The Outlast Trials

Last updated

The Outlast Trials
The Outlast Trials cover.jpg
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
Engine Unreal Engine 4
Platform(s)
ReleaseMarch 5, 2024
Genre(s) Survival horror
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

The Outlast Trials is a first-person 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.

Contents

Gameplay

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

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 a hotel in South Vietnam . 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

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

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

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]

Related Research Articles

Alone in the Dark is a survival horror video game series originally developed by Infogrames. In most of the games, the player controls private investigator Edward Carnby, who goes to investigate a haunted house or town that is full of undead creatures.

<i>NASCAR Thunder 2003</i> 2003 Racing simulator video game developed by EA Sports and Budcat Creations

NASCAR Thunder 2003 is the sixth edition of the EA Sports' NASCAR racing simulator series. Developed by EA Tiburon and Budcat Creations and published by EA Sports. It was released for PlayStation, PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox on September 18, 2002, and for Microsoft Windows on October 21. The product features Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the cover. It was the first time the NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award recipient was featured on the cover, although he did not win the award for the first time until the following year. Dale Earnhardt appeared in the game as a driver as a result of entering his name as a Create-A-Car driver's name; he did not appear in the previous game due to his death. He appeared as a legend in subsequent games.

<i>Outlast</i> 2013 horror video game

Outlast is a 2013 first-person survival horror video game developed and published by Red Barrels. The game revolves around a freelance investigative journalist, Miles Upshur, who decides to investigate a remote psychiatric hospital named Mount Massive Asylum, located deep in the mountains of Lake County, Colorado.

<i>Verdun</i> (video game) 2015 first-person shooter video game

Verdun is a squad-based multiplayer first-person shooter video game set during World War I. It was released on 28 April 2015 on Steam, after more than a year in Steam Early Access. It was released for PlayStation 4 on 30 August 2016. An Xbox One version was released on 8 March 2017. A sequel to Verdun, Tannenberg, was released into Steam Early Access on 16 November 2017, and left Early Access for a full release on 13 February 2019. The game released for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on 15 June 2021 with higher resolution and better texture quality.

<i>Outlast 2</i> 2017 video game

Outlast 2 is a 2017 first-person psychological survival horror video game developed and published by Red Barrels. A sequel to the 2013 video game Outlast, the game features a cameraman named Blake Langermann, along with his wife Lynn, a journalist roaming the Arizona desert to explore the murder of a pregnant woman only known as Jane Doe. Both get separated in a helicopter crash, and Blake has to find his wife while traveling through a village inhabited by a deranged sect that believes the end of days are upon them.

Red Barrels Inc. is a Canadian video game developer based in Montreal. The company was founded by Philippe Morin, David Chateauneuf and Hugo Dallaire in 2011. The three were previously developers for Ubisoft Montreal and EA Montreal, but founded the company after the origination of an original intellectual property by Dallaire in 2010. After leaving their respective workplaces, the team's online presence began in July 2012 and a trailer for the game that became Outlast.

<i>Perception</i> (video game) 2017 video game

Perception is a first-person horror-themed adventure video game developed by The Deep End Games and published by The Deep End Games and Feardemic. It was released for Microsoft Windows on May 30, 2017, followed by the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions on June 6, and by the Nintendo Switch version on October 31. The story follows Cassie Thornton, a blind woman who perceives the world using echolocation. The player assumes the role of Cassie and must use her unique skill to explore a large mansion in Gloucester, Massachusetts and uncover its secrets.

<i>Hello Neighbor</i> 2017 video game

Hello Neighbor is a survival horror stealth game developed by Dynamic Pixels and published by tinyBuild. Initially released as public alphas from 2016 to 2017, it received a full release for Windows and Xbox One on December 8, 2017, and later for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, iOS and Android on July 26, 2018.

<i>Hue</i> (video game) 2016 adventure puzzle game

Hue is a 2016 puzzle-platform game developed by Fiddlesticks and published by Curve Digital. The game was released on August 30, 2016, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One; on November 29, 2016, for the PlayStation Vita; and on June 6, 2019, for Nintendo Switch. There were further releases for iOS on January 25, 2020 and Android on April 22, 2020.

<i>Trials Rising</i> 2019 video game

Trials Rising is a 2.5D racing game developed by Ubisoft RedLynx and Ubisoft Kyiv and published by Ubisoft. It was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in February 2019, for Stadia in November 2019, and for Amazon Luna in December 2020. It is the first mainline entry in the Trials series since 2014's Trials Fusion, and the first in the series to be released on a Nintendo console.

