![]() This game was previewed on PC, with code provided by the publisher.Set in the Cold War era, the good folks at Murkoff Corporation inadvertently recruit human guinea pigs to test advanced methods of brainwashing and mind control. The Outlast Trials will launch on Steam on May 18, 2023. There’s an attention to detail here that isn’t often seen in co-op horror, and I believe The Outlast Trials will genuinely freak its players out, just as the series’ debut did in 2013. I have high hopes that The Outlast Trials might just be one of the best multiplayer horror titles of the year. Nice to see the game is living up to its name, then. ![]() While there are a few creases that still need ironing out, Red Barrels has not only brought the Outlast series back to form with The Outlast Trials’ brutality, scares, and fascinating subject matter, but it’s revitalised the series with its ‘trials’ format and by branching into co-op, too. The Outlast Trials has certainly come a long way since its beta period back in October. Let’s not forget that your own friends might end up stabbing you in the back, too… Will you survive each Trial and escape the facility alive? Alas, these enemies truly catch you off guard, especially if you’re walking by any seemingly unattended desks, or you’re desperately trying to find a locker to hide in to find that it’s already occupied. The Outlast Trials is more brutal than ever before with enemies reminiscent of Resident Evil 4’s Ganados, and Berserker-type enemies we’ve seen in multiple horror games before, you’d think tackling enemies and navigating trials would be easy enough. The Outlast series has always been brutal, and Outlast (2013) was one of the first games I had to turn off and on again repeatedly because I simply became too scared. Whether you’ll have the mental fortitude to make it out alive –or sane – is the main question here.Īnd that’s because The Outlast Trials, in my brief experience with it, is genuinely terrifying. You’ll be awarded with points and cash for successful completion, and will be one step closer to your escape. These programmes are then made up of those eponymous trials different objectives you or your team must complete to pass the test and move onto whatever sadistic experiment comes next. This isn’t the only time you see Red Barrels implement inspiration from other media either, and it’s very pleasant to notice amongst all the blood-spattered corridors, guttural screams, and death traps.Įach program takes part in a different area of Murkoff’s secret facility, each of which is essentially a movie set of mannequins, traps, and dreadful abominations that want nothing more than to bash your skull in. ![]() You’ll need to have completed plenty of ‘therapy’ to access these, though, giving The Outlast Trials a little bit of a Fallout vibe that I did not expect to see. There’s also the likes of rigs and medication that can be unlocked later in the game, aiming to assist you and your squad with these treacherous trials. Trials are made up of various sets, making it almost feel like you're taking part in a very elaborate movie. Playing solo makes The Outlast Trials all the more scary, but with a team onboard, things feel a lot more manageable – friends become a buffer to the sheer terror at play – even if enemies are more powerful as a result. That said, there’s a much bigger focus on co-operative play here than ever before rather than progressing through a linear story, the narrative here consists of programs and trials. What that freedom actually entails, however (and whether it’s freedom whatsoever) remains unknown.Īs one of Murkoff’s pawns, completely at the whim of its doctors, The Outlast Trials feels closer to the original game than the sequel, which was a relief to me. You – assumedly abducted by Murkoff to involuntarily participate in this array of experiments – become the company’s guinea pig, forced to take on the cruelest of ordeals in a bid for freedom. Night vision cameras remain, and you best hope your battery doesn't run out. ![]() As you awake inside a secret Murkoff facility, fellow inmates cowering around you, with doctors watching you peer through the glass, it’s immediately clear that whatever is happening here isn’t, morally, okay. Maybe I’m biased as a hound for psychology, but The Outlast Trials primarily touches on the concept of MKUltra and sleeper agents two things that will fascinate any conspiracy-theory folk for a lifetime. With inspiration from movies such as Saw 2, Cube, and 31 – alongside The Stanford Prison Experiment, The Manchurian Candidate, and more – The Outlast Trials is equal parts gore and psychological horror not only is it, so far, a horrifying experience that will chill you to the bone, but it is a genuinely fascinating narrative to slowly pick apart, too. Check out the Closed Beta trailer for The Outlast Trials here.
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