Like the first Outlast game, Outlast 2’s story is mostly told through the use of documents and recordings. For the most part, the story is left up to the player to interpret in their own way, giving each player a different meaning for the events that take place. In this article we’ll discuss and explain the Outlast story, what is happening throughout the game, and even discuss why everyone seems to be losing their minds, including Blake.
Obviously, spoilers will abound in the article below, so don’t scroll past this image if you don’t want the story spoiled.
Outlast 2’s Story Explained
There are a lot of crazy things happening in Temple Gate, and as you make your way through Outlast 2, you’ve probably found yourself scratching your head at least once or twice—probably even more times than that. What is happening in this backwoods town? Why is everyone so intent on killing Lynn’s baby, and why is Blake having all these weird hallucinations about his time back in grade-school?
Before we dive into all those questions, let’s start at the beginning.
How does Outlast 2 Connect with the First Game?
None of the answers we’re going to provide today are really cut and dry. Depending on who plays through the game, they may interpret these things differently. That being said, we’ll try our best to back out answers up with evidence from the game.
First let’s take a look at how the first and second Outlast games are connected. The developers themselves have stated multiple times that the games aren’t connected in a big way, but a document that you find during your travels suggests that the games are more connected than we first thought.
According to a document called “Old Traveler”, the valley that surrounds Temple Gate is part of an experiment that uses strong microwave signals to control people’s minds. In fact, the document even mentions Jenny Roland, or Jennifer Roland (as Outlast fans will know her), who was Murkoff Corp’s pathologist in the first game.
For those who don’t remember, Murkoff Corp is the company responsible for re-opening Mount Massive Asylum and experimenting on humans in the first game. While this isn’t a massive connection line, it does draw some red flags that seem to indicate that Murkoff is somehow connected to the radio tower emitting the strong microwave signals to try to control people’s minds.
Why is Blake Losing It?
At the very start of the game Blake is awakened from a nightmare about Jessica Gray, a girl that both her and Lynn knew in fourth grade at their catholic school. After the bright white light causes the helicopter’s engines to fail, and the helicopter crashes, Blake begins to experience hallucinations surrounding Jessica and the events that led to her suicide. We believe, based on the documentation of the “Old Traveler” document, and others we’ve found, that this white light is the strong microwave signals mentioned in the document.
We believe that these signals broke something inside of Blake’s mind, which in turn forced him to begin seeing things. This also explains why the people of Temple Gate have become so violent, and why they’ve all gathered around their own religion of sorts.
As Blake continues deeper into the valley that contains Temple Gate, he begins to experience more vivid hallucinations, including the appearance of a demonic like creature. We believe that this is Father Loutermilch, a teacher that is later revealed to have assaulted Jessica at school. It makes sense in Blake’s mind for Loutermilch to be a demonic form, because he is the bad guy of Blake and Jessica’s story. The ending of the game, which results in all of the villagers rallying against each other and murdering each other also feeds into the information provided in the “Old Traveler” document, which mentions a feedback loop that can cause people to do crazy things.
Is the Baby Real?
This is one of the biggest questions that we’ve seen from players who have finished Outlast 2, as Lynn appears to become 9 months pregnant throughout the course of a single night. It’s really unclear how that happened, or if the baby is real, and Lynn’s final words to Blake are “there’s nothing there”, which would suggest that she is either talking about the afterlife (they grew up catholic, so they would believe in an afterlife) or she is talking about the baby that Blake believes he is holding in his arms.
Of course, the “baby isn’t real” theory becomes harder to prove when you consider the fact that Knoth arrives after Blake passes out, and he appears to be able to see the baby. Of course, since both Knoth and Blake had been affected by the microwave signals, it is possible that they were both hallucinating the same thing, and that Blake merely bought into the idea as he made his way through Temple Gate to try to save his wife.
There are still a lot of unsolved mysteries when it comes to Outlast 2, and we believe that this was intentional by the developers. Of course, you can check out our Outlast 2 guide hub for more helpful articles, or be sure to take a look at our article on Outlast 2’s ending explained.
