The Outlast Trials is a first-person co-op survival horror game developed by Red Barrels. Players take on the role of Reagents, test subjects forced into psychological and physical experiments by the Murkoff Corporation during the Cold War era. The experience centers on navigating dangerous trials filled with objectives, traps, and hostile enemies while managing limited resources like stamina, sanity, and night-vision batteries.
Gameplay
Core gameplay revolves around completing a series of objectives in procedurally varied environments. Players must evade or distract AI-controlled enemies known as Ex-Pop and Prime Assets, avoid sound traps and hazards such as electrified floors, and handle secondary tasks for better performance grades. Stealth takes priority since direct combat is not possible, though players can throw bricks or glass bottles to lure enemies away or briefly stun them. Night-vision goggles help in dark areas but require battery management.
Each player selects one rig, a device granting a cooldown-based ability. Available rigs include options for stunning enemies with an electric shock, deploying blinding smoke, healing nearby teammates, scanning for items and threats through walls, or placing barricades to slow pursuers. Progression comes through experience points earned from trial grades, allowing upgrades and new perks called amps. Solo play includes limited respawns via pills, while co-op requires syringes to revive fallen teammates. Variators can modify trials with extra enemies, locked doors, or other challenges to increase difficulty.
Game Modes
The main content falls under Core Therapy, which includes full trials that demand multiple objectives across larger maps and shorter MK-Challenges set in modified sections of those same environments. Weekly Therapy adds rotating modifiers for fresh runs. Escalation mode lets players start fresh with escalating threats for additional rewards. Invasion, introduced as a permanent Experimental Therapy mode, shifts to player-versus-player elements where participants choose to act as Reagents completing objectives or as Imposters who disguise themselves to hunt and eliminate others using specialized abilities like slashing attacks and enhanced senses. Matches rotate roles after each round, and the mode supports solo or small-team play with matchmaking options unlocked at higher therapy levels.
Progression and Updates
Players advance by completing trials and challenges, unlocking new rigs, amps, and customization options. The game receives regular free seasonal updates that introduce new maps, Prime Assets, Ex-Pop variants, limited-time events, and balance changes. Recent seasons have added environments like a prison farm and a resort, along with events featuring unique modifiers such as faster battery drain or increased enemy aggression. Support continues with quality-of-life improvements, new MK-Challenges, and refinements to existing modes like Invasion.
Is It Worth Playing?
The Outlast Trials delivers tense co-op horror focused on teamwork, resource management, and evasion in disturbing settings. It suits players who enjoy multiplayer survival experiences where communication and coordination matter, whether tackling trials alone or with up to three others. Reception has been positive overall, with strong praise for the addictive trial loop and memorable antagonists, though some find the horror less intense in larger groups. The game maintains active development with ongoing seasons and events, and it remains available on Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles. Those drawn to psychological horror with co-op elements will likely find repeated playthroughs rewarding, especially with the addition of competitive Invasion matches for variety.
