I adore story-based horror games, and my longtime obsession with Outlast needs to be discussed. I’ve developed a ritual of sorts, where I annually play this game with my friends. The funny part is, I actually suck at playing video games; The only two games that I can confidently say I am good at are Dead by Daylight and Left 4 Dead, which are both dead games, so that rendered my skills useless. Anyway, the reason I have to play alongside my friends is because they do all of the hard parts for me. When I’m in chase with Dr. Trager, I suddenly forget every single game mechanic and run in loops around the map until my friends get sick of me and force me to fork over the controller.
Aside from the rant about my terrible gameplay, the reason I’m writing this is for all the nerds (positive connotation) who aren’t privy to the intricate lore of Outlast. Now I have been educating myself on the backstory of this game since I started watching PewDiePie play it in 2013, so I’m pretty much a veteran at this point. I’ve watched every lore video on YouTube, as well as read every single document in the game—my friends coined me as narrator (an English major’s time to shine!).
Assuming that you already have a basic understanding of the game, since you’re still reading, I won’t waste too much of your precious time detailing the obvious, like what you can get from just a simple playthrough of the game. Without further ado, let’s dive right in!
We begin the game driving down a dark, bumpy road until we approach an ominous building. Before exiting our vehicle, we reach for a file labeled “CONFIDENTIAL,” which is conveniently placed beside a camcorder and some comically large batteries. We can boldly assume from the press pass hanging from the rearview mirror and the contents of the file that we are a journalist.
Upon opening the file, we find out our main character’s name, Miles Upshur, and that there’s been a tip-off from a software consultant, Waylon Park, within MURKOFF Psychiatric Systems. Very briefly, he details some fishy business occurring at Mount Massive Asylum. The letter continues to inform us about “dream therapy going too deep” and that whatever is happening in this establishment “needs to be exposed.” Our role as a journalist is to document all of the terrible things occurring within the facility—and we set off to explore the building.
After wandering around for a bit, we find a letter, inscribed in blue ink, telling us a bit of history concerning Mount Massive Asylum (MMA). Apparently, MMA was shut down in 1971 due to a scandal and government secrecy, but then later rebranded as Murkoff Psychiatric Systems (MPS) in 2009 under the guise of a “charitable organization.” The undisclosed author of the letter tells us cell phone reception cuts off about a mile out, and it seems to be a jammer (intentional cutoff) rather than a lost signal.
The pieces of the puzzle are starting to mesh together, but we still have no idea what we are getting ourselves into. So, from what evidence we have gathered thus far, we are a reporter, there’s no cell service, and this establishment that we are venturing into has some corrupt, sinister business happening within its walls—all great things!
Once we have entered the building, we spot yet another file in one of the offices that you run into during the early parts of the game. The title of this one in particular is “PROJECT WALRIDER.” I guess the capitalization makes it scarier? I don’t know, I’m not a game developer. Anyway, we learn about a patient named “Billy,” a 19 year old male, supposedly a subject of Project Walrider. Under a subheading, “Therapy Status,” we see that Billy proclaims that he has progressed to “self-directed lucid dream states.” While I am not a psychologist, let alone a monstrous one, I assume this means that Billy can self-induce lucid dreams.
Then we are introduced to something I still can’t wrap my head around, “MORPHOGENIC ENGINE.” The file states that “Morphogenic Engine activity observed at unprecedented scale.” I’ve played this game countless times, and the most I can find detailing this is that it pushes the patient to madness through near death experiences. It also mentions other diagnostics that contain terrifying test results that have some factual scientific language, but it’s all fictitious results. The most important part of this letter is Billy’s personal statement, where he mentions his mother’s lawsuit against the asylum, claiming, “He discovered the truth “‘in the blood dreams of Doctor Trager.”’ We are introduced to my favorite/least favorite character in the game, Dr. Trager (or Richard Trager). But, this claim is automatically dismissed for security reasons, and we will walk more about him later.
Fun fact: To no one’s surprise at this point, we find in a file, that the formidable, tattered flesh creature that calls us “Little Pig” was actually a patient at MPS. His name is Chris Walker, an Afghanistan veteran, and he was also a test subject for Project Walrider, a failed attempt due to his large stature. They couldn’t restrain him while attempting to perform the tests. Walker also expressed his interest in Tuatara Lizards, more specifically their parietal eyes. This could allude to some greater, overarching theme about seeing things with your third eye, but we are diving into the lore of the whole game—not just Walker (food for thought though!). At this point in the game, we have met Father Martin (Martin Archimbaud if you want his full government name), and he has told us of our “calling” as his apostle…after we just met him.
