When I first heard that The Outlast Trials was going to switch up the series’ standard single-player gameplay in exchange for a multiplayer affair, I was concerned.  I’ve seen this happen in the past to mostly subpar results and really didn’t want to see my favorite modern horror franchise follow the same path that Resident Evil 5 and Dead Space 3 did when they both ventured out from being straight-up horror games to run and gun Call of Duty-esque shooters. After spending about twenty hours of a week with the game, I can confirm that Red Barrels has taken all of those concerns, stuffed them into a wood chipper, and then burnt the remains down into a fine ash. And then threw the ashes into acid for good measure.

If you’re new to the Outlast series, that’s perfectly fine since this is a prequel that focuses on the early days of the Murkoff Corporation as they run tests on the world’s lost and forgotten, the social rejects that no one will miss if something unfortunate were to happen to them. These are called Regents and you’re now one of them. Your task is to complete a series of trials, also called “therapy,” where you’ll have to complete a somewhat robust series of tasks – some heinous, some benign – to earn your freedom. These include powering up generators, finding keys hidden within corpses, setting up projectors, adjusting radio frequencies, throwing body parts at targets, and seeking out various items that are used for the grisly end of NPCs or mannequins, among other dastardly tasks. Some of these are implied to be hurting children or forms of sexual assault, so if you’re opposed to that, even if most of the victims are mannequins, you might as well turn back now. The good news is that you’re not alone in these trials and will be able to take along three friends (or random people) to add some extra chaos to the hide-and-seek gameplay the series is known for.

One of my fears was how the co-operative gameplay would impact the horror, since being alone is generally something that cranks this to the max and obviously, being with other people would be counterintuitive. This is a situation where it’s actually quite the opposite – there are a number of mechanics in place that will punish you for running off solo at the wrong time. Some doors require two people to open, going through the wrong door at a rabbit’s pace can result in you being downed due to a booby trap that is remedied much easier if you’re working in unison with a teammate, and the relentless killers will often give chase until someone else steals their gaze. At the end of the day, this is one of the best co-op experiences I have played in recent memory, and that includes everyone’s current favorite Helldivers 2. 

One of the best aspects of the cooperative experience is how the audio is handled. Yes, you can join your friends or co-op partners in a party chat or Discord lobby, but you could also just stay in the game chat and let the title do its thing. You see, you’re regularly hit with psychotropic gas that distorts reality, including what you hear. When this happens, there are three levels, and with each, your game chat will become more and more distorted, your partner’s voices will become harder to understand, with the audio levels fluctuating and whatnot in a way that feels like a fever dream. By the time the third level of psychosis hits, you’re going to be chased by the Skinner Man – we’ll circle back to him later, but basically you’ll be on your own until you can find a remedy or meet your death.

If you are concerned that the game cannot be played solo, it is a valid concern, but one that I can put to rest. Kind of. It is possible to play this solo; however, outside of the required areas (the prologue and epilogue), I wouldn’t recommend it. I’d even go as far as to say these are the worst areas of the game thanks to the inability to respawn, even if they are still good in their own right. It’s kind of weird that by the end of the epilogue, I realized that the actual trials were more of a long-form tutorial that was training me on how to escape in the final act. The gameplay remains essentially the same, but you cannot take advantage of the co-op-only actions and are given a small pool of respawns that can be increased by finding extra lives. I haven’t revisited the proper trials since I was new, but my initial solo attempts resulted in failure and it’s largely due to being set loose in a playground meant for four.

The game scales most of the encounters based on how many players are in the game, but it fails to acclimate in the event too many people die or in the worst-case scenario, leave or are disconnected where they cannot be revived. Ideally, the multiplayer levels are at their best when you have a full lobby of people using their mics, but it can be done with fewer or mutes if needed. Your teammates really will make or break the experience and I would encourage you to bring along a few friends you know ahead of time if possible to increase your enjoyment as well as the probability of success. I won’t say I’ve failed any trials because of shitty teammates, but I’ve had a number of them where the random players didn’t help, one of which felt it was fun to sit in a barrel while everyone else did the work, going as far to keep us from moving forward because he wouldn’t join us at a point that required everyone to be grouped up to move forward, only jarring us forward once he finally was booted by the game for inactivity.

