The Outlast Trials

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The Outlast Trials
Developer(s)Red Barrels
Publisher(s)Red Barrels
Director(s)Alex Charbonneau
Producer(s)Charles Ayotte
Programmer(s)François Cournoyer
Writer(s)J. T. Petty
Composer(s)Tom Salta
SeriesOutlast
EngineUnreal Engine 4
Platform(s)
ReleaseMarch 5, 2024
Genre(s)Survival horror
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

The Outlast Trials is a first-person psychological horror survival video game developed and published by Red Barrels. It is the third installment in the Outlast series, serving as a prequel to the first two games and features test subjects in a mysterious Cold War experiment. The game was released on May 18, 2023 via early access for Microsoft Windows, and fully launched on March 5, 2024 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

Gameplay[edit]

The Outlast Trials is a survival horror game played from a first-person perspective. While the game supports four-player cooperative multiplayer, players can complete the game solo. The player must complete a set of tasks while evading monstrous enemies. The game features four distinct character classes and skill trees. Each class has a unique ability, allowing players to perform actions such as seeing through walls, healing other players, placing mines, and throwing a device to temporarily stun enemies.[1]

The player has access to a pair of night-vision goggles, allowing them to navigate dim-lit areas. It needs to be regularly recharged with a scarce battery resource. Players can pick up various useful objects, such as anti-psychotic drugs, lockpicks and healing items, but they can only carry three items at once. The player cannot directly fight against enemies, at most being able to temporarily stun them with specific items, and stealth is the preferred way to progress in the game.[2]

Plot[edit]

In 1959 at the height of the Cold War, the Murkoff Corporation begin a deceptive recruitment program that targets individuals who have fallen on hard times and become homeless. Those who volunteer are then kidnapped and taken to the Sinyala Facility in Arizona where they are forced to sign consent forms and undergo an involuntary surgical procedure to have night vision goggles screwed onto their heads. Labeled as Reagents, the subjects are then forced to undergo a trial where they are directed by the facility's director, Dr. Hendrick Joliet Easterman to destroy their own public and private records while avoiding the psychotic failed test subjects known as Ex-Pops.

After completing the initial trial, Easterman allows the Reagents access to the Sleep Room where they can rest before undergoing more trials. To increase their chances of survival, the Reagents are provided assistance by nurse Emily Barlow and engineer Cornelius Noakes. They are later assisted by a fellow Reagent named Dorris who no longer partakes in the trials and instead provides contraband goods to other subjects. The trials the Reagents undergo become increasingly more dangerous as they are forced to go against the program’s Prime Assests which include the disgraced children's show host Mother Gooseberry and the sadistic police Sergeant Leland Coyle.

After completing enough trials, Reagents who are deemed qualified by Dr. Easterman are placed in the Reagent Release Program where they must complete a final trial before they are released on the condition that a new Reagent will take their place should they go through with it. During the trial, Reagents acquire documentation with new identities before going through some kind of subliminal indoctrination at Easterman's instruction before being seemingly released after escaping through a final door where they suddenly fall into a dark room filled with water that is lit only by a strange light in the distance that Reagents feel compelled to go towards.

Ending's vary based upon the game version. In the first early access version, Reagents will wake up dressed in a suit tainted with blood in a hotel room in Cuba. Eventually the room's phone will ring and when the Reageant's pick up they hear Easterman's voice uttering the code phrase used in the Reagent's indoctrination, causing them to see lines of blood before eventually blacking out. In the second early access version, Reagent's will wake up behind the wheel of a speeding car that crashes in front of the same hotel. After recovering from the crash, the Reagent's notice a time bomb has strapped to their chest that is seconds away from detonating but are unable to remove it or escape as their hands have been duct taped to the car's steering wheel. Unable to save themselves, the Reagents are killed in the ensuing explosion. In the full release version, Reagents will wake up to find that instead of being released they were actually transferred to the Mount Weather Asylum lab in Colorado and have been hooked up to the Morphogenic Engine by Dr. Rudolph Wernicke who had occasionally observed the Reagents from the Sleep Room's observation room. While the other scientists question the Reagents suitability as a candidate, Wernicke believes they may actually be of use. The Reagent's soon begin to feel the Walrider overtaking them before hearing the code phrase uttered by Easterman during the last trial.

