The Outlast Trials (Early Access)

It hasn't been a perfect journey for Red Barrel's Outlast series. The first was hailed as a fantastic horror experience where we got to explore a mental hospital, like a journalist. The second countered with its inspiration from films like Children of the Corn and had us hiding in North American cornfields. The sequel was more strongly characterised by religious cults and hunting scenes. However, it didn't impress everyone with its game mechanics that resulted in a lot of trial and error. The Outlast: Trials skips all that and places us chronologically before the first game.

You are a homeless/nameless character that you choose the appearance of at the beginning. Your character is subjected to horrific experiments and you are released into the world with your psychiatrist as your only friend. He will continuously talk to you, guiding you between missions. You are trapped in a giant warehouse where the experiments take place, with this warehouse surrounded by other newly built structures designed to resemble a small town. The test subjects have then been set free, and you, with up to three extra friends, are let loose in this crazy world.

It's clear that The Outlast: Trials is designed for four players. Although the narrative weighs in on the levels, it's immediately apparent that this is best enjoyed with others. To load into a level, you enter one of four rotating doors, or sit in one of four chairs. Therefore, it probably doesn't surprise you that my time with the game was characterised by a lot of replayed and reused levels, for so-called "trials". You choose a mission, your loadout, and can then jump into the level based on the parameters you set before and complete the mission you chose. Gameplay-wise, it differs slightly from its predecessors without losing the identity Outlast is known for. You can open doors slowly, enemies chase you if you're spotted, and the horror is ever-present.

What I found frustrating are already well-established tricks in the genre. In an early level, you have to sneak into a police station and kill a witness. You start shooting him and the power goes out, and now, you now have to figure out how to go down into the basement, repair, refill and restart the generators. Usually you can see the objectives and the end of the missions in front of you, but you'll have to run a marathon around the objective before you can complete it all. It works better with several other players, and this is because extra players can carry more items, solve puzzles together, and complete the levels more easily. If you're alone, you retain more of the horror elements, but you still don't get a focused narrative with established protagonists, as in previous installations of the series.

Taking on missions is quite smooth. Gameplay-wise, there are many similarities with its predecessors. You don't have a camera this time but are given night vision goggles instead. You can recharge these when the energy runs out, using batteries you find, but you need to conserve resources. The story does a decent job of selling its theme and connecting it to the series' narrative. I won't give anything away, but there are goodies to be found if you want to know more about this universe. I especially liked the world design, as the environments are broken down, destroyed and lived in, and it reminds me of the scenes from cities with recent violent riots. You can also find artefacts and collectibles to add to this effort. The maps are not only populated by bosses and enemies, but also people who want to be left alone. Although the maps you move through represent buildings and other things, Red Barrels has done a great job with its environments.

The question remains whether this is really what fans of the first and second instalments are looking for. Some gameplay aspects, such as the identity of the series and the visual design are similar to its predecessors. The layout, mission design, and level design is reminiscent of Dead By Daylight, Last Year: The Nightmare, Back 4 Blood, and Phasmophobia. It's a sharp change of genre on about the same level as between Dawn of War and Dawn of War II. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I like the latter more than the former, for example. I've had quite a bit of fun avoiding enemies, hiding from monsters, and making my way through the levels. Having abilities that make this easier is always good, for example, you can choose an ability before you start that allows you to knock down barricades faster, or escape more easily. At the same time, I miss the more well-directed style of the mainline games.

There is now however, a hub you return to between missions. Your home base is a cell in a ward of the mental hospital/institution. There are beds, rooms and some characters you can buy things from. This is where you plan with your allies, test your loadout, buy what you need. I'm curious to see if it wins people over. I have no doubt that this is a bit of a test, ironically, for an eventual third game, however, I want to emphasise right now that I prefer horror alone. Good cooperative modes usually involve compromises for solo players, which is true here. For example, the immersion takes a bit of a hit when you have to choose missions, maps, look for players in the lobby and more, instead of having cutscenes and a new level right away.

Despite its focus on cooperation, I love the design of the world, the characters, and the sound is great. The universe is also generally still interesting. However, I find that the horror disappears quickly, although the enemy variety is good and you constantly feel exposed. When you go through the same level several times in a row with different missions together with friends, the fear level decreases slightly. At the same time, it's well done for what it is. You get competent voice acting, solid graphics, good art direction and a fairly well-functioning game. There are technical flaws, the AI needs polishing and these are things the developers are working on. But, it is not in its 1.0 version yet, as here we get an Early Access version.

Still, I wouldn't advise you to play The Outlast: Trials by yourself. I would recommend that you check this out if you want to try something new with a couple of friends and happen to like Outlast. However, cosmetic things like painting your prison cell and other things don't really engage me, even though the options were many and there was plenty to unlock with currencies you earn after missions.

The conflict between the series' legacy and this new step is noticeable. I'm torn, on the one hand I'm excited about something new, yet on the other hand, the levels don't hold up to the amount of playthroughs I'm asked to complete. It gets tiring too quickly. Whilst I prefer horror alone, I know that many people love to tackle scary things together and this can be interesting. At the end of the day, it's a competent foundation that needs a little more work during Early Access, so that the 1.0 version is as good as it can be.

If the developers manage to fix some of the problems I experience, add more content and polish their work, it may end up with a higher rating. But, as it stands, I have been entertained but not impressed. Some aspects are good and others are flawed. If you have a bunch of mates and want to play something unpleasant, this is something to keep an eye on. I leave the Early Access version with the hope that it will become a stable multiplayer spinoff. My rating is also somewhat justified by a disappointment that it is created for a different audience than the first and second versions, as I quickly realised that I was not as engaged with this in the same way as with its predecessors.