Another concern was how the trials would impact replayability and the length of the game, which is still a bit of a valid concern, but Red Barrels has a road map in place with additional content coming down the pipe. As it stands, there are a total of two single-player-only levels, and five areas for co-op play, each with their own smaller tasks within to add some substantial length. With most encounters having randomly placed goals, pickups, and enemy placement, extra encounters planned for the future, two additional difficulties as well as a wealth of cosmetics and upgrades to unlock, as well as weekly events going strong, the content offered is worth the price of admission.

The one part that feels a little weak is the antagonists, as there are only a handful of regular enemies that will stalk you throughout the game. There are multiple skins for most, but at the end of the day there are big and small versions of generic bad guys, one with night vision goggles that make hiding difficult, mimics that will take on the appearance of you or one of your teammates, the Skinner Man who only comes out to play once you’ve reached peak insanity, and then the two big baddies, Leland Coyle and Mother Gooseberry.

Both of these are top-notch Outlast killers who are as entertaining as they are terrifying. Leland is a disgraced guard and former KKK member who will sing This Little Light of Mine as he runs at a rapid pace with his cattle prod that he clearly wants to shove where the sun doesn’t shine if it isn’t clear from seeing all the char marks on the mannequins that litter his areas. Mother Gooseberry is the one that will likely haunt nightmares with her disfigured appearance, split personalities, and duck-power drill-human teeth combo hand puppet. She easily looks like the inbred offspring of Mrs. Doubtfire, Leatherface, and Mr. Rodgers.

The overall presentation of the game is immaculate, both visually and audibly. Everything looks dingy and meticulously placed just to elicit discomfort from the player. Every level is a labyrinth of alternate paths, dead ends, and weird out-of-place assets where you can see scientists and Murkoff bureaucrats looking in on your progress. There is a constant sense of dread that lingers until the rush of racing from the end of the goal to the exit wears off, easily my favorite adrenaline rush from a game this year thus far.

Despite being great, the game isn’t perfect, with a few more pressing issues than what I’ve mentioned. The biggest is that there are some matchmaking issues, where I’ve been stuck in neverending loading screens that required me to dashboard and close out the game to proceed or drop between transitions. Additionally, there is a crossplay system with friend codes, however, they don’t always work on one side and usually require you to try a few times or have the other party try to add you despite using the correct code. The party system could also use some work since it requires going three menus deep to invite or join friends and enter matchmaking, and while functional, is a bit more convoluted than it should’ve been.

Finally, there is the leveling system, which feels kind of grindy and is mostly based on arbitrary grades you receive based on your performance in each trial, ranging from F as in “f*** my life I suck at this game and died” and A+, which is like a unicorn, because in my 30+ runs, I have yet to see myself or anyone else get it. Outside of the obvious F being a complete failure, I don’t seem to get how they are tallied since I have had runs where I did almost all of the objectives solo with newer players, never took damage, and essentially ran flawlessly outside of setting off some sound traps and got a much lower score than my partners who were constantly getting downed, hiding for the duration of the trial, or never touched a single objective.

The Outlast Trials is a prime example of how horror can work in a cooperative setting with its downright disturbing series of events, shocking endings, and horrific antagonists. It’s an easy game for me to recommend with the disclaimer that your mileage is going to vary depending on who and how many players you have available to you. My best runs were over a mic with a few beers in hand alongside friends whom I could revel in victory with and laugh at failure as we figured out the mechanics together, while the worst were with some randoms who didn’t want to participate or lacked the communication skills to truly make the best aspects of the game shine.

9 out of 10

Pros

• The Voice Chat Distortion is Unique and Adds to the Tension
• Horrifying Tasks That Will Test Your Stomach, Patience, and Resolve
• Immaculate Audio and Visuals
• Mother Gooseberry is Nightmare-Inducing

Cons

• Grindy Leveling
• Some Matchmaking Issues
• Some Menus are Convoluted

The Outlast Trials was developed and published by Red Barrels. It is available on PC, PS4, PS5, X1, and XSX. The game was provided to us for review on XSX. If you’d like to see more of The Outlast Trials, check out the developer’s site.

 

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