When I think about the scariest games I’ve ever played, the one that tends to jump out at me first and foremost is Outlast 2. Though the mechanics and level design were familiar after having played the first one and its Whistleblower DLC, I found the setting and characters of its doomsday cult to be much more terrifying than the wandering denizens of Murkoff’s nefarious asylum in the first game. Reviewing that game back in 2017, it was a rare occasion where I struggled to hit the embargo time simply because I had to will myself to deal with its horrors. The Outlast Trials, as best I can tell after a weekend with the beta, will never scare me to that same extent, but that might be fine.
The biggest difference between The Outlast Trials and the games that precede it is in its co-op-friendly setup. Every other Outlast experience has been a single-player experience. In The Outlast Trials, you can play alone and see all there is to see, but you’ll probably get much further with a friend or three.
The Outlast Trials pits players as figurative lab rats in an unethical Murkoff maze of horrors. Across several maps–to borrow a term from games usually quite unlike Outlast–teams of up to four will work together to complete a set of tasks while avoiding the monstrous enemies that lurk the halls. A quick glance at gameplay would suggest things aren’t all that different. You’ll still largely be shuffling through dark hallways in condemned hellholes while unbeatable villains lurk nearby hoping to maim you. But even the simple wrinkle of crouching in the dark with friends gives The Outlast Trials a new feeling, and the differences don’t end there.