Hold on to both dear life and your sanity in The Outlast Trials! Read to find out if the early access game's story, graphics, and co-op gameplay are worth your money in our review.
The Outlast Trials Review and Score Explanation
The Outlast Trials Score Explanation
| Overall | A great title despite still being in early access. The Outlast Trials is a terrifying game, though it’s currently held back by its single-player difficulty and a small amount of content. |
|---|---|
| Story | The Outlast Trials gives some context to the first two games in the Outlast series. However, unless you’re really into the Outlast series’ universe, there's not much depth. |
| Gameplay | The gameplay is classic Outlast, with the addition of gadgets and co-op. The enemies are terrifying, and you’ll have to be creative in evading them. But if you’re not playing with friends, you’ll be missing out on the full experience. |
| Visuals | The graphics are top-notch. They show every bit of severed flesh, speck of blood, and other grisly details in stunning fashion. The late 50s aesthetic of the game makes the game look more unique and reminiscent of Bioshock. |
| Audio | Sound design is a big part of The Outlast Trials because you will have to depend on it to survive. The game makes good use of its soundtrack, ambient sounds, and voice acting to keep the player tense throughout their playthrough. |
| Value for Money | It could be worth your money if you’re up to playing the same four missions over and over again. Also, there’s the promise of more trials that will be released in upcoming seasons, so you will have more content to play with in the future. |
The Outlast Trials Review: Outlast With Friends!
The Outlast Trials is a thrilling multiplayer addition to the Outlast series. Now, you and your friends get to suffer through unspeakable horrors together. The co-op mode is great and offers a lot of fun as long as you can coordinate decently with your teammates.
Single-player, meanwhile, is a lot more difficult. Difficult, but not impossible. Still, some players will inevitably be playing this game by themselves. We hope that Red Barrels eventually balances the number of objectives given during single-player and co-op. This way, they can avoid having the trials become a tedious list of chores for a lone player.
The Outlast Trials Full Game Review
Pros of The Outlast Trials
| Things The Outlast Trials Got Right |
|---|
 Terrifying Co-Op Gameplay Chilling Atmosphere and Sound Design Interesting Progression System and Abilities Interesting Themes and Backstory |
Terrifying Co-Op Gameplay
Cooperative gameplay lies in the heart of The Outlast Trials. Every map is built around having multiple Reagents working together to solve puzzles, distract enemies, and complete their objectives. But even with the increased player count, the game doesn’t become too easy to too hard to play. It feels just right.
Need to push the Snitch to the execution chamber but a big grunt is in your way? Three of your mates could distract the big guy, while you cart the Snitch to his ultimate fate. Need to tune multiple radio sets so that the children can hear the voice of God? Instead of tuning them one by one, the whole team can tune a radio by themselves to save time. Red Barrels managed to capture the essence of the “Prisoner’s Dilemma” in co-op. Are you going to work with your fellow prisoners, or ditch them? If you ditch them, you’ll have a harder time surviving on your own. That’s why teamwork is paramount.
It gets even more interesting once you start unlocking RIGs, which are items that you can use at least once per level to give yourself and your teammates some sort of advantage. You can heal those around you, stun enemies, lay mines that blind them with gas, or see through walls so the other players will know where enemies are. Each person can equip one of each RIG, and they’ll be nigh unstoppable as long as they work together properly.
Overall, The Outlast Trials is a great party game to play with friends. Even with the multiplayer aspect, it still feels like a true Outlast game. Only this time, you get to suffer with other people too.
Chilling Atmosphere and Sound Design
Another thing Red Barrels did great with The Outlast Trials is the game’s atmosphere. You’re in the Sinyala Facility as a guinea pig for a bunch of trials that will push your sanity to its limits, and it shows.
While you’re exploring the crude, blood-covered recreations of police stations, orphanages, and carnivals, you’ll get to see these little windows where scientists are watching your every move, uncaring toward your plight. There are cameras everywhere, as well as elevator doors which the Murkoff Corporation will deploy enemies from. There are also parts of the map that are pitch black, with only your NV goggles providing any sort of light. All of this is wrapped in a late 50s aesthetic that is very reminiscent of Bioshock.
