It’s totally up to players to decide how they want to play.

How does co-op affect the tension for better or worse in The Outlast Trials? Might this game sacrifice some tension for the advent of co-op?įirst of all, I should point out that you don’t have to play with other people if you prefer to go through the trials alone. I regard Outlast and especially Outlast 2 as some of the scariest games I've ever played, and I know I'm not alone. We spoke of the game's scare factor, how Red Barrels has scaled up since its first game, and the prospects of a true Outlast 3. You can read GameSpot's full interview with Morin below. To his credit, Morin does admit playing The Outlast Trials may sometimes take players willing to try something new, though he importantly adds that the traditional Outlast experience is here too, if your heart can still stand it. With the game launching in Steam Early Access on May 18, soon you can jump in and decide for yourself. Now Playing: The Outlast Trials' TERRIFYING Opening Gameplay Is that similarly conducive to scaring players, and if not, will it benefit the experience in other ways to make up for it?īy clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's But The Outlast Trials moves much of the series' MO into a co-op environment. Outlast has always been so relentless and engrossing. That was the central question I posed to co-founder and game designer at developer Red Barrels, Philippe Morin, when we recently spoke via email. Can The Outlast Trials make me feel that way again?

In the end, I got my work done on time-at the cost of some psychological distress. The game's terrifying cult at the center, purposely dizzying level design, and powerless protagonist combined to haunt me in a way that even the memorable original game did not. Up against the review embargo and needing to finish my assignment, I cut it very close because the game was so tense and unnerving that I found it hard to return to whenever I'd step away. In all my years of playing horror games, one of my strongest memories is from 2017, when Outlast 2 scared me to the point of a professional quandary.

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