Can you survive these deadly trials?
Red Barrels invites you to experience mind-numbing terror, this time with friends. Whether you go through the trials alone or in teams, if you survive long enough and complete the therapy, Murkoff will happily let you leave… but will you be the same?
I’ve actually not played a game from the Outlast series before, I’ve only seen clips on YouTube over the years but even then, I didn’t know what to expect playing The Outlast Trials. This seems to have the same terrifying vibe that the series is known for but gives you the chance to endure and survive killer trials alone or with up to 3 other friends.
You’ll spend the game either working solo or in groups completing the tasks, hiding from enemies under beds, in closets and so on. The tasks can vary from finding a key inside someone’s insides to playing a deadly game of chess and everything in-between. You’ll also spend a lot of time fending off psychopaths with creepy masks who want to butcher you in the most brutal way imaginable.
The great advantage of playing with others is that you can work together to create distractions and then run for the exit, while solo is still fun too…it’s a lot tougher as you have no backup. I was impressed with the variety of the trials and the overall challenge can be tough. This isn’t for the faint-hearted either, there are plenty of brutally gory moments that will make you recoil in horror throughout.
Controlling your character is simple enough and you always feel like you are in control, I found the overall layout to be easy to pick up, even if I’m not the biggest fan of holding down a handle on a door and pushing it ever so slightly forward to get a glimpse of the next room. It definitely feels like a combination of Saw and Hostel in it’s premise and design, which is perfect for horror fans.
The visuals are superb with some truly horrific sights to behold during your time. I’m not squeamish when it comes to gore, but even I had to go “Oh, come on!” a few times. The locations are well detailed and the trials are nicely varied. The framerate is solid throughout and finding games was easy enough with minimal lag overall. The voice-acting and music is also hauntingly impressive.
The Verdict
The Outlast Trials tries to blend Saw and Hostel together to make a game, and it works. Quite spectacularly, I might add. The pure dread of going from room to room, not knowing what to expect, hiding from dangerous killers and working as a team to survive is a great step forward for horror games and the series itself.