Outlast Trials Multiplayer [Review]

Outlast Trials is the third installment of the Outlast series, this time with the added feature of being murdered with your friends! This game is a four-player co-op, and I highly recommend playing with other people. There are shortcuts you can go through only with multiple people, like boosting each other up high ledges or knocking down barricaded doors. But it also just makes the game better, there’s a lot to do and the game can get difficult at parts. It’s nice to have a friend be the distraction while you do whatever is necessary to complete your objectives.

Outlast Trials was developed and published by Red Barrels. Much like its previous installments, it’s a first-person psychological and gory horror game. The staple of playing half the game through a night vision lens is of course still present in this game. You have night vision goggles that you can use to see in the dark, when the battery runs out you can still look through them with very limited vision but just enough to see your next step in the dark. I recommend trying to keep a battery with you at all times as being able to recharge your goggles is the most useful item to have. The game has a nice attention to detail like how there are different sounds for the different types of surfaces you walk across. There’s always something to be looking at, be it a creepy mannequin or some sort of decoration that truly shows how gory and messed up the setting is.

Now we have previously reviewed this game but there is a new limited-time event, Prime Time, that alters the stages to be more difficult and adds challenges. I recommend doing the Prime Time versions of levels you’ve already beaten as the game is already pretty difficult. It took us a few times to get through the first level and we were only able to complete it when we finally got a full party.

That is another thing I would like to add to my review, previously I was unable to play with a full party of four people. I’ve finally been able to experience the game with proper multiplayer and it changes the game. The levels do scale, like how in one level I previously only had to fix one generator but with four people we had to fix two of them. So, previously easy levels might become difficult, or already difficult levels will stay the same but you get to suffer together!

With the added help of more friends, I was able to experience the level-up system. I had trouble with the first level so I wasn’t able to level up too many times but now I’ve gotten enough levels to see how the upgrade system works. When leveling up you get a special currency that you can use to purchase permanent upgrades, small things like using an item while it's on the ground when your inventory is full (rather than having to swap out an item to use it). Or even big things like unlocking a slide tackle, which might not be practical to use all the time but it is fun. You can also unlock and upgrade a special move that you can use once charged. You can choose between 4 different specials at the moment and I chose the ability to see in x-ray vision. With this, you can see enemies and items through walls and ping them for your teammates to see their locations. The other specials can stun an enemy or heal you and your teammates. But you can only use one at a time so you should talk with your teammates on who is bringing what into the level.

Even when strategizing your loadouts and splitting up tasks between your party, some levels can be very long. The amusement park level is probably the longest we’ve encountered so far, and when we were already an hour into the level we were killed right at the end. It can be a bit frustrating to get that far and die, even the game says so when you level the level. “That was like watching Jesus die of dysentery on the way to his crucifixion!” Which was surprising to hear the first time. There’s actually a lot of christian themes throughout the game, which isn’t all too surprising as it is Outlast, but this game takes it to the next level with its gruesome imagery and religious tones.

You need to be ok with more than just being scared when playing Outlast Trials. You have to be ok with gore and having your character participate in the act of causing it. While electrocuting a snitch is a bit intense, sawing someone in half while strung up on a crucifixion in a chapel is far more gory than a basic execution by electrocution. And, while the children are simply puppets (not like the very real living person we had to cut in half), there are a lot of missions where the goal is essentially to kill a bunch of orphans. In the amusement park there’s a part of the level to push one of the rides through the track, while pushing you’re subjected to watching robotic children continuously drill an already dead body in the throat and mouth. The game is intense even if you’re a fan of horror you also need to be a fan of or the very least desensitized to gore in order to stomach this game.

After seeing many horrors and even participating in some. You will get to return to your room at the compound for all the other patients that are willing to undergo this kind of therapy. Here you can interact with other people playing the game by playing chess or arm wrestling with them. Or you can retreat to your room and customize your home away from home. While the character customization isn’t too much to look at, the room customization has a lot more to offer and you even unlock special items you can purchase after beating each level.

Outlast Trials is a great and scary game to play with a group of people. The game is still fairly terrifying even with the ability to (slightly) defend yourself, there are still monsters rushing through doors and forcing you to hide. There were quite a few times when I confidently whipped open a door only for it to smack right into a psychotic patient waiting to drill my skull in or electrocute my abdomen. As a horror and Outlast fan, Outlast Trials is a welcome addition to the series, and the added feature of multiplayer co-op truly makes the game a 10/10 experience. Outlast Trials is currently available on PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series, and Steam.