More Outlast for me (and my friends), yay! As a veteran of the Outlast series I’ve been eagerly awaiting the development of an Outlast multiplayer game for ages, and I must say that the results did not underwhelm me.

The game succeeds in replicating the atmosphere of the previous entries nicely. This can be seen in the amazing composition of the soundtrack, the layout of the levels, the horrifying visuals with the occasionally surprisingly high amount of gore and the design of the enemies which can create a lot of fear and tension. The gameplay is highly diverse and random which gives each map a great replayability. Another thing that is worth mentioning is the difficulty scaling. It is done very well with the introduction of the grading system. This encourages players to act more carefully and learn how to properly use items and gadgets. This is also accompanied by the evaluation at the end of each trial which shows what you could’ve done better. Furthermore, there are some quality-of-life features that give the game a nice touch like the arm wrestling and chess minigame in the lobby and the option to customize your character and room.

However, there is one substantial difference in this entry that doesn’t show up in any other Outlast game. You can attack, fight back and slow down enemies. This has not been done previously, thus making the game a bit less scary. The defenselessness of the original games was a big part in the process of creating fear and horror. Another thing I’d like to add: the final trial is unfortunately a solo mission due to how the game’s story and progression is handled. This is a negative aspect because you play the entire game with your friends only to finish it without them.

All in all, the Outlast Trials delivers the best possible version of itself. If I had to imagine how an Outlast co-op game would look like, I’d say it would pretty much go like this. It delivers in almost every possible way that the previous games have while still being in Early Access. Let’s hope we get to see this game fully develop with the addition of more maps, main enemies and maybe a co-op ending.

More Outlast for me (and my friends), yay! As a veteran of the Outlast series I’ve been eagerly awaiting the development of an Outlast multiplayer game for ages, and I must say that the results did not underwhelm me. The game succeeds in replicating the atmosphere of the previous entries nicely. This can be seen in the amazing composition of the soundtrack, the layout of the levels, the horrifying visuals with the occasionally surprisingly high amount of gore and the design of the enemies which can create a lot of fear and tension. The gameplay is highly diverse and random which gives each map a great replayability. Another thing that is worth mentioning is the difficulty scaling. It is done very well with the introduction of the grading system. This encourages players to act more carefully and learn how to properly use items and gadgets. This is also accompanied by the evaluation at the end of each trial which shows what you could’ve done better. Furthermore, there are some quality-of-life features that give the game a nice touch like the arm wrestling and chess minigame in the lobby and the option to customize your character and room. However, there is one substantial difference in this entry that doesn’t show up in any other Outlast game. You can attack, fight back and slow down enemies. This has not been done previously, thus making the game a bit less scary. The defenselessness of the original games was a big part in the process of creating fear and horror. Another thing I’d like to add: the final trial is unfortunately a solo mission due to how the game’s story and progression is handled. This is a negative aspect because you play the entire game with your friends only to finish it without them. All in all, the Outlast Trials delivers the best possible version of itself. If I had to imagine how an Outlast co-op game would look like, I’d say it would pretty much go like this. It delivers in almost every possible way that the previous games have while still being in Early Access. Let’s hope we get to see this game fully develop with the addition of more maps, main enemies and maybe a co-op ending.