Development[edit]

Outlast 3 was announced in December 2017, though no time frame or target platforms were confirmed.[3] During this announcement, Red Barrels said that because they could not easily add downloadable content for Outlast 2 due to its structure, they have a smaller separate project related to Outlast that will release before Outlast 3.[3] Red Barrels also described the game as a "TV series". The development team of the game had around 40 people.[4]

The Outlast Trials was teased in October 2019 and is not a direct sequel to Outlast 2. It is about test subjects for the Murkoff Corporation in a mysterious Cold War experiment that is set in the same universe of the previous games. Red Barrels co-founder David Chateauneuf said "the proof-of-concept is now complete and the game's team is now in development mode".[5]

Marketing[edit]

On December 4, 2019, Red Barrels released a teaser image of the game.[6] On June 13, 2020, a teaser trailer was released, announcing a release for 2021.[7] However, it was announced in August 2021 that the game has been delayed to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8] To help pass the time, Red Barrels released a series of "Behind The Scenes" videos on their official YouTube channel.[9] A closed beta for the game was available from October 28 to November 1, 2022.[10] While the game was only confirmed for Microsoft Windows, the game would also be released for undisclosed PlayStation platforms "in the future".[4] On March 10, 2023, it was announced that the game would be released in early access on May 18.[11] On December 8, it was announced that the game would leave early access on March 5, 2024, and also launch on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5.[12]

Reception[edit]

The Outlast Trials received "generally favorable" reviews from critics for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions, while the PC version received "mixed or average", according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[13][14][15]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Delanley, Mike (November 3, 2022). "The Outlast Trials Isn't What You Expect, But That Might Be A Good Thing". GameSpot. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  2. ^ Moss, Gabriel (October 28, 2022). "The Outlast Trials: First Level Preview". IGN. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Barnett, Brian (December 7, 2017). "'Outlast' Coming to Switch, 'Outlast 3' Confirmed". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on December 31, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  4. ^ a b Morin, Phillipe (September 3, 2021). "The Outlast Trials "is like a TV series", offering new challenges for players and developer alike". PlayStation Blog. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
  5. ^ Brown, Fraser (December 4, 2019). "'The Outlast Trials' is a 4-player survival horror set during the Cold War". PC Gamer. Future plc. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  6. ^ McWhertor, Michael (December 4, 2019). "The next 'Outlast' game will be multiplayer". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  7. ^ Red Barrels [@TheRedBarrels] (June 13, 2020). "Survive alongside friends or dare to face the experiments by yourself. Your freedom ends in 2021. Welcome to the Outlast Trials" (Tweet). Retrieved June 25, 2020 – via Twitter.
  8. ^ Fenlon, Wes (August 26, 2021). "Here's our first real look at Cold War horror game The Outlast Trials". PC Gamer. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  9. ^ Red Barrels. "The Outlast Trials - Behind The Scenes". YouTube. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  10. ^ Gosling, Austen (August 23, 2022). "The Outlast Trials will be playable in October in closed beta". Polygon. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  11. ^ Romano, Sal (March 10, 2023). "The Outlast Trials launches in Early Access on May 18". Gematsu. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  12. ^ Romano, Sal (December 8, 2023). "The Outlast Trials launches March 5, 2024". Gematsu. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  13. ^ a b "The Outlast Trials for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  14. ^ a b "The Outlast Trials for PlayStation 5 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  15. ^ a b "The Outlast Trials for Xbox Series X Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  16. ^ Delaney, Mark (March 4, 2024). "The Outlast Trials Review - Immersion Therapy". GameSpot. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  17. ^ Gould-Wilson, Jasmine (March 4, 2024). "The Outlast Trials review: "A thrilling compulsive experience that will shatter every nerve in your body"". GamesRadar+. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  18. ^ Northup, Travis (March 4, 2024). "The Outlast Trials Review". IGN. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  19. ^ Croft, Liam (March 4, 2024). "The Outlast Trials Review (PS5)". Push Square. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  20. ^ White, Lucas (March 4, 2024). "The Outlast Trials review: Unalive Service". Shacknews. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  21. ^ Raynor, Kelsey (March 4, 2024). "The Outlast Trials – review: SAW, MKUltra, and sheer shock value combine to make Outlast as horrifying as ever". VG247. Retrieved March 4, 2024.

External links[edit]

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