DreadOut 2

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Linda fights back against the ghosts of Indonesian urban legend, phone in one hand and an axe in the other.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
Stores: Steam
Price: Paid
Rated: Mostly Positive on Steam (74% of 2,114 reviews); 3.93 of 5 on the PlayStation Store (535 ratings)
Length: about 6 to 8 hours
Players: 1
Made by: Digital Happiness
Released: 2020

On PlayStation: one of the PlayStation horror games.

Get it on Steam PlayStation Store Xbox Nintendo eShop Official site

What frightens Ghosts from Indonesian folklore and urban legend haunt Linda's hometown and school, from the Kuntilanak to the Gore Surgeon, and she has to face them up close with a phone camera and whatever blade she can find, in bloody, grimy places.
Content: gore, violence, partial nudity, strong language, tobacco use.

DreadOut 2 is the third-person sequel to DreadOut from the Indonesian studio Digital Happiness. Linda Meillinda, a high school student who can see ghosts, hunts the spirits troubling her hometown with her smartphone camera and, new to this game, with melee weapons.

About DreadOut 2

DreadOut 2 was made by the Indonesian studio Digital Happiness, which released it on Steam on 21 February 2020, six years after the first DreadOut. Digerati published it on Xbox in July 2022 and on PlayStation 4 and 5 later that month, and it reached Nintendo Switch in January 2024. Like the first game, it draws its spirits from Indonesian folklore and urban legend, and it is fully voiced in English and Indonesian.

Linda Meillinda is back at school, still able to sense and see ghosts. The spirits and dark forces around her are no longer confined to one forgotten town; they threaten her hometown and, the game says, everyone else as well. You explore the town by day and by night, talk to its residents, living and dead, take on side quests and fill the Ghostpedia app on Linda's phone with the spirits and legends you uncover.

The phone camera from the first game is still how you banish intangible ghosts. What is new is melee combat: axes, cleavers and other weapons, and things to throw, for the ghosts that have a body. Bosses include the Kuntilanak and the Gore Surgeon. The makers describe it as survival action horror, and it plays more as an action game than the first. The places are grimy and often bloody, and the console stores rate it for mature players for blood and gore, language and partial nudity.

Steam players are mostly positive, praising the setting, the ghost designs and the folklore; many are less happy with the combat, especially later bosses that can knock Linda down again before she is up, and with bugs. Critics were cooler: reviews gathered on OpenCritic call the combat clunky and the direction vague while granting it charm and a culture of its own, and an Xbox review met frequent frame drops. It suits players who liked the first DreadOut or want horror built on Indonesian legends and do not mind rough edges.

How to play DreadOut 2

Explore Linda's hometown and school by day, talking to the people you meet and picking up quests.
When an intangible ghost appears, raise the phone and photograph it to banish it.
Pick up axes, knives and other weapons and use them on ghosts that have a body.
Search the town for the items each quest asks for, and check the Ghostpedia to learn about the spirits you meet.
Face the boss spirits that close the acts, using the camera or your weapon as each one needs.

Screenshots

Linda crouches with a bloody cleaver before a gaunt, glowing-eyed ghost holding a blade in a dim, blood-stained courtyard

Linda's phone camera frames a bloodied ghost in a white shirt inside a red targeting circle, with light orbs drifting in a dark courtyard

Linda holds up a glowing phone and reaches toward a floating ghost schoolgirl in the red-lit courtyard of SMU Arwana at night

Linda, phone in one hand and cleaver in the other, faces a hulking skinless monster in a grimy green corridor

Linda holds an axe low as two gaunt pale creatures crawl toward her down a foggy, flashlit tiled corridor

A dim Indonesian classroom: students in white shirts at wooden desks, a teacher at the whiteboard and a long-haired figure among them

Linda walks down a grey, overcast Indonesian street of shophouses, tangled power lines, green minivans and parked scooters

Tips

Use the camera on ghosts you cannot hit; melee only works on those with a body.
Do not trade blows with bosses for long; reviewers warn that some can knock Linda down again before she recovers.
Take the side quests; many are built on local urban legends and fill out the Ghostpedia.
One player found boss hit boxes misbehaved at 4K; a lower resolution helped them.

Questions

Do I need to play DreadOut first?

It helps, since Linda's story continues, but DreadOut 2 is its own game in a new setting. Some players new to the series found the story harder to follow.

How is DreadOut 2 different from DreadOut?

It adds melee weapons and a bigger town to explore by day and night, with side quests and a Ghostpedia, while keeping the phone camera for ghosts you cannot touch. It is more of an action game than the first.

How long is DreadOut 2?

The Life is Xbox review put the story at about 6 to 8 hours, and all the achievements at about 8 to 10.

Is DreadOut 2 on consoles?

Yes. Besides Steam on Windows, it is sold on the PlayStation Store for PS4 and PS5, on Xbox for Xbox One and Series X|S, and on the Nintendo eShop for Switch.