The Outlast Trials is one of those games that has become quite intriguing in the eyes of many. A multiplayer horror experience is not unheard of. Still, this game, in particular, promised that it would try to scare players on a whole new level compared to other games that have attempted the same formula. Do I think it succeeds at this? Well, not exactly. If I were to describe my experience with Outlast Trials (alongside that of the peers who helped me review the game), it'd be more frustrating rather than scary.

　　That is not to say that the game isn't scary because it quite certainly has its moments. The developers at Red Barrels know how to nail the atmosphere of horror at this point and some of the scariest moments in The Outlast Trials (even when you're playing with friends on a discord call) come from the subtle background noises and the threatening aura some of the enemies give you alongside several atmospheric hints that make you unsure of whether something's around the corner.

　　Let's start with the premise. In The Outlast Trials, you take the role of a test subject who basically used to be a bum in the street. With the promise of a solution to your mental problems, you step into the infamous Murkoff Corporation facility and then are (involuntarily) recruited as part of the corporation's infamous experiments in brainwashing and mind control. You, alongside whatever other players you group up with, are then tasked to go through a series of trials that will put your sanity to its limits as you face off against psychopaths who will stop at nothing to kill you and your peers. If you survive, you'll be set free...Supposedly.

　　The game definitely sets the hopelessness of the whole thing through its environmental design alone. In several of the areas of The Outlast Trials, you'll more often than not come across windows with scientists hovering over you, being indifferent to whether or not you're eviscerated by a policeman using a highly lethal stun baton. The game's environments do remind you at times that you're at a facility with some cardboard cutouts or mannequins that idly stand by while you run for the nearest hiding spot.

　　The game also doesn't hesitate to test the limits of your sanity in a literal sense, as a Sanity meter exists alongside your HP. This sanity meter depletes when you get hit with special gasses and manifests in several hallucinations that will more often than not serve as distractions that will instill panic within you and impair your vision as you run to the nearest monstrous human being.

　　I will say that the Sanity effect scares were actually quite decent in some regards. For example, in one of the quieter sequences, while I had my sanity low, I was watching one of the game's scripted sequences and turned to my side to see one of the hallucinations staring down at me without making so much of a noise. It was a very unsettling moment as I had my co-op partner right by my side as this was happening.

　　Unfortunately, the fantastic atmosphere, the great soundtrack, and the excellent premise are offset by what has to be one of the most frustrating experiences in any video game, horror or otherwise. The Outlast Trials will not only test your sanity, it will also test your patience as, more often than not, you will end up getting a chase started or downright killed by things beyond your control. It reduces the scare factor and becomes infuriating when your whole team dies to random factors beyond their control.

　　The difficulty of trials themselves also suffers from awful difficulty spikes for threats that you won't figure out how to fight until you have died to them several times. Not helping things is the fact that the mechanics you spend so long trying to figure out end up becoming irrelevant in the very next area as things such as hiding in dark places become obsolete once they give the enemies Night Vision goggles or make relevant items harder to find.

　　This is all done to emphasize The Outlast Trials' upgrade and rig system. In short, the game allows you to equip yourself with a rig that lets you take several threats with a specialized feature such as an on-demand healing spray, X-Ray vision, and the ability to stun enemies. The more you play the game and the more trials you complete, the more upgrades you'll be able to afford and the more you become able to snap the game in half.

　　The thing about The Outlast Trials that frustrates me (and made one of my peers ragequit) is the fact that EXP payouts are far too minuscule on repeated playthroughs compared to the "first-time rewards" that almost always guarantee a level up. Moreover, the game's Ranking system basically demands slow and methodical approaches against enemies that can cheat. One of my favorite cases was when one of my peers hid inside a locker while I was being pursued and hid around a corner. Guess who got immediately found (and subsequently killed)? The one who hid in the locker. The game, more often than not, goes against its own design with its enemies and aspects. I would almost be amazed to see someone clearing some of the hardest trials without rigs or upgrades with a high rank and no mistakes.

　　I do have some other complaints, such as the fact that lore pieces are tied to RNG (and do not get shared between players in the same group); the horrid stamina meter that drains so quickly I'm surprised I have more endurance considering I'm overweight; the trapped doors that become deadly in higher difficulties just cause; among others but I know some people will pester me about how this game is in Early Access so we'll wait until this game's issues get inevitably addressed.

　　The Outlast Trials is one of those games that I have a love-hate relationship with. I love its premise, ambiance, and some of its design features, but I also downright loathe its enemy design, the way the level design is contradictory to the way the game wants to be played, and the horrendous difficulty scaling that becomes more aggravating the more players join in (in case you're wondering, we had up to 3 players in the same game but I would thus far recommend only playing with one partner unless you want to play solo which can be easier at points).

　　After removing the horror stuff that I like, I also came to the realization that a lot of the tasks are very repetitive. One area has you escorting a snitch to be electrocuted while you solve puzzles along the way, and then in the very next area, you push "naughty children" to their execution by escorting them to a huge saw while solving puzzles along the way. Sound familiar? We're holding our breath to see what improvements are made to the game as it slowly inches its way out of  the Early Access phase. But for now, there isn't much to be found in The Outlast Trials outside the Vaas Montenegro joke.