More information about The Outlast Trials was revealed at Gamescom's Opening Night Live event with a gory new trailer, and a closed beta announcement. It had been almost a year since fans of Outlast last received any news surrounding the survival horror title as part of Gamescom's 2021 Opening Night Live event.
As previously announced, the latest addition to Red Barrel's Outlast series will differ from its predecessors. Outlast and Outlast 2 were first-person survival horror titles that put players in the shoes of investigative journalists who would have to record various horrors as they report on gruesome mysteries, and used a camcorder to recreate the found-footage style of horror movies such as The Blair Witch Project or Paranormal Activity. The Outlast Trials introduces co-op for the first time in the series, allowing players to interact and help each other survive the game's twisted hospital setting.
A year later at Gamescom's 2022 Opening Night Live event, The Outlast Trials returned with a gory gameplay trailer that introduced players to some of its twisted inhabitants, which include clowns, mannequins, and nuns, and showed some of Murkoff Psychiatric Hospital's twisted experiments. These experiments are not for the faint of heart, as they include a range of disturbing physical mutilation and more psychological experimentation such as subliminal messaging. Developer Red Barrels has since ed the trailer to its own YouTube channel for those keen to look further into any hidden clues that may be found within its flashes of subliminal messaging.
There Is No Official Release Date For The Outlast Trials
As pointed out by Gamescom host Geoff Keighley, there is no word on when general audiences will be able to experience The Outlast Trials, but given how long it has been since any previous news surrounding the title it's a positive sign that some players are going to be able to experience it later this year. The trailer ended with an announcement of a closed beta from October 28 to November 1 this year - making for a perfect Halloween gaming experience for Outlast fans - and revealed that players can wishlist the title on Steam, meaning that it shouldn't be too long until a full release date is announced.
While skeptics may have had concerns that cooperative play would ruin the tense atmosphere in a series like Outlast, The Outlast Trials seems determined to prove that the twisted survival horror series will be just as horrifying as ever, with more of the gruesome activities that the franchise has become known for. Whether players choose to play solo or with friends, it's clear that no one is safe in the confines of the Murkoff Psychiatric Hospital.
Source: Gamescom/YouTube, Red Barrels/YouTube
