Apparently a lot of people know about MKUltra. I honestly didn't know about it until I played Outlast. I asked a few people after I received your comments telling me that it's common knowledge, and all those people didn't know about it. Oh well... we all have blindspots. If you haven't heard of MKUltra, could you please respond to this pinned comment and let me know?

The scariest part of MKULTRA is that we only recovered a tiny fraction of the documents.

Its also worth noting that in the first game, there is a note that explains why there are no female patients in the ward. For some reason, one of the bizarre side effects of the experiments was women (patients and female workers alike) were experiencing phantom pregnancies. I love stories that deal with perception vs reality, so I really dug how it was implemented in outlast 2.

The pregnancy in outlast 2 is also connected to the morphogwnic engine, since a note in mount massive reveals that the machine causes phantom pregnancies.

I like the ambiance in outlast 1. The thought of being a survivor among many. As the game continues, there are fewer and fewer living patients. The screams in the distance vanish abruptly. Finally, the only ones left are the murderers, the hidden, and the ones who hid alongside father Martin.

Sorry, but I’m not exactly confident that we are in, have been, or ever will be in “good hands” judging by like all of modern history… there are still people that can’t imagine things like MKUltra even happened

one of the most iconic games to ever exist in my childhood alongside slender, fnaf etc.

Really surprising to me, that there are people out there with such a huge frame of knowledge and yet never heard about mkultra.

Outlast has always been a treasure to me. They don’t need Jumpscares to be scary. The aesthetic is all it needs

The whole scared child aesthetic thing actually is reflected in blakes recordings as he slowly loses his mind and calls the cultists adults.

In short, what made outlast more terrifying is the sense of realism

What's really scary is that everything you could've seen in the Outlast games was done in real life by someone to someone in the different times. Burning alive, being beheaded, quartering, cannibalism... whatever. Pick anything and it was probably already done, apart from turning mentally ill people into a bunch of nano robots (not yet)...

Outlast was scarier imo than outlast 2 but my god they were both masterpieces in their own unique ways

Red Barrels really outdid themselves with the Outlast games. The lore and the connection between the three is phenomenal and it truly is a personal favorite series of mine! They really went all out with the documents and note written down in game and they didn’t shy away with how MKUltra really is. Gotta appreciate the dedication they put into creating the Outlast universe.

"We better hope no corporation gets access to this technology" Well Social Media and advertising companies are built around it already if you think about it. For example a study by Facebook found that they were able to intentionally manipulate the mood of their users.

Could you imagine; being tormented to such an extent and so horrifically that your own mind would be erased? You can't. That's what's so terrifying, and that that unbelievable amount of suffering was experienced by someone somewhere.

Lol. I was just looking at yesterday's community post. Perfect timing! Edit: I'm a little surprised Mk Ultra is new to you. Those experiments also inspired the show Stranger Things.

One of the best horror games ever. Ironically, I find Alien Isolation to be right there with it. The feeling of helplessness.

For me the scary thing is that humans will never learn from the horrors they commit. MKultra was a failure, but the intrinsic paranoia of the human means we will never accept that, so it will be repeated. This keeps happening for everything… even KZfaq videos 🙈

(MGSV spoiler warning) I just wanted to add that MGSV has a lot of hints to the MKUltra project, such as the scene after the final Paz hallucination, where Venom Snake catches the blue monarch butterfly, which was one of the symbols of the project. Nevermind the fact that Venom's memories have been locked out from his conscious, which was one of the main goals of the experiment. Also, in the transition from Cyprus to Afghanistan we can see Ocelot injecting something to Venom, and since Ocelot was aware of Zero's body double shill - this syringe might've contained LSD or other drugs. Hope to see a video covering MGSV in greater detail one day! Especially the Skullface Jeep ride.

In Stephen king's apt pupil an old Nazi war criminal said something profound:"only losers are considered war criminals." This novela was one of the best I ever read.

