The Outlast Trials Preview

The Outlast games have never failed to instill a real sense of paranoia into all those who dare to play them. With three games already adorning the shelves of many action-horror-survival game fans, studio Red Barrel Games has announced the fourth title to the cult phenomenon; The Outlast Trails is set to release some time in 2022.

The finer details of this monumentally anticipated horror release are as hazy as the game’s exact release date; we do, however, have a few snippets of information that are sure to whet your appetite ready for the eventual release of the fourth title in this infamous horror franchise.

The Outlast Trails will be Multiplayer

For the first time ever, the Outlast collection has broadened its horizons and spanned out to include multiplayer playability. After being abducted by the ominous Murkuff Corporation, you are treated to a set of night-vision goggles, which some shady-looking surgeons kindly bolt to your skull.

The Outlast Trials take part in the same universe as the previous three games but this time you are subject to a series of less-than-ethical trials and experiments designed specially to modify your psyche and break you down. These trials will take place in a series of 12 warehouses, all interlocked by hidden tunnels. To take the grand prize of freedom, you will first have to survive the horrors that lay ahead.

The Outlast Trials is set to release in the year 2022 and will be on the PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One X/S and PC.

The Outlast Trails Gameplay

From the short and mysterious trailer above, we see ample evidence of the aforementioned multiplayer direction. From what we can gather from the strategically dropped morsels of information the teaser trailer offers is the game will be playable by one to four people. The multiplayer aspect will throw you into the action amidst creepy dolls, traps, and sledgehammer-wielding psychopathic brutes. By working together you must work together to escape from the house of horrors with each of you in one piece. It’s not yet clear if it will be possible to sacrifice your fellow kidnapees to save your own skin and survive. The only thing we know for sure is that the fourth game will follow on with the token paranoia fest we’ve seen in previous Outlast games.

It has been confirmed that the developers of the three previous titles will also be the studio to step up and take this new challenge into their provably capable hands. The team is well-versed in what, we the horror fans, want in a video game, and with their track record with the Outlast games we are doubtlessly in for a nightmarish environment that casts you into a dark abyss of paranoia, unease, and ever-looming fear.

Summary

Ever since I played the first Outlast game, way back in 2014 (a few months after the release date in September of 2013), I have been an avid fan. The close, claustrophobia-inducing environment and omnipresent sense of utter dread was something that had been before attempted on numerous occasions but hadn’t yet quite hit the mark. Outlast took this concept and made it work in a way we have never before seen and are unlikely to see again out of the Outlast franchise.

The camcorders added to the real sense of paranoia as you couldn’t see anything that lurked unless looking directly through it. While this display of horror genius won’t be present in The Outlast Trials, we are instead treated to the new addition of night-vision, which is screwed straight to your head, so at least there’s little chance of losing it. We are imagining that power cells or batteries will be scarce in the Jigsaw-house-esque world of this latest offering; meaning it will likely be important to pick and choose carefully before casting any light on your surroundings.

The four-player mode is definitely a bold move for the team at Red Barrels but we are more than confident that the prowess seen in the previous games will be sure to deliver fright after fright as it takes you to the brink of desperation and shows us the ultimate in horror video games.