. This increases your damage and the range of your combos and also looks very nice. It's especially awesome to see your character ascend in a whirlwind of flames.
Pro Great soundtrack
Most of the battle music has the lyrical styling of progressive rock while mixing in dark electronica guitar riffs. It matches the rhythm and speed of the battles really well, spurring on your combos and devastating attacks.
The exploration sections and cutscenes have an entirely different style of music. It ranges from divine vocals accompanied with organ music to eerie pieces with harp and piano sounds creating a bone-chilling ambience.
Pro Highest level of combat depth in any hack and slash game
An open-ended cancelling system (Jump Cancelling) stacked with individual character mechanics (Dante styles and style/weapon switching, Nero ACT and parries, Vergil being Vergil, Lady and Trish are the weakest in terms of combo-ability of the 5 but you can still style with them) and system physics create a combat masterpiece that rewards practice and creativity.
Pro There's a bunch of stuff to do even after beating the game
You can replay the game on higher difficulties, try to find all the hidden missions or collect all the upgrades. You can even try to get the max style rank on all the missions. Doing any of these will award you extra collectibles or unlock new modes.
There's also the The Bloody Palace, which is an arena consisting of 101 levels. Each level contains enemies and bosses found within the main game. The first few levels are quite easy, but each level becomes increasingly more difficult. Only the most skilled players can reach the end, giving you another goal to strive for.
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 Occasional difficulty spikes
Upon reaching the first boss you'll encounter the first difficulty spike. The boss attacks a lot faster and stronger than the enemies leading up to it. Messing up means you'll die in a couple of seconds, which can be really frustrating. Especially because you have to switch gears so suddenly and adapt to a new playstyle, where the enemy stands on equal footing.
Con Recycled stage designs and lack of character-specific bosses
Capcom basically just slapped on the 3 new characters (Lady, Trish, and Vergil) and they suffer the same problems that Dante does, and that's lack of bosses designed specifically for their toolset. They run through the same bosses and levels instead of getting unique missions.