We Were Here is a franchise of cooperative first-person adventure video games, created by the Dutch studio Total Mayhem Games.

<i>Chernobylite</i> (video game) 2021 video game

Chernobylite is a 2021 first-person shooter survival horror video game developed by Polish game developer The Farm 51 and published by All in! Games. The game is set in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, where the player's objective is to explore, as Ukrainian physicist Igor Khymynuk, and find his fiancée in the radioactive wasteland. It was released for Windows in July 2021, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in September 2021, and PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in April 2022. It received generally positive reviews from critics.

<i>The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan</i> 2019 interactive drama game

The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan is a 2019 interactive drama and survival horror video game with paranormal horror elements developed by Supermassive Games and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It is the first game of the first season of The Dark Pictures Anthology, a series of standalone horror video games. Man of Medan features a cast of five playable protagonists and a multilinear narrative influenced by player choice. The game's decision-making scenes, of which there are several, can significantly alter the trajectory of the plot and change the relationships between the main characters. Due to these choices, any of the five protagonists can die permanently.

<i>The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope</i> 2020 interactive drama game

The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope is a 2020 interactive drama and survival horror video game with psychological and folk horror elements developed by Supermassive Games and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It is the second game of the first season of The Dark Pictures Anthology. Little Hope serves as the sequel to the anthology's season premiere, Man of Medan. Will Poulter stars as the game's leading actor and plays the role of one of the protagonists, named Andrew. Set in the fictional eponymous town, located in Massachusetts, the game follows four college students chaperoned by their professor. After their bus crashes by the area, the group finds themselves trapped within Little Hope by an impenetrable fog. As they explore the deserted town, the characters are pursued by demons whose appearances are reminiscent of the ways in which the townspeople of Little Hope's colonial era died.

F1 is a racing video game series by Codemasters under the EA Sports banner since 2021. The series holds the official license of the FIA Formula One World Championship, with the FIA Formula 2 Championship available since the 2019 game. A total of twenty-one games have been released to date, with the series' latest installment, F1 23, released in June 2023.

<i>Five Nights at Freddys: Security Breach</i> 2021 video game

Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach is a 2021 survival horror video game developed by Steel Wool Studios and ScottGames. It is the ninth main installment in the Five Nights at Freddy's series and the eleventh game overall. Set in a large shopping mall, the player takes on the role of a young boy named Gregory, who must evade the mall's hostile animatronic mascots as well as the night guard, attempting to survive until the morning. The game features significant differences from other installments in the franchise, with primary differences including free-roam gameplay.

<i>Maid of Sker</i> (video game) 2020 survival horror video game

Maid of Sker is a 2020 first-person survival horror game developed and published by Wales Interactive. The game is set in 1898 in the Sker Hotel, on an imaginary island called Sker Island. The protagonist, Thomas Evans, is invited by his lover, Elisabeth Williams, to uncover the mysteries of the hotel after she notices her family's strange behavior. While exploring the hotel, Thomas learns cult followers called "The Quiet Ones" control the place. He finds notes and gramophone records scattered around the hotel that reveal the history of Elisabeth's family.

The Dark Pictures Anthology is an anthology series of interactive drama and survival horror video games developed by Supermassive Games and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The anthology is planned to consist of eight games, with each game inspired by a different horror genre. Each game features five main characters whose survival depends on the choices made by the player. While each character only appears in one game, face models are often reused in other games, except those of the leading actors. The games use a third-person perspective and the ability to choose from various dialogue options and courses of action.

<i>Mundaun</i> (video game) 2021 video game

Mundaun is a 2021 first-person horror game created by Swiss developer Hidden Fields and published by MWM Interactive. In the game, the player tries to reach the top of the mountain while solving puzzles and warding off enemies. The dialogue in the game is mostly spoken in Romansh. Critics praised the game's sketchbook-like art style, but criticized some of the puzzles as being obtuse. The game was released on March 16, 2021 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. A Nintendo Switch port was released on May 27. Versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S were released on June 29, 2023.

<i>The Persistence</i> 2018 video game

The Persistence is a survival horror video game developed and published by Firesprite. Originally released for the virtual reality headset PlayStation VR in July 2018, the game was released for PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One in May 2020. An Enhanced version of the game was released for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S in June 2021.

References

  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. 1 2 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. 1 2 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. 1 2 "The Outlast Trials for PC Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  14. 1 2 "The Outlast Trials for PlayStation 5 Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  15. 1 2 "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.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.