Only moments later, Father Martin prevents us from digging up the dirt about MPS by turning off the power as soon as we reach the computer security systems. I always sigh at this part of the game because then everything just gets three times worse. It was scary to begin with, but now all the power is cut off—I’m shaking my head now just thinking about it. Apparently Father Martin is the true journalist, in the purest sense, because he reminds us that we still have more to unveil. Except, I think he has a different objective than us, so now we’re further entrenched in the terror.
The next document we find divulges something that I find to be very interesting: An MKULTRA program that was held at MMA in 1954, supervised by the CIA. To make it short and sweet, they basically held hypnotic therapy sessions where they forced their test subjects to overcome their fears. One patient was afraid of firearms, and under hypnosis they got the patient to shoot (an unloaded pistol) in another patient’s direction. Once they woke up, in a state of amnesia, they could not recollect such an event occuring and they refused to touch the gun. Obviously there’s more to it than innocently coaxing patients out of their fears because it’s common knowledge that MKULTRA experiments were designed to test if mind control was possible. Only adding to the suspicious nature of the place.
After turning the power back on in the building (I say that as if it’s an easy feat), we head back up to the security room and make our second attempt at accessing the footage. On our way there, we are abruptly halted by Father Martin telling us that “There is so much yet for you to witness,” as he injects us in the neck with an absurdly long needle. Deep frown, long sigh. Apparently we have to see what all this Walrider hype is about, I guess. Once we regain consciousness after sedation, we’re in a white padded cell with manic babble written all over the walls, but we’re in too deep to back out now. This area of the game is called “The Prison Block,” which is strange because this is an asylum…why would there be a prison? We also find that the letters written in blue ink are notes from Miles, as he comments about what’s written on the walls, “This DR.WERNICKE is at the center of whatever went wrong here.”
Exploring the prison further, we meet The Twins, and as the name indicates, they are two almost identical—one’s taller than the other—middle-aged, hairy men, but I think the most distinct description would be of their perpetual nakedness and cannibalistic tendencies. They are more educated than the rest of the patients, as seen by their composure and eloquent language. The Outlast Wiki describes them as a hivemind—they share the same thoughts and can finish each other’s sentences. While they do mention wanting to eat our liver and tongue—dividing our body parts, respectively—they never actually hurt or chase us. The Twins are a part of Father Martin’s Walrider cult, and he told them, “No, no boys! Do not eat him for he is the key to our saviour.” They respect his wish out of reverence for the mission. Father Martin did not say that, but I can imagine him reiterating something along those lines.
The death certificate for Rudolf Gustav Wernicke is found within the prison, the doctor who caused this mess. Major spoiler alert…he’s not actually dead. You already know that though because you’ve played the game, but maybe you never read the full document. The obituary states that he died at age 90, doing the work he loved. How sweet? His claim to fame was a paper written alongside a computing pioneer, Alan Turing, which was acclaimed by mathematic and scientific communities. In this obituary it literally says, “After a cloudy history with the German war effort, he emigrated to the United States.” Any super smart person can decipher what that means…
Miles runs into a patient, hidden amongst dilapidated furniture composed into a hut, who tells us that Dr. Wernicke was already dead before he started working at MMA. The patient poses an important hypothetical, “What kind of experiments does a dead doctor perform on living patients?” This leaves us with many questions, but there seems to be no sound logic behind anything at MMA.
Any moment of peace is instantly met with calamity in this asylum, so after we talk to our friend, we are chased down by another patient who is hooting and hollering about the Walrider. But, oh, thank goodness we hear a sane voice luring us to safety. The male voice calls, “Who’s down there? You’re not one of them, are you? Quick! Get in the dumb waiter if you want to live!” We foolishly hopped in the dumb waiter. Deceived, yet again. After reaching the top, we meet Dr. Trager and he greets us with a punch to the face—knocking us unconscious.
After being thoroughly concussed, Trager berates us for being, “that little shit priest’s guy…” as if we made that choice ourselves. While humorous, Dr. Trager’s guant frame illuminates every muscle, vein, and tendon within his wire-wrapped body. The dude is terrifying to look at—only slightly alleviated by the fact his apron exposes his wrinkly buttocks. Lifting us into a wheelchair, with arm and leg restraints built-in, he jokes, “Arms and legs inside the car at all times.” Do not be fooled by his disarming nature, for only moments later he chops off our fingers with a pair of rusty shears.