I have always been intrigued by these kind of games because I was going through same kind of hallucinations as a kid. It was not like fear induced hallucinations/delusion which kids have at night, I believe it was due to some kind of drugs I was given by a doctor because I hit my head from a free fall from 10 feets above the ground. Now you might be thinking why am I so sure about this, but hear me out - that doctor was able to heal all my head injuries, but after healing was done, my medications weren't stopped and he asked my parents to bring me for checkup after every 1 to 2 months, and during the visits he would ask my parents if I panic, or cry, or have change in eating patterns, and me being a 3 year old kid, I wasn't able to tell my parents what was I was going through, so the only thing my parents knew that I would cry endlessly for hours without uttering a word, but they didn't tell the doctor about that because they thought it was normal crying kids do, and they never connected my crying to my mental health because everything was clear in my physical examinations. And I remember so many things which I experienced during those 2 years of medications - I would hear a constant humming of an middle aged man from my pillow, it was a deep voice, and I my imagination told me there's someone sitting inside my pillow, I would start crying because I wanted the voice to stop. Whenever I went to pee, I would see black and long bugs crawling on my legs, I never realised they weren't real, until I got 13 years old and drew figure of same bugs on a paper and showed it to my family members and they said such kind of weird bugs don't exist as far as the had known. And I would see skeleton kind of figure in tv, I would hear kids voices and ringing bells in the midnight and it was all so bizarre. These hallucinations stopped when I got 7 years old, even tho the medications were stopped when I was 5. I highly doubt about those drugs doctor gave me. But I was kid so everything remained buried under the ground.

13:00 theres a loss of data when converting it from analogue to digital. It gets compressed. The main attraction to a vinyl record player is that it is anlologue and has nuances that are lost when made digital. I imagine the same happens when replicating the human mind. I presume the mind ultimately becomes similar to AM from I Have No Mouth. The strongest emotion youd feel would be pain and hatred because such a logical system would know there is no reason for its existence. Life is not logical. It exists for the sake of existing and experiencing.

I was genuinely surprised by the amount of people who weren’t aware of MKUltra. For those interested, I would highly recommend Poisoner in Chief, and The Search For the Manchurian Candidate for further reading. Seriously, once you’ve got a better understanding of MKUltra and the lengths that were taken to conduct it, your mind will be blown. It’s also worth taking a deep dive into Operation Midnight Climax; a sub experiment that also contributed to the overall experiment.

dude you should do a analysis on “the mandela catalogue”. it gets DARK

i really wish they make a live action horror movie of outlast it would really be the best horror movie of all time i can bet my life on it

I love OutLast for its lore. What a horrific sentance... " ...with enough powerful drugs and other extreme measures, Gottlieb found, it is possible to break a human mind..." Hopefully OutLast Trials will delve into more of this type of disturbing real life horror as Trials supposedly focuses on human experimentation...

i always adored outlast because it's the only game that genuinely terrified me but i did not know it was based on real events which just makes 100 times more terrifying. I'm not a US citizen so i just didn't even know such thing as MKultra even existed.

man. when you talk about being able to see the boogeyman based on belief, i remember being unbelievably terrified of things like the tank and charger from L4D2 - to the point where I was starting to seriously hallucinate moments where I'd see them in the dark, as if they were waiting to absolutely murder me the moment i stepped within range

I didn't know Outlast was about MKUltra. Makes me wanna play it now.

I remember having my mind blown first time I heard about *MKUltra* from the book *The* *Men* *Who* *Stare* *At* *Goats* based on a real story. Sadly there are many others though history, some even more horrifying. Look up: *The* *Tuskegee* *study,* *Japan's* *Unit* *731,* *The* *USSR* *Humanzee* *Scandal,* *The* *Twins* *of* *Auschwitz* and even *The* *Stanford* *Prison* *Experiment* (just to mention a few).

more outlast coverage please. that was incredible.

I was surprised to find out you haven't heard about MKUltra. I thought at this point its existence is a common knowledge since it's such a huge cultural thing and a source of inspiration for many horror movies and videogames. It even inspired Stranger Things among other stuff.

If I recall correctly in the expansion of the first game you find a document explaining the morphogenic engine allowed the human body to generate organic "nanites" . they are tied to the host body and dude was still in the device because somebody wanted to use Wallrider as a weapon

I researched tf out of MK Ultra when I was 14 to 16, it was incredibly interesting and I was shocked but ofc heavily intrigued. It was cool that this actually came up in this video few years later

I’d love you to go into a in-depth analysis of the individual variants of Outlast such as Chris Walker, the Groom, and Trager

Thanks so much! Outlast's lore has always intrigued me and made it out stand more amongst other horror games!

Outlast… havent heard that name in a while

Thanks max! Once again you succeeded to shed a new light on games I looked over! Gotta play this again for sure, happy October!

Outlast 1 and 2 are the most terrifying games I’ve played and I never get scared much but that game is something different

I really enjoy this series of games so I would definitely be happy if more videos on the subject were to come

One of the games I just can’t play. I HATE being chased so much. Edit to add: holy shit. I may have to give this another go.

Fun fact, the unibomber was one of the subjects of the mkultra experiment!

Always look forward to your videos, Mr. Max. I'm quite interested in these games now. The Morphogenic Engine is particularly interesting to me. I've been a student of my dreams and a lucid explorer for as long as I can remember.