Part of what sells this atmosphere is the sound design. The game knows how to amp up the music when you’re spotted by enemies and running away from them and make it more mellow when you’ve finally climbed into a hiding spot. The audibility of enemy footsteps and dialogue is direction-based too, so you at least have a general idea of where they are. All this results in a very immersive and tense experience.
Interesting Progression System and Abilities
One thing that’s different about The Outlast Trials compared to other games in the series is that you have access to a variety of RIGs, AMPs, and Prescriptions. I’ve already explained what RIGs are. AMPs, meanwhile, are buffs you can equip yourself with, while Prescriptions are extra abilities that will help you move faster or do additional actions to give your enemies the slip.
To get these upgrades, you’ll have to first unlock their vendors to increase your Therapy Level. Once that’s done, you’ll have to play the trials over and over again to get more Vouchers, which is the currency used to pay for upgrades. Once you’ve upgraded your skills enough, you can take on the trials at higher difficulties. Once you’ve completed all of them, you’ll unlock ‘Program X’, which is the culmination of what you’ve seen throughout the other trials. Once you complete that, you get Release Tokens. Get enough Release Tokens, and Murkoff will finally set you free.
The question is, once you get to that point, would you want to become free again?
Interesting Themes and Backstory
The Outlast Trials are divided between ‘Programs’ wherein you’ll find the main Trial, two smaller “MK-Challenges”, and two versions of the main Trial in increased difficulty levels. Each of these programs discusses different things the Murkoff Corporation wants you to learn. In this current season, you’ll experience total obedience, religious indoctrination, and the preservation of the purity of children, along with other trippy stuff.
The game manages to sell the feeling that, through these trials, your psyche is being molded by the Murkoff Corporation for some ulterior purpose. What that purpose is, it probably involves chucking a lot of people into grinders.
The Outlast Trials also has something for those who are into Outlast’s lore: Secret documents detailing the goings-on at the Murkoff Corporation, which could clear up some things that happened in Outlast 1 and 2. It’s not important to collect these documents, but they’re a nice touch nonetheless.
Cons of The Outlast Trials
| Things That The Outlast Trials Can Improve |
|---|
|
Single-Player Can Be Tedious Game Gets Repetitive After A While Friends Needed To Do Co-Op Decently |
Single-Player Can Be Tedious
Each trial in The Outlast Trials has a lot of objectives, but not too many for four people to handle. Playing by yourself, however, is a different story. For example, at the Police Station trial, you’re supposed to infiltrate the security room, reach the Snitch, fire up generators in the basement, and push the Snitch to the execution room while collecting appropriate keys and avoiding enemies.
On top of all that, the main enemy of that level will hang around in the execution room itself. This would’ve been easy to deal with if you played with friends, but in single-player, it becomes a cycle of pulling the electrocution switch, seeing Coyle, running away, and sneaking back to pull the switch again.
The carnival level that follows is an even worse offender, though I don’t want to spoil too much about it. In short, the number of objectives you have to do either in co-op or single-player trials is unbalanced. Hopefully, Red Barrels addresses this so that solo players won’t have to be saddled by too many objectives designed to be solved by four people.
Game Gets Repetitive After A While
Having played through all three trials, I can say that all of them follow the same basic formula: You have a main objective, and you go about the level completing it. At some point, you’ll be pursued by the main enemy of that level. When you finally complete your main objective, the main enemy and other grunts will chase you relentlessly until you finally exit.
This is why the game can feel samey after a while, especially if you’re grinding Vouchers for upgrades in single-player. Even when you’re trying to progress and unlock Program X
(the final trial for a season), you can get really tired of the format of the trials before you get there.
However, speaking of seasons, Red Barrels has said that they’ll roll out newer trials through this seasonal format as the game progresses through early access. We can only hope that the content droughts don’t take too long.
Friends Needed To Do Co-Op Decently
The Outlast Trials is a very involved game where you’ll be doing a lot of things. Pull switches, get generators running, push an inmate, etc. It's hard to coordinate that with friends, let alone total strangers on the internet.
