The internal conflict between the two cults is interesting enough on the surface, but the game fails to really dig into its themes in religion and sexual violence. The other is a group of separatists called “The Heretics”, who envision an entirely different course of events taking place. The game is largely centered around a feud between two cults: One headed by an (extremely large) big bad in Knoth, a man who rapes, impregnates and subsequently kills the children who are birthed - all in fear that they may wind up being the Anti-Christ. That’s pretty much where the tropes end, as Outlast 2 gears itself up for some extra weirdness. The two of you are on an expedition to cover a mysterious murder somewhere in the middle of Arizona, and before you can get their, your helicopter crashes and separates the two of you. You begin the game side by side with your wife, Lynn. The game’s narrative is plenty ambitious. You can count the mechanical advancements between this and the original on one hand (all of which we’ll get to in a bit), but it’s largely just a better looking version of its predecessor. Not because Outlast 2 is in the master class of the genre, but because the game seemed so willing to do whatever it felt like to instill shock that I was genuinely afraid of what they might do next. That is most, for better or for worse, of what Outlast 2 brings to the table. About halfway through my play through of Outlast 2, I realized that a video game had never terrified me so much.