Although our fingerbones are exposed we get up and get back to the grind. Soon after, we find a note—a printed out email from David Annapurna—where he begs for a reassignment. David says “[I’ve] been an orderly my entire adult life, but I have never experienced such a consistent level of secrecy and disrespect.” Continuing to inform us that he thinks his patients are being abused—and confirms that some have been moved to the basement (aka The Prison Block), where they have never returned. This evidence is proof that not every employee at MMA was corrupt, their HR department was just ignorant to the complaints, probably because they were on the receiving end of some hush money.
One of the few moments of relief is when Trager gets caught in the elevator, as evil as it may sound, seeing his limp body dangling was a great pleasure. Right before we walk out of those glorious exit doors into the tender, rainy night, Father Martin exclaims he is joyous to see us—can’t say the feeling is mutual. I think it’s important to note that Father Martin calls Dr. Trager a “secular maniac” during this conversation. What is Trager’s objective if he is not in correspondence with Project Walrider? He outright opposed Father Martin’s moral compass, but they are working for (or were working for) the same company—shouldn’t their goals align? Well, not exactly. If anything, Father Martin has a distaste for Trager because he is not in ordinance with his religious beliefs. Dr. Trager is a Variant, which means he’s undergone experimentation that has heighted his strength, speed, and pain tolerance. He is more concerned with his own sick and twisted experiments than with Father Martin’s made-up religion. Although Father Martin is evil, to some extent, I can’t help but to empathize with him because he’s clearly not all there, mentally. I mean…if you saw the Walrider you would either think it’s a demon or God himself! I guess he chose the latter as an act of self-preservation.
Later, we discover an email from Dr. Trager, sent to Mr. Walsh, requesting for the immediate resignation of David Annapurna. Not only is he suggesting for David to be fired, but he also wants him to be admitted as a patient to treat his “persectorial delusions.” Closing the note off stating, “Treatment should continue until the time of his death.” This essentially imprisons David at the asylum where he will presumably be tormented till the end of his days—all because he spoke out against the shady business happening at MMA. Dr. Trager’s diagnosis is nothing to glimpse over, persectorial delusions, a core symptom of schizophrenia, is the persistent belief that everyone’s out to get you, more specifically, harm you. So for Trager to say that is basically him mocking David, and silencing him at the same time—pretty wicked!
Continuing our mission, we find ourselves navigating through the kitchen, which has been set ablaze. After dodging through the burning building, we eventually bump into the pyrotechnician himself, a patient at MPS. He explains his motive, “I had to burn it. All of it. Murkoff took so much from us. Used us. Turned us into these things because nobody cares about a few forgotten lunatics.” Rarely do we hear from the devastated souls that inhabit this building. Well, we do, but they’re usually trying to bludgeon us so we run away. It’s heartbreaking when you encounter one with sentients because they are aware of the monstrosity around them and all they could do was endure it.
Once we have escaped the burning heap, we find another document detailing more about MMA’s MKULTRA program, which is actually pretty factual. As found in the U.S. Senate’s Select Committee on Intelligence, MKULTRA, a severe abridgment to American rights for those subjected to the testing, went by three code names: Project CHATTER, Project BLUEBIRD, and Project ARTICHOKE. Project CHATTER pertains to the Navy program that began in the fall of 1947, in response to the Soviets’ “amazing results” in newfound “truth drugs.” This was actually just administering a bunch of LSD/Acid to helpless people to see if the U.S could weaponize psychic power—mind control. Project CHATTTER later progressed to Project BLUEBIRD, officially approved during the 1950’s. The goals of Project BLUEBIRD are as follows:
a. Discover if it is possible to prevent “unauthorized extraction” of information, by known means.
b. Investigate control of an individual by application of “special interrogation techniques.”
c. Memory enhancement.
d. Establish defensive means for prevention of hostile control of Agency personnel.
I did my best to paraphrase these euphemisms so that they would make sense, but it seems that Project BLUEBIRD’s main objective was to protect its own personnel, aside from part (b), which is actually the basis for Project ARTICHOKE.
In addition to the CIA’s goal, they expanded upon Project BLUEBIRD in an even more sinister way. As they state in the files, Project ARTICHOKE was the CIA’s “offensive” measures, indicating that Project BLUEBIRD was defensive (protecting home). During 1951, they included “unconventional interrogation techniques,” which involved hypnosis and drugs. This document discloses that these techniques were conducted under “medical and security controls which would ensure that no damage was done to individuals who volunteer for the experiments.” Seeing that we know now, that was completely untrue and this whole experiment was the pinnacle of unethical.