So if you want to play Co-Op, you’ll need to play it with people you know. That may already be a given for Co-Op games in general, but I feel that there’s particular importance in playing The Outlast Trials with friends you can count on. The game is, at times, too tedious to play with total strangers.
The Outlast Trials Story Plot
During the Cold War, when paranoia and distrust are rampant throughout the world, the Murkoff Corporation has begun looking into possible ways to brainwash people. You are one of the company's reagents, and it wants to test you to your absolute physical and mental limit as a way of “therapy." That means hiding (and escaping) from an assortment of psychopaths while solving puzzles. So get ready and become a guinea pig in the name of progress, science, and profit.
The Outlast Trials is a prequel to the first two Outlast games, where you and other test subjects will have to survive a series of tests by the Murkoff Corporation. Each of these tests will feature monstrous psychopaths that will try to bludgeon you, stab you or hack you into pieces. Since you’re just a normal person, you can’t fight back, and you’ll have to instead rely on your wits. Hide from your pursuers, and use a wide variety of gadgets to throw them off and eventually escape.
Unlike past Outlast games, The Outlast Trials boasts a four-player co-op mode where you’ll be working with your friends or other people online to outwit your enemies. Will you cooperate to get out of the trial together? Or will you take advantage of your fellow reagents?
Who Should Play The Outlast Trials?
The Outlast Trials is Recommended if You Enjoy:
• The Outlast Series
• Amnesia
• Dead by Daylight
Of course, fans of the Outlast series should play this game, if only because it offers a great current-gen Outlast experience. Those who’ve played other horror hide-and-seek games like Amnesia should also give this a try, as well as those who have played other horror co-op games like Dead by Daylight. Both stealth and horror game lovers will feel right at home playing The Outlast Trials.
Is The Outlast Trials Worth It?
Worth It If You Like Going Through ‘Saw With Friends’
For a $29.99 game, The Outlast Trials is an okay co-op game. If you have a group of friends who also like other co-op horror games like Dead by Daylight
How The Outlast Trials Matches Up to Recently-Released Games
| Games That Came Out Recently | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
 Darkest Dungeon 2 |
The Outlast Trials is a more adrenaline-fueled experience than Darkest Dungeon 2 because of its mechanics and atmosphere. | But Darkest Dungeon 2 has more content compared to The Outlast Trials, being a fully-released game. |
 The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom |
The Outlast Trials is a lot scarier than TotK, making it a perfect game for those who have a horror itch to scratch. | But like Darkest Dungeon 2, TotK has a lot more content compared to The Outlast Trials. |
 Redfall |
The Outlast Trials is a smoother co-op experience compared to Redfall. | But Redfall is a more action-focused game, so if you and your friends want to shoot things up, then it might be a better option than The Outlast Trials. |
How The Outlast Trials Matches Up to Similar Games
| Games Similar to The Outlast Trials | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
 Outlast |
The Outlast Trials manages to retain the feeling of the classic Outlast games, and even made the gameplay smoother with gadgets, RIGs, AMPs, and prescriptions. | But the original games have a dedicated single-player campaign, while The Outlast Trials is more geared toward facilitating online co-op. |
 Amnesia |
Outlast and Amnesia are both very similar games, though Amnesia focuses more on the supernatural and pre-modern aspects of horror. Still, Outlast and Amnesia are two sides of the same coin. If you're a really big fan of hide-and-seek horror games, we suggest you try both of them out. | |
 Dead by Daylight |
The Outlast Trials is a gorier (and, actually, scarier) version of Dead by Daylight, made tougher by the fact that you're not just up against one serial killer, but multiple freaks. | Still, Dead by Daylight is a popular game with a more established community, so it's easy to play co-op with random people online. Plus it currently has more content compared to The Outlast Trials. |
The Outlast Trials Trailer
The Outlast Trials Product Information
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| Title | THE OUTLAST TRIALS |
|---|---|
| Release Date | May 18, 2023 |
| Developer | Red Barrels |
| Supported Platforms | PC (Steam, Epic Games Store) |
| Genre | Survival Horror |
| Number of Players | 1-4 |
| ESRB Rating | N/A |
| Official Website | https://redbarrelsgames.com/games/the-outlast-trials/ |
