When Outlast Trials first launched in Early Access, I previewed the game and described it as having the potential to be one of the best multiplayer horror games out there. As The Outlast Trials prepares to launch version 1.0, I can safely say that my high expectations for the game haven’t quite been realized yet – but that doesn’t mean The Outlast Trials isn’t enjoyable by any means.
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Outlast Trials achieves an impressive level of atmosphere and sound design, and it looks great. It’s polished, it’s original, and it improves the single-player experience significantly since I last played it, but it’s lacking when it comes to content that’s highly replayable and doesn’t feel repetitive. Considering The Outlast Trials is the series’ first attempt to offer “live service” multiplayer with all the horror and horror of the original Outlast game, you’d expect the trials and plans offered to players to have a longer lifespan . No. After about 15 hours, things actually start to feel more mundane rather than scarier, but that doesn’t stop the occasional jump scare from scaring you silly.
Outlast Trials departs from the linear story we’re used to in Outlast and Outlast 2, instead taking players into a laboratory led by the one and only Murkoff Corporation. The notorious organization’s inhumane experiments on innocent civilians are far from over, and this time, it’s seeing how hard it can go to force ordinary people (agents) to become sleeper agents for the government. If you’re a fan of psychological experiments, the death-defying gameplay of the Saw series, and the conspiracy theories surrounding MKUltra, then you’ll undoubtedly find The Outlast Trials and its evidence logs (files where you can gain more knowledge) to be very interesting. But are they interesting enough to take it to the final trial? I’m not sure, especially considering you could have run away long before that.
As a result, you will wake up as an agent in a facility, where you must choose from various trials or levels and complete some of the craziest goals to earn your freedom (if you can call it that) if). Some of the gruesome objectives you’ll complete include exposing animatronic orphans to religious paraphernalia and feeding them some poor man’s blood as some kind of sick sacrament. You’ll later feed them bleach soup, grind them into a pulp, and behead them with acid, all while being followed by disgraced TV personality Mama Gooseberry and corrupt and perverted police officer Sergeant Coyle.
Gooseberry, Coyle, and other enemies used to be unforgiving in Early Access. They still do, but the route they take to hunt players seems to have changed a bit, and they no longer frequently appear in important areas and prevent players from completing objectives. Best of all, the single-player experience (which previously felt impossible) has been improved with the addition of the Rebirth Pill, giving players a second chance and making mission objectives more accessible to those who dare to take on the challenge alone.
In single-player, the experimentation may take a little longer, but the horror factor of the original Outlast is still there, as are the night-vision goggles that fans of the series know and love. I’d go so far as to say that Trials of Escape feels more satisfying in single-player, with more time to think about what you’re doing and why, read evidence logs, and talk to engineers, nurses, and others. People who frequent the facility where you live. Here are some treats truly fit for a legendary goblin.
In between trials, players will earn financial rewards and unlock new cosmetics to decorate their room or character, which is certainly a nice touch. While your coins are reserved for cosmetics, you’ll also have USD currency, which allows you to purchase a range of enhancements. The Nurse will provide character upgrades that allow you to slide and stun enemies where needed, while the Engineer provides gear that can be used to gain X-ray vision or heal teammates during trials.
Later in the game, you’ll also encounter the Shadow Lady, who can provide you with more skills and tools to use in your trials. The first is the slippers, which allow you to walk through the noise trap without being noticed, which was very necessary for me as I successfully triggered the noise trap 111 times in one trial.
All in all, Red Barrels has clearly come up with a lot of different features to try and make The Outlast Trials a live-service game, but it’s being delivered to an increasingly hungry but oversaturated gaming market. While trials often change the locations of objectives and traps, and there are a few different maps (from a police station, to an arcade, to a toy factory, etc.), the objectives generally feel the same, save for a few standout moments.
These moments, while great (you sometimes get to throw hearts at arcade attractions, which is fun), aren’t enough to make the ultimately mundane nature of fetching, running, and hiding any more exciting. Not enough to make the average player want to keep going after reaching a certain point.
A big part of me believes that Trials of Escape – with more seamlessness between trials and objectives rather than redesign and repetition – could make for an amazing single-player game, Multiplayer is also an option. Despite my misgivings, Outlast Trials ended up being a game that I had a lot of fun playing, with absolutely no compromises on quality, and Red Barrels should be commended for that. Its packaging, shipping and delivery are all given great attention by the developers. Sadly, when it comes to a game’s replayability, I’ll probably revisit it occasionally with friends, just like I would revisit Phasmophobia or Lethal Company, but that’s about it.
But if you’re looking to scare yourself senseless and expose yourself to a plethora of shocking scenarios as a Murkoff reagent, with or without friends, Escape Trial is undoubtedly worth your money, retailing for Released for £24.99/$29.99 (via Steam), but if you’re expecting a game you can replay in 2024 and beyond, I’d temper your expectations.
Trials of Escape will be released on March 5, 2024 on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. This review was conducted on a PC using code provided by the publisher.
