From the 2013 hit game Outlast to the newest game Outlast Trials. Outlast has seen its fair share of fame, becoming a staple in the horror community and loved by gamers and horror fans. While other people and I enjoy Outlast for its horror it should be made aware that Outlast is a horror game that’s known to push boundaries when it comes to gruesome imagery so if you’re squeamish I would recommend not playing at all.

Outlast official debut was in 2013 and came across as a major success, red barrels was a small company with workers that split from major game development teams that worked on games like Splinter Cell, Assassins Creed, and Prince of Persia, all successful games that people enjoyed so Outlast would likely perform well. Outlast (2013) took heavy inspiration from the old MKUltra program that took place in the 50’s – 60’s. The horror game starts with the player controlling the character Miles Upshur, an investigative journalist who was informed by a whistleblower that the Mount Massive Asylum was run by a nonprofit organization named Murkoff was known for shady dealings and experiments in the past that resulted in the deaths and injuries of many. Miles was sent an anonymous email from a person who worked for the Murkoff Corporation telling Miles about the horrors that were going on in the asylum and as a warning as to what he was about to witness. Outlast would become so successful that a year later in 2014 Red Barrels would release Outlast: Whistleblowers. Whistleblowers would start with people playing as Waylon Park as he sends an email to Miles Upsure. It’s at this moment when players realize that Waylon was the whistleblower, he would get caught and have to survive some of the same things Miles went through and even some scarier incidents.

Outlast 2 released in 2017 would not include any of the previous games’ protagonists or antagonists and instead of being based in Colorado, you play as Blake Langermann, a journalist reporting on a gruesome murder of some woman with his wife Lynn Langerman who is also a reporter. You start the game flying in a helicopter and over the wild land of Nevada. Your helicopter crashes and Lynn is missing. You run into a nearby town not knowing it is run by a cult that you will have to survive cult members infected and quarantined cultists and even cave dwellers. Instead of the close-quarters environment that we are used to from Outlast 1 and its DLC you are forced to run around in more of an open environment where you navigate around their camps and even some hallucinations back to Blake’s past in a school where he chases after some memories from his past.

With Outlast Trials we get away from the cults in Outlast 2 and return to Murkoff facilities but now instead of being in early 2010, we are taken back to the 1950s, when people were told that if they participated in experiments for Murkoff they could earn rewards like money and they will secure themself a stable future. This deal was shown to the homeless, lonely, and mentally ill. Behind the scenes, the people who would sign into this program were made to test the human limits and see what was the absolute most a human could withstand while making money off of their suffering. Murkoff would essentially push humans to their limits and while many would die, the people who make it out are made into sleeper agents who were placed around the world strategically to execute orders for the C.I.A who partnered with Murkoff and kept them off the radar and out of the public eye with facilities and funding to help the trials go smoothly. The trials consist of getting chased by 2 main enemies. Sergeant Leland Coyle, a twisted and corrupt cop who has racist fits and has a fascination with electricity, equipped with a modified cattle prod powered by a car battery on his back and he has one goal; stop anyone who gets in his way of enforcing his twisted law. Anyone on trial is guilty and everyone will be punished to the fullest extent. Phyllis Futterman is a lady who was born into a successful family but she amassed a cult with a children’s program that led kids to rebel against their parents and commit crimes. Her studio would be raided but it would end with the deaths and injuries of law enforcement and the disappearance of Phyllis who would now be known as Mother Gooseberry.

Armed with bricks, bottles, medicine, adrenaline, and much more you’re tasked with one simple objective; outlast the enemies in the trials by all means and get to the shuttle to complete the trial. You have secondary objectives to collect propaganda posters and Murkoff documents that you will use when you escape the trials and eventually testify against Murkoff. The enemy types you go against are grunts, people with weapons, stunned easily with bricks they are the easiest enemy types to go up against. Grunt berserkers, who will chase you relentlessly, they are taller, and bigger, and don’t use weapons except for a select few. Stun rigs are going to be your best bet due to bricks not even phasing them but bottles will be great to pull their attention from you. Pushers will enter the trials with a loud alarm sounding, they will spray a gas into your face and send you into full psychosis. Pouncers that will ambush players who get close to any hiding spot you may get near, you can identify them by the noises they make as they often scream. Night watchers are normal grunts equipped with night vision goggles so not even the shadows will be safe, only seen on certain levels it’s likely you will never have to deal with them. The imposters are clones of players who act like either other players in your lobby or even look like you, they get close enough until they can strike. The scrambled name tags above them can distinguish them from real friendly players.

As fun and enjoyable as Outlast Trials is the game is undeniably short with a skippable tutorial, 5 main trials, 10 intermediate levels, and one final trial to end the game. After finishing the game players are met with a cutscene of what our characters have become; essentially sleeper agents. After the cutscene, you awake back in the facility with all of your character cosmetics, room cosmetics, and currency. Outlast games have always been short and enjoyable but Outlast is known for its replayability among other things like its story and characters. Although this game kind of steps away from the horror aspect I would still recommend this game to the few who can stomach disturbing images but other than that Outlast Trials is a great game if you are looking to spend time with friends or family who are big into gaming and the horror genre.