DreadOut 2 is a third-person survival adventure horror video game developed by Digital Happiness and published by PT Digital Semantika Indonesia. It is a direct sequel to the original title, DreadOut in which Linda Melinda gains spiritual powers while out on vacation. Coming back to the High School in the sequel, the horrors and tragedies followed her home.
DreadOut 2 initially came out for PC back in February 2020 and then was ported to the consoles including PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, XBOX One, and XBOX Series X|S in July 2022. Recently, it came out for the Nintendo Switch with some tweaks and bug fixes.
Story
The story of DreadOut 2 takes place sometime after the events of the original title. Linda Melinda, the main protagonist of the game is trying to fit back into her normal life after the death of her friends and a teacher while becoming the only survivor in the first title. As she goes back to High School, the tragic incident of her friends and the teacher still haunts her as well as her fellow students blaming her for all the deaths.
Not long into the story as Linda finds the strange feeling of evil arising and getting sucked into a dark world that resembles her nightmares. The Nightmare is filled with various events and she is tempted to figure out why is it happening again with her. If you are someone who didn’t play the original game, the game also plays a little summary video from the events of the first part of the game to get you hooked up with the story.
Gameplay
The gameplay of DreadOut 2 is pretty similar to the original game where Linda’s phone (IrisPhone) is used to defeat the ghosts. In addition to the phone, the game will also let you carry a melee weapon throughout the main story chapters which you can use to attack the physical monsters that are immune to the phone but do get stunned by the flash allowing Linda to perform attacks easily and even a backstab to deal extensive damage.
Furthermore, the flash of the camera can be used in two different ways. You can either do a quick shot which is essential in taking down the physical monsters allowing you to both stun the enemy and hit them with the melee weapon, or you can do a long shot which lets you see through the phone and take a picture to deal more damage. However, the long shot is only essential for keeping the dangerous spirits away from Linda.
Like the original game, IrisPhone is also crucial for traversing the main areas of the chapters as you will be using the phone’s flashlight to find your way through the areas. The playthrough of the missions is kind of similar as you get to defeat the spirits and monsters using the phone and the melee weapons along with a few puzzles here and there. The puzzles in DreadOut 2 are nothing too complicated as they revolve around bringing certain items to a specific place or pushing buttons in a certain order.
One of the new features in DreadOut 2 is an explorable hub to which players will return after every main mission. This hub consists of various NPCs to which Linda can actually speak. Some of the NPCs also offer side missions but there are only two which is a bit disappointing. However, both of the side missions are interesting and they revolve around the spirit encounters and the backstory that led them to their fate.
While exploring the hub area, you might also want to run into Professor Mona who has an interest in Urban Legends. Speaking with her will allow you to unlock certain sections of the areas where you can find and unlock the Urban Legends by photographing a specific spot. Upon photographing and unlocking the Urban Legends, you can read about them through IrisPhone. Additionally, there is also a Ghostpedia on the phone that can provide you with additional information on spirits and monsters that you encounter throughout the playthrough.
Sound and Visuals
The sound design of the game is crafted greatly as it blends in well with all the spookiness sequences throughout the game. From entering the world of Nightmare to engaging in a jump scare, it really does a great job of enhancing the experience. For the characters, there are only two characters with English narration whereas the rest of the characters all speak in Indonesian language.
The visual representation of the game is also built greatly as each level design of the main mission has unique areas with perfect lighting. The transformation of the levels from the real world to the nightmare is done brilliantly and adds a lot of spookiness to the experience which is great for horror genre lovers.
Verdict – Score 7/10
DreadOut 2 is a decent survival horror game with some action and weapon mechanics that will let players engage with various spirits and physical monsters throughout the playthrough. Outside of the main chapters of the game, there isn’t much replayability factor besides completing two side missions and finding all the Urban Legends.
DreadOut 2 is now available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, XBOX One, XBOX Series X|S, and Microsoft Windows.
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