Oh boy there's a whole Dark World of America most don't know about, or worse don't care for.

“Outlast 1&2 didn’t effect me like it effects you”. What a brave edgelord.

Interesting, I never payed attention to the documents in the game now I feel like replaying it. Great video as always!

Manhunt was crazy back in the day

I love outlast, that game is one of my favourites and to see that there is still content made about it makes me so happy

Once I researched the things about outlast it terrified me and it made outlast scarier than what it is. Then on top of that it goes into details on what they’ll do on the letters in the game. It gives me chills, I like that type of horror

I've been waiting for this video for so long. Great job, Max!

im so thankful for max's videos

Loved it man!

Well done video. 3 months ago I became interested in the Outlast series again and I started researching the lore, that's how I found about MK-Ultra and other similar projects. I'm European, that's why I've never heard of this before. I cannot wait for The Outlast Trials in 2022, this game will be set during the cold war and the player will get to directly experience being a MK-Ultra (or other similar project) test subject.

Another real-world event referenced in Outlast - although I don't think they ever actually mention it by name - is Operation Paper Clip, the program whereby Allied nations recruited Nazi scientists after WW2. Dr Wernicke is pretty much confirmed as part of that program.

3:47 Gotta love that good old American paranoia (and competitiveness) the Russians might be developing mind-control techniques so we gotta do it first! It's also basically how the atom bomb was created... "Well the bad guys are surely working on it, so we gotta beat them to it and use it on them before they do it to us!" I guess that's how it goes, for better or for worse... Anyway, keep up the great work Max, your stuff is always some of the most interesting interpretations of media that I've seen, always so eye-opening!

Outlasts lore is utterly phenomenal. So deep and dark. I didn’t originally enjoy outlast 2 as much as the original, but the lore made up for it in big ways. Easily one of the scariest franchises out there

Awesome video Max! You did a great job at highlighting how deep the Outlast lore really goes and why it’s so spOooOoOOoky. It’s one of the reasons why the first Outlast (and Whistleblower DLC) is my favourite horror game of all time…

A movie released a month or so ago called "Hypnotic", I highly recommend it regrading the video subject is about hypnosis and MKULTRA experiments.

Great video as always. Taking my favorite medium that is video games and taking a deeper dive into its hidden meanings and references either done intentionally or subconsciously 😁

This was literally me until I learned about the story and disturbing things that the variants endured. I can’t wait to play outlast trials

Ahh this makes me want a Ghost in the Shell video from you, maybe 2 at least because the tachikoma development in the Stand Alone Complex series deserves its own video as well. Yea, fingers crossed.

This was a great video Max Derrat! Thank you 🙏

You should make a game analysis on Dead Space it has not only good sci-fi lore to it but it has interesting takes on mental health decline, hallucinations, and Dementia.

I was thinking about playing outlast for few years and the reason I haven't played it is that I find this game a little bit too jumpy ( don't get me wrong...I'm no amatuer to survival horror games )but today I decided to play it...it looks interesting so far...

I'm happy to see outlast still getting talked about lol

Great video, keep it up man. This must have taken a lot of time and effort for you, thank you mate.

Great video, Max. Loooooove Outlast. So glad you enjoyed researching MKUltra. I'm surprised you haven't looked into Doki Doki Literature Club yet, what with its A.I, Simulation, Horror and very Meta themes. I'd love to see your take on them :)

Outlast 1 and the dlc made me genuinely braver and i love them for it

The creators of the game deal with a very interesting subject by having the main antagonist be the murkoff corporation. While the original MKultra experiments were carried out by the CIA, as the material reality of our country changed with the rise of neoliberalism, which was the privatization of many of the state’s role in the economy, you also see a privatization of the state’s role in national security. We have companies like Black water who have been trying to replace the role of US soldiers with private mercenaries, there’s also companies like Palantir who are trying to privatize intelligence gathering. It would not surprise me if some of the companies who are advocating for open access to psychedelic research and testing, and stuff like that also maybe wanna take up the role of the cia in testing how far they can mess with the human brain. Scary stuff.

I loved researching about MKUltra, especially since some of the experiments took place where I live, so it makes it that much more eerie

Great content as always. I really love the Outlast Universe. I think it's extremely underrated and can be expanded upon in very interesting ways. Comparing to Amnesia, the unnatural forces in Outlast to me feel more sinister and dreadful in nature. In the good scary kind of way.

Hey Max! Have you ever played Deadly Premonition? I feel it may really suit your general analysis and I would love to see something on it from you. Was just curious!

