Back when The Outlast Trials first went live in Early Access, I previewed the game and described it as capable of being one of the best multiplayer horror games out there. As The Outlast Trials prepares for its 1.0 launch, I feel it’s safe to say that my high expectations of the game haven’t quite been met – but that doesn’t mean that The Outlast Trials is unenjoyable by any stretch.
The Outlast Trials nails both atmosphere and sound design to an impressive degree, and looks fantastic while doing so. It’s polished, pristine, and has significantly improved the single-player experience since I last played, but when it comes to content that is highly-replayable that doesn’t feel repetitive, it is lacking. And considering The Outlast Trials is the series’ first foray into providing a ‘live-service’ multiplayer title with all the terror and scares of the original Outlast games, you’d expect there to be greater longevity in the trials and programs provided for players. There isn’t. After 15 hours or so, things actually begin to feel more mundane than they do terrifying, but that doesn’t stop the occasional jumpscare from scaring you silly.
Rather than the linear story we’re used to from Outlast and Outlast 2, The Outlast Trials instead whisks players away to a laboratory headed by the one and only Murkoff Corporation. This notorious organization is far from done with its inhumane experiments on innocent civilians, and this time around, it’s seeing exactly how hard it can push common folk – reagents – into becoming sleeper agents for the government. If you’re into psychological experiments, the death games of the Saw series, and the conspiracy theories surrounding MKUltra, you’ll no doubt find The Outlast Trials and its evidence logs – documents you can pick up for additional lore – deeply interesting. Are they interesting enough to see it through to the final trials, though? I’m not sure, especially considering you can make your escape long before then.
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