The Outlast Trials Reviews
A lot of the issues present are the same sins that Outlast has always committed: being defenseless is a nonsensical mistake. The biggest blunder it makes is requiring an online connection for playing alone.
The Outlast Trials is almost entirely devoid of fun as a solo experience. Add friends or other random players, however, and there's ample enjoyment to be had fighting through the unrelenting horror together. As long as you have the stomach for all that blood, guts, mutilation, death, and unsettling imagery, of course.
The Outlast Trials takes its bone-chilling horror and extends it to a multiplayer aspect. The series retains its horror roots that scare you at every turn. Completing missions also makes you feel like you are improving, giving you goals to work towards. However, part of the fear is dampened when you realize that failure isn’t as painful as it used to be. Missions also take a long time, subtly encouraging you to play with friends.
The Outlast Trials is a brutally fresh twist of the knife for the franchise. Cooperative play meshes seamlessly with the horror experience, allowing players to squad up and take on brutal trials that are as horrifying as they are fun to survive together. Solo play is more trouble for the same reward, so it's a good thing the game includes a matchmaking system. With more content on the way, it's clear Murkoff has struck gold with this new take on a loved IP!
The Outlast Trials isn't a bad game, thanks to a dose of blood and violence. The emphasis is placed on the multiplayer experience, who undermines the enjoyment for players accustomed to solo playthroughs.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Outlast Trials tries to mix its traditional gameplay with online elements, and the result is neither revolutionary nor entertaining, making it more of a spin-off to the original series rather than a cornerstone for future releases.
Review in Persian | Read full review
The Outlast Trials is a gripping, intensely horrifying experience best suited for those with strong nerves, offering strategic gameplay and detailed maps that keep the terror fresh, especially in multiplayer.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
The Outlast Trials is completely messed up in the best way. From crazed ideas of torture to obscene amounts of guts and gore, any fans of the previous Outlast titles or the psychological horror genre will love this game. If you’re after something that steps it up compared to Resident Evil or the newly released Silent Hill: A Short Message games, then The Outlast Trials is a game you need to check out! Just remember to have a spare set of underwear close by.
While The Outlast Trials is a game that can be completed, it has many issues that currently keep it from being a fun experience. The game is very repetitive and cumbersome while the balance that it has is all over the place. Unfortunately, these issues seem to be only fixable with a lot of reworks and massive patches. Even then, it still won't address the boring gameplay loop and the lack of actual challenge outside of modifiers that only exist to make the game even more frustrating. This is a game that only hardcore Outlast fans can be invested on and thus, it is hard to recommend.
A good multiplayer experience, which still needs some refinement and which goes a little too far in penalizing solo players.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Outlast Trials successfully co-opts the Outlast formula into a multiplayer experience. It does a great job at offering what Outlast does best – macabre gore and tense horror with some genuinely gruesome objectives. But while it's fun to experience with friends, the solo players will find little reason to continue playing after the first program, and reusing some of the stalkers feels like a missed opportunity.
Red Barrels expands the Outlast universe with a new entry that introduces a whole new set of dangerous experiments by the Murkoff Corporation, a series of threats that the players will have to deal with in order to thwart a worldwide mind control scheme. The Outlast Trials has the potential to be the best horror game we get in 2024, a experience that you'll be able to enjoy either on your own or alongside other players.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The Outlast Trials" is the best co-op survival horror game of the year and impresses with fantastically staged trials. "The Outlast Trials" convinces with sadistic ideas and provides maximum thrills in the evening hours. Red Barrels has definitely given us the horror co-op fun we've always wanted. That's why we strongly recommend playing the game with friends, because this co-op experience is definitely unique. We are excited to see what else the game has to offer in the future and can recommend it to any horror fan with strong nerves.
Review in German | Read full review
The Outlast Trials is a bold experiment on the part of Red Barrels, which sets aside the established structure that has made the series successful in favor of a new interpretation devoted to online multiplayer. The creepiness and horror are constant presences, as is the rich content enriched by an interesting support on paper. What did not convince us 100%, however, is precisely the very choice to tackle an Outlast-style adventure with other people, given the structural limitations required to “make” the gameplay work in co-op in addition to the inevitable collapse of the oppressive atmosphere given by solitude. If you are a fan of the genre and have a good group to experience the title in the right way, Trials can thrill and terrify you. If, on the other hand, you plan to play it with casual players (or in single player mode), the production may show all its flaws.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Outlast Trials learns what good things have been achieved in terms of settings and gameplay in the two main titles of the series and succeeds in presenting an innovative, addictive product capable of bringing players together in a horror environment. However, the multiplayer formula may not be appreciated by genre purists, who would find Red Barrels' latest effort an underwhelming and slightly monotonous experience (all the more so when played as a single player).
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Outlast Trials is brutal and unrelenting, constantly pushing you into the deep end and taunting you to stay afloat. Some aspects could use further touching up, but if co-op horror is your sickness, then this may be your kind of therapy.
The Outlast Trials is an entertaining experience, but unfortunately its issues casts a shadow on its entertainment. Objectives become repetitive very quickly, technical issues are somewhat frequent and loading times are disappointing.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Outlast Trials may not be for everyone, but I feel confident in saying that those that do love it, will really love it, and considering Red Barrels approach to listening to player feedback throughout it’s early access, it’s sure to be a worthwhile investment.
As you sprint through hallways of visceral blood while being pursued by beings of pure terror, The Outlast: Trials provides a unique experience only Red Barrels is capable of delivering.
Red Barrels' third Outlast game is a departure in many ways, but remains memorable for its twisted villains and the grotesque world they inhabit.