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The Camcorder is a portable electronic device used by Miles Upshur, Waylon Park and Blake Langermann to record info and events, as well as help navigate dark areas with its night vision feature. All camcorders are designed and manufactured by Spatlin.

Information[]

The camcorder is the most prominent tool the protagonists use throughout the game. It is also needed for journal entries by simply filming written messages or events. In Outlast 2, the player can film and playback their recordings with Blake's commentary over them. The mechanic itself is a simple gameplay feature, independent from the game's overall narrative; For example, the player can fail to record any of the events unfolding within the asylum, and yet Simon Peacock will commend Waylon Park for obtaining enough evidence to take down Murkoff.

The camcorder comes with a night vision feature, which is required to illuminate dark areas seen in the camcorder's screen. Using night vision requires battery power when used, making it necessary to manage the use of it so the battery power is not wasted when night vision is not needed. Using night vision on any person will make their eyes seemingly glow.

Depending on the difficulty the player chooses, the amount of batteries that can be carried changes, as well as the amount that can be found throughout the game. A maximum of ten batteries can be held on Normal difficulty, five on Hard and two on Nightmare and Insane. The battery distribution across various difficulties applies to all games in the series. All protagonists start off with two batteries on Normal difficulty and only one on anything above that, with the exception of Waylon Park who always starts off without a single battery.

When the battery has become fully drained, the night vision's range will be reduced substantially. Even in this condition, the camcorder will still work along with the night vision capability, albeit to a much weaker degree. To regain the night vision's full power, another battery must be reloaded in the camcorder. Even if the player runs out of batteries, the night-vision on the camcorder still works for short amount of time, with poor quality that worsens in night-vision and lack of audio capture. When a battery's power is about to be depleted, the night vision will flicker. Batteries can be found scattered around the environment.

The camcorder also has the feature of zooming in and out, giving the chance to scout moderately far ahead. Zooming can also be used in conjunction with night vision, as the night vision will illuminate any surface the camcorder is zoomed in on, making it very useful for spotting enemies from a distance in low light.

There are scripted instances where the protagonist will use their camcorder regardless of the player's input, such as filming the death of Billy Hope and when the Walrider kills Chris Walker. When the Walrider is invisible, the night vision feature can reveal it.

In Outlast 2, the camcorder's appearance differs drastically in comparison to the original, sporting a redesigned HUD with sound detectors for left and right dynamics, which are used by the player to locate visually obscured enemies. Additionally, Blake's camcorder is waterproof, as it is shown when Blake hid underwater, the camcorder took no damage and functioned as before.

Story[]

Outlast[]

When Miles Upshur is captured by Richard Trager, Trager takes the camcorder and props it on a sink to record himself cutting off Miles' fingers.

In the Female Ward, during a botched long jump by Miles, the camcorder falls off Miles' person and into a hole in the ground, forcing him to travel back down to get it as it is still needed to navigate through dark areas. When the camcorder is found and retrieved again, it is badly damaged, with the eye lens being cracked, the camcorder's view malfunctioning and flickering at random times, and its speakers occasionally playing distorted audio effects.

Outlast: Whistleblower[]

The camcorder reappears in Outlast: Whistleblower, and is used by Waylon Park in the same way as in the original game. The camcorder is taken off of a tripod just as the breakout begins.

When retrieving the camcorder after escaping Eddie Gluskin's torture, the player loses all of their batteries and the camcorder's power is nearly depleted.

During the epilogue, a fully-recovered Waylon sits behind a desk while a mysterious man, who's associated with the leaking website, informs him that it will be more than enough evidence to ruin the Murkoff Corporation, but warns Park that doing so will result in Murkoff doing everything it can to punish him in return, including threatening his family. Despite some initial hesitation, Park ultimately decides to take the risk and uploads the video.

Outlast 2[]

The camcorder returns in Outlast 2 and is used by Blake Langermann.

During St. Sybil High School segments, when Blake encounters moments of emotional and psychological distress or is being chased by the school's demonic entity, the camcorder's screen will produce a variety of graphical glitches.

In Golgotha, Blake is captured and crucified by the Scalled and has his camcorder taken from him by Laird Byron, for they believe him to be the Messiah that will cure them of their illness and that his camcorder is his Gospel. After ripping himself free from the cross's nails, Blake bandages himself and later finds the camcorder in a shack owned by Laird.

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Trivia[]

Outlast[]

  • Toggling the camcorder near frosted glass in the asylum will cause the player's field of vision to clip through it for a brief moment, allowing them to peek through walls and look into nearby rooms.
  • During scripted events, the game might fail to register the camcorder being holstered. As a result, the camcorder's HUD will be overlaid across the screen. This can be seen during the crematorium scene with Frank Manera and when Waylon trips in a foggy courtyard.
  • The camcorder model used to generate the cutscene where Miles drops the aforementioned item during a long jump in the Female Ward almost never despawns, meaning that once the player retrieves the newly spawned camcorder, the cutscene camcorder model will still be present next to the counter.
  • The night vision feature is made obsolete if the player chooses to play the game with full gamma and brightness.
  • The crack and flickering on the camcorder once its damaged can be removed by turning effects in the graphics settings to low.
  • Outlast's camcorder is modeled after Sony HDR-CX550V Handycam.
  • The camcorder icon is available as an emoticon on Steam. The same icon is used as a visual cue for when the player acquires new notes.
  • The light bar on the PlayStation 4's controller emits green light when night vision mode is active, dark green when it is out of batteries and white when it is turned off.
  • Outlast's camcorder display design appears slightly different in the first demo version, such as displaying "STBY" in the top left corner instead of "REC: 0:00:00".
  • In the first demo version of Outlast, Miles can carry twenty batteries and reloads four batteries at once as that was the original number required to give the camcorder a full charge. This can still be seen in the retail version for a brief moment; by toggling the camcorder, the battery counter will display 4/20 regardless of how many batteries the player has.
  • In Outlast's Xbox One launch trailer, Trager props the camcorder on a dismembered corpse while preparing for Miles' torture, rather than placing it on the bathroom sink.[1]

Outlast 2[]

  • In the original version of Outlast 2, the built-in microphone, whilst active, would drain the camcorder's battery over time. This was later patched out by the developers to make it less tedious.[2]

References[]

  1. "Outlast Xbox One Launch Trailer". Red Barrels. YouTube (June 19, 2014).
  2. New patch just released!

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