Looking back to the documents from the game, it seems that there is a blend between Project BLUEBIRD and ARTICHOKE, even though ARTICHOKE is an extension of BLUEBIRD. Nonetheless, the file contains “Special Research, Bluebird,” also including what assumably is a bunch of research questions concerning the value of “Sleep Induction (SI)” and “Hypnotic (H).” The questions are similar to the one’s asked during real-world testing. The in-game questions like, “Can we create post-H control an action contrary to an individual’s basic moral principles?” and “Can we “alter” a person’s personality? How long will it hold?” Demonstrate the game’s basis in reality, but the major difference is that these tests were successful in the game. The developers within Red Barrels showed their creative interpretations of what it would look like if these projects were actually successful.
After escaping the Asylum (sorta), in the Recreation Area, we see the Walrider for the first time with our night vision activated from our camera. Father Martin acknowledges that we’ve seen him, comparing us to the prophet Abraham, stating that “Revelation is at hand.” He assumes that we are beginning to understand, but I am not too sure if we do, at least not in the same lens that he does. Now you might be wondering, just as I have, why didn’t Miles just leave once in the Courtyard? Well, that’s because the courtyard is in the middle of the asylum with barbed-wire fences that literally make it impossible, but also, Miles is now committed to finding out more about Murkoff (also…the game has to continue).
Now that we are back in the asylum after finding a key in one of the shacks in the Courtyard, we search for Father Martin on the upper floors. Of course we find another document, but this time it gives us more insight about Dr. Wernicke. This document is about Project PAPERCLIP, or Operation Paperclip, which was an actual strategy used by the U.S. to harness German talent when the Cold War was emerging. This file also includes details about Project 63, which is essentially the same as Operation Paperclip. The program was enacted to recruit German scientists and engineers to help the U.S. out during war times. Where this gets messy is that these German scientists often had Nazi affiliations, and the issue lies in assimilating individuals with war crimes under their belts into American society. If it wasn’t obvious by now…Dr. Wernicke was a Nazi, which complicates the narrative and the mission that Project Walrider was attempting to achieve.
Miles, as indicated within his personal notes, is peeved by this—or the whole operation at scale—and now he seeks out Father Martin for answers. He recognized that the bloody handwriting on the walls is actually Father Martin’s, and he wonders if the “LIES” are really all of the facts and records that are strategically removed from certain files. He exclaims that “The buzzing won’t stop,” as he thinks about MKULTRA and the CIA. Miles truly wants to get to the bottom of this, and proves that he won’t stop until he does.
As we progress, we find a translated file from Berlin, that was sent on September 6, 1938. The note is from Reichsleiter and Dr. Med Rogge, they explain their pressing concern that Dr. Wernicke’s experiments have breached the spiritual realm, the ones involving the Morphogenic Engine, that he used to work on with A. Turing. They described this relationship between Dr. Wernicke and Alan Turning as “brief but unfortunate,” which is an interesting insight because the notes from earlier in the game do not disclose this. The men request that this note be forwarded to Dietrich Eckart, who is, if you do not already know the father of Nazism, precursor to the Nazi party. There are some logical fallacies here, as Eckart died in 1923, and this was sent in 1938, but perhaps not because Dr. Wernicke was kept alive by mad science, so maybe I am wrong. I think Alan Turing was based off of the actual Alan Turning, a mathematician, who was commended for breaking the Nazi Enigma code during WWII. That could be why Dr. Wernicke and Turning had brief relations…
Miles finds himself inside of MMA’s movie theater, where an interview of Dr. Rudolf Wernicke was playing. The film says it was recorded on December 27, 1985 in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Dr. Wernicke states that all personnel must watch the film, and that none of the footage is doctored—it is all real. The interviewer has a question about three instances of spontaneous bleeding documented in June of 1943, and he also points out that six of his test subjects for the Morphogenic Engine developed brain tumors. To which Dr. Wernicke responded that the tumors were “pure lead,” which doesn’t answer any questions for us. The interviewer then asks why these results cannot be duplicated in the United States, and Dr. Wernicke’s response was, “I have my theories. My homeland, in those years. It’s impossible to understand the things we felt. What we believed. The overwhelming fear. Ecstatic rage and…English words are insufficient.” To put it simply, he’s defending Nazism in this section. Continuing his commentary, “A human mind in that environment is capable of extraordinary things. A proximity to death. To overwhelming madness. Only a test subject who had witnessed enough horror was capable of activating the engine.” So, Dr. Wernicke tells us that he needed traumatized individuals in order for his tests and experiments to work. Only under these levels of stress can mind control occur, but I think Dr. Wernicke is after more than just control at this point.
