The Outlast Trials

With co-op-based horrors such as Dead By Daylight and Phasmophobia exploding in popularity in recent years, developer Red Barrels decided to take a different path when creating the latest entry in the Outlast franchise. The Outlast Trials takes many of the franchise's core staples and adapts them to this growing trend, making for the biggest departure in the series that we've seen to date. Released in Steam Early Access last May, the game is now releasing this week on PlayStation and Xbox consoles.

The Outlast Trials sees you play as an unnamed test subject who has been forced against their will by the Murkoff Organisation to participate in a series of horrific trials. Taking place during the Cold War era, these unethical experiments have been designed to test procedures of brainwashing and mind control, and completing them will lead to your freedom. That's if a shady organisation complicit in murder is worthy of being trusted!

Unlike previous Outlast titles, you can select between several trials that can be faced either solo or with a group of up to four players. These trials require you to complete a series of basic objectives, whilst sneaking through the shadows and evading the capture of nightmarish creatures. The structure of each trial is a little repetitive, but their varied environments help to keep things fresh. In the first two hours, I found myself clinging to survival in a blood-spattered courthouse, an abandoned police station, and a carnival.

Before heading into a trial, players can select between one of four rigs (player classes): X-Ray Rig, Blind Rig, Stun Rig, and Heal Rig. Each of these rigs comes with its own skill trees that can be upgraded after completing trials, and they all offer their own unique roles for team-based play. Players with the X-Ray, for example, can temporarily see enemies through walls, players with the Heal rig can heal themselves and their teammates, and the Stun and Blind rigs can be used to disarm traps and stun enemies.

When it comes to choosing to play either solo or with a team, I can honestly see pros and cons on both sides. Playing solo is the most suspenseful option, as you can't rely on other teammates to stumble into the path of danger and distract enemies for you. The main drawback though is that the game feels built for co-op, with many of the objectives feeling purposely repetitive for multiple people to split between them and complete. Luckily, if you don't have friends who own the game, matchmaking is simple and pain-free, making it easy to join a random trial or search for players to assist you.

The sense of dread and helplessness that the original titles nailed perfectly is very much alive in Trials, and I was constantly on the edge of my seat. With no way of defending yourself, you have no choice but to sneak past the many horrific monsters and avoid the broken glass and noise traps in your path. Enemies will also jump out of hiding places, traps will unexpectedly trigger when you grab consumables, and the new psychosis mechanic will distort your vision and cause you to wildly hallucinate until you find a cure.

The camera mechanic, which is a true staple of the series, makes a return here albeit in a different form. Using the night vision goggles drilled into your skull, you can illuminate your path ahead by pressing the triangle button (on PlayStation), but this must be used sparingly. Using the camera drains your battery and without power, you'll be left completely vulnerable. The game heightens your paranoia during these moments too, as mannequins and cardboard cut-outs, which suspiciously look like enemies, are scattered throughout.

With The Outlast Trials being a multiplayer experience, I was concerned whether it would offer players a compelling reason to keep returning. Luckily, I found the trials to feel highly replayable, and I can see myself revisiting them again and again in the future. At the end of each trial, you are graded for your performance and you earn money that you can spend personalising your character and your own room within the facility. You can also experiment each time with using different rigs and playing solo vs with a group.

One point of frustration I did encounter is that the game doesn't offer you a map or a clear way for you to track your objectives. The game only tells you where your next objective is once you're in its surrounding area, which is frustrating considering that you'll often be running around in circles trying to get monsters off your back. This is made even worse when you have to transport items such as fuel canisters that you can't run with.

After an almost seven-year hiatus, The Outlast Trials makes for a bold return for the series, one that takes it in a surprising new direction, but doesn't compromise on what made the previous two titles so compelling for horror fans. It's bloody, tense, and downright terrifying, and I found its new multiplayer focus to give it plenty of replay value, despite having a few minor shortcomings. If possible, I would recommend checking this one out with a full team in co-op, but it's still a bloody good time if you choose to brave its horrors alone.