Highlights

  • In The Outlast Trials, players face Murkoff's gruesome experiments in a multiplayer horror experience.
  • Players must manage their stashes carefully due to limited space and make careful item selections.
  • Cooperative play is the ideal way to amplify the fun in The Outlast Trials.

One of the most terrifying game franchises just unleashed a new level of dread. The Outlast Trials, the latest release in the acclaimed horror franchise, follows in the footsteps of the series while veering into coop territory. With these new conditions come new rules.

In The Outlast Trials, players must escape the dreaded Murkoff Company’s “rehabilitation center,” whose commitment to ethical social work is predictably questionable. Caught in a horrifying Cold War-era experiment, players must avert gruesomely mutated patients. Adding insult to brain injury, players must also escape the clutches of the game’s main villains: Mother Gooseberry and Officer Lloyd. Yet it’s the game’s cooperative multiplayer capabilities that make The Outlast Trials truly stand out. The unwritten rules for success in The Outlast Trials deal with how to grasp the chaos and unhinged fun of a multiplayer Outlast game.

Reborn Entrance, Orphanage Entrance, and Courtroom in The Outlast Trials
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The Outlast Trials: Every Trial, Ranked

The Outlast Trials has plenty of primary trials to put players through, but some are a little more enjoyable than others.

Outlast Trials’ Unwritten Rules

The enemy AI is very aggressive in this game, and facing these nemeses alone is very hard. On top of that, the Procedural Generation changes the location of objects and doors that a player’s health can hinge on. These difficulties underscore the importance of keeping general objectives in mind. While the story of The Outlast Trials has some fun Easter Eggs that reference past events in the series, spending too much time exploring can be less advantageous than in other Outlast games. Enemies are everywhere, so staying focused on the actual objective at hand will enhance the chances of survival.

Night Vision, Hiding, and the Pharmacy in The Outlast Trials

As survival is the overarching goal in The Outlast Trials, it’s important to maximize one’s ability to escape the clutches of Murkoff spawns. Be mindful of the night vision goggles' battery life. Also, the damage wrought by watching so many gruesome events can impact a character’s mental health. Keeping an eye on this metric makes a big difference for a character’s playability.

Stash space is limited to a paltry 3 items, which means it’s important to know which items to be on the lookout for. Reappearance pills also give players extra life, while syringes aid dying fellow combatants. Players earn 10,000 credits per completion of each challenge, which goes a long way at the Pharmacy. In The Outlast Trials, players can visit the Pharmacy after each trial, and purchase prescriptions that don't dissipate over time, unlike upgrades purchased from the Engineer. Here, players should make sure to pick up the Noise Reduction upgrade, which aids in situations that call for quiet and narrow escape.

Noise Reduction is a powerful purchase from the Pharmacy. This lessens the likelihood of getting discovered while hiding from enemies.

Relish The Coop Mode In The Outlast Trials

As The Outlast Trials continues, the enemies become only more formidable. This increasingly potent enemy presence displays the importance of the horror game’s multiplayer co-op mode. It’s much easier to survive while playing with others. Players are encouraged to both act as a group and be ruthlessly self-preserving. They must decide where they should go, whether they should split up, and whether they should go into the spooky corridor or avoid it. This gives The Outlast Trials all the spectacular fun of a horror movie.

While The Outlast Trials is a multiplayer game, it doesn’t have to be solely shared between friends. The group finder mode really livens up the game by adding an extra layer of chaos. Trying to survive the demented patients of Murkoff with random players is a truly singular experience.

While The Outlast Trials' game play is relatively quick, getting through each level is a wild ride. Players should stay committed to the objectives in order to survive, while keeping mindful of character health and stash/hiding abilities. Last but not least, playing with others makes for a scary good time.