I’m sure the interviewer wanted to run away screaming at this point, but he probed further, “Then what was it? You said project WALRIDER was a gateway. A gateway to what?” Now, we are finally headed toward some answers! Just kidding—the film cuts off after the interviewer asked that question. Miles is left just as pissed off as I was, and he writes it down within his notes. He expresses that he is plagued with questions, “The Engine. The movie they’re projecting. It gets in my head like a song you can’t stop humming.” At the end of the note, he states that he saw a patient kneeling in prayer, and annoyed by this notion, he says “Maybe he bought Father Martin’s line of bullshit. Maybe he hears what I hear but more clearly.” This statement made my eyes widen, like slow down there Miles, you’re starting to sound like one of them…maybe he already is.
If things weren’t already crazy—trust me when I say it plunges down the rabbit hole. We enter the church of the establishment, finally meeting up with Father Martin, but by no means is this a normal encounter (not that anything thus far has proven to be). Father Martin is being crucified, while yelling “We will join the Walrider in just a moment.” He dragged us here so that we would witness this, and then escape to tell the tale. Before we could say anything, he is set on fire and we record…like the great journalist and friend we are. As we exit the church, we see a golden key sitting on a plush red velvet pillow, we pick it up and head down to the Underground Lab, a complete shift in tone and style compared to the rest of the game.
Miles is beginning to lose hope of his escape, as he states within his notes, “Whoever finds my corpse—trust no one and tell everyone. I am not crazy. I know, only crazy people say that. But I am as sane as this world allows, with a camera full of evidence.” He knows how deep he is, but he investigates further in hopes that someone will out the people at Murkoff for the heinous crimes that they have committed. Venturing through the labs, we bump into an old buddy, Walker. He’s so excited to see us that he strangles us in the air with one hand—I missed you too! Rudely interrupting our rekindling, the Walrider goes full UFC as a featherweight and completely demolishes Walker—our heavyweight champ—by throwing him against the walls and then shoving his body into a vent—pulverising him.
Once we dusted our shoulders off of that lovely scene, we see Dr. Wernicke in an isolated room, plexiglass assumably, on a motorized scooter with some advanced nasal cannulas. Very underwhelmed, he says “I know, I know. I am supposed to be dead. No…no such luck. I am older than sin, but somehow… the only one left.” I honestly wish he was dead so that we wouldn’t have to be in this mess. An important stylistic inclusion from the game developers is the painting behind Dr. Wernicke. The painting, whether original or print I do not know, is of Prometheus Bound by Frans Snyders and Peter Paul Rubens (mainly Rubens). I think this is supposed to represent how Dr. Wernicke views himself.
Similar to how Prometheus gave fire to man, Dr. Wernicke gave his technological advancements to man, and now both are facing the consequences and punishments of their actions. Aside from my dorky finding, Dr. Wernicke keeps rambling, “He may think I’m his father. He certainly loves me, the poor idiot.” This statement concerns Billy, the main subject of Project WALRIDER. Dr. Wernicke then answers the question that was cut off during the interview that we viewed back in the theater. During his research, he claims that he has turned the cells in the human body into “nano-factories,” which results in a mind over body outcome. His goal was to yield a subject who could harness these nanites during lucid dream states. I assumed this process was to create a biological weapon of sorts, to accomplish who knows what (never specified), but nonetheless he did it.
Dr. Wernicke then tells Miles that he must stop Billy, no matter what it takes. He partially admits to the faults in his experiment, “it was…foolish and wrong to think we could control it. To use mad men to make something so strong.” Once we find Billy, we then turn the valves to kill him. During this process, the Walrider is on our ass! Obviously if Billy dies, he does too, so he tries to stop us. With the spirit of determination within us, we click the button that shuts down the system that is keeping Billy alive—we are now freed from the torment of the Walrider—yippie!
Severely injured, we limp our battered body to the exit doors. Once we open the doors, we see Dr. Wernicke, accompanied by a bunch of soldiers. To our demise, they open-fire and kill us because if we were to escape we would unleash all of the juicy corrupt details on this monstrous place. While this may seem like a bad ending, as the screen fades to black as we die, we get a pleasant surprise (maybe). After all the trauma Miles has been through, he has become the perfect host for the Walrider, and he possesses our body in death. From the screams and gunshots, we can boldly assume that Miles (now the Walrider) has killed all of them—including Dr. Wernicke. So, this may be the happiest end that a game of this nature can possibly have. Such a beautifully intricate game. I hope you enjoyed my findings, and maybe they opened some new doors for you to look down when considering Outlast lore. If you have not played the game already, please go do so!
Featured image by Aleishka Ruiz on Canva.
