Who gave this man a gun?
The Outlast Trials released into 1.0 earlier in 2024, but it had been in early access for a whole year before this, slowly releasing small updates and patches for players to enjoy and critique. But after a couple of months of minor changes, there's a major update with new antagonists, maps, trials, and more.
At first, the multiplayer horror game launched with three locations: the Police Station, Fun Park, and Orphanage, but after it was fully launched, the Toy Factory map was added as well. My favorite map still has to be the Police Station, but that's mostly due to how terrifying and funny it is to push a payload around a map while having to run away and distract giant enemies with sledgehammers. However, the latest update also now adds The Docks, the home turf of a new antagonist, Franco "II Bambino" Barbi.
Here, you'll undergo new MK Challenges and trials. There's Poison the Medicine, which'll see you and your teammates try to outsmart Franco as you solve various puzzles; Mansion Escape, which is pretty self-explanatory; Fuel the Release, where you'll have to power the court by collecting fuel canisters for the generator; and finally Teach the Police Officer, which just requires you to replace the precinct's training film with Murkoff's reels.
But if this sounds difficult, then unfortunately, you're in for another surprise, as Franco won't be like all the other enemies you've encountered in The Outlast Trials so far: He actually has a shotgun. This makes him the first opponent who can deal long-range damage, as everyone else has close-range melee attacks.
The Outlast Trials aren't impossible to complete, but the challenges certainly aren't easy, and that's without a killer hunting you down with a shotgun. Working together in a team of four, I've spent countless hours trying to help my teammates out of tough situations, whether that be leading enemies away so they could complete the objective or just using myself as a human meat shield to protect them. But even with some pretty decent teamwork, we've never coasted through a trial or challenge, which probably isn't a great sign for what we're about to face. Then again, this update also introduces four difficulty settings, so there's a