With the release of outlast trials. I surely be excited to see your thoughts on how the game will be exploring more mk ultra. Since the game is a prequel and redbarrels want to elaborate on the history of the mk ultra.

i LOVE outlast ONLY bc of the story basically, and also the scenes and aesthetic. Like it reallyt gets me involved

Corben, the MVP in this video. Great video! As always.

Don't coorporations already have access to that kind of technology? I mean, isn't the constant feeding of small serotonin doses that social media gives to the average user, exactly what makes them think it's not harmful? Don't get me wrong, I use it myself (obviously, since I'm here eh), but there's a lot of artificially created dependency going on. It's not like addicts do that because they conscously think it's a good thing to look at instagram for hours. They do it because their subconscious wants them to.

There's no way this technology would ever find moral hands.

The first time I heard about MKUltra was in an essay about Silent Hill P.T. , having this knowledge now gives you a new perspective on the game.

I remember as a child being visited one night by a darkness that covered the ceiling of my bedroom above me, I remember later the feeling of absolute evil. Later, and now, I do not know if it happened or not. Is it a repressed memory? Or a nightmare of a much younger child forgotten then remembered but unable to remember it was a nightmare? Similarly, but much nicer I remember dancing globes of multi coloured lights again I do not know if something had visited me, I don't even know if it actually happened. But as an older child I remember that something had happened when I was even younger. What these things were? Dream, nightmare or actualities? I think it's important not to just dismiss these things as they open up thoughts about the nature of things, false memories, repressed memories, visitation from other worldly beings.

Props to corbin for his help 👏

The title of video is wrong, it should be "Why Outlast is More Terrifying Than I Thought"

A little shocked this was your first run in with anything based off MK Ultra research, neways great video as always

Outlast has been the first ever horror game to actually introduce me into the genre. At the same time after finishing the first and second game, I kept wondering if experiments like these actually happened, given that we still have lots of supplies and resources, with nearly 8 billion individuals living on Earth which meant that many of them could have actually ended up becoming test subjects of gruesome experimentations.

Max, another astute analysis as always. I was never a fan of the gameplay of Outlast either, and as far as I know I'm neurotypical, I'm not wholly sure if that has something to do with it. I love horror, and your analyses are always on point. Stay awesome, Max, and I'll do my best to stay yellow.

I'm curious as to if Outlast is not your type of game in the horror genre, what is it that you do prefer? Can you recommend a horror game you actually liked?

just moved across the country to buffalo,, theres an old asylum 2 blocks from my new place. i looked it up and its the place the first game was based off. kinda sad to see all the homless back home in the street and i move here and theres places for the mentaly ill to be cared for empty

Can't believe this game is based and inspired on events from my city, terrible things that happened but what a great way to shed light on the past

Mkultra was never a failure

Yes! More Outlast! And also I know this is a lot easier said than done but Rule of Rose would make for very good content.

Good video! Very good explanations

Facts at the beginning because I played Halo CE (the flood were scary at first for me) and GTA and DeadSpace (&other horror games) at a young age I am so desensitized to horror now, thanks for this I have a new appreciation now

Great video Max! To anyone who is either new to MK Ultra, or would like a good comprehensive dive into it's history - even far enough back to it's scientific roots in Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, then I recommend the Chilluminati podcast on Mathas' channel. They did a pretty frank 4 part series on MK Ultra that is definitely worth a listen.

Your intro was pretty much entirely my thoughts on Outlast as well. The new Amnesia game struck me the same way

Good video! Common, temple gate gotta have some reference to the „James Town“ incident or the „staircase to heaven“ Incident :/ or maybe also part of the Charles Manson murders? Idk why, but I like to think of it that way.

yes please, also, that tech reminds me of the declasified Stargate proyect term 'psiquic technology' and Jacobo Grinberg's case and his reaserch into 'Transfered potential'

I remember my mother telling me that an unclean would encourage opossum's to infest my room. I believed her, as she is my mom. I was so terrified of what she said, that I full on imagined that there was one in my room. There wasn't of course, but the power of suggestion paired with my trust of and dependence on my mother made it real enough. To this very day she doesn't see this as being abusive. A misuse of trust, used against what was then a young child's mind.

Whistleblower is the best game, all killer no filler, the story is barebones but there's actual progression unlike the terrible ending in the first game and incomprehensible storytelling in 2. Whistleblower knows exactly what it is and does a great job of doing it

the way that i found THE brain graphics a day after i watched the termina video Great work!

Thanks for this. I was never going to play the game my self, I find the story VERY interesting, but like you the gameplay not so much. I would love to hear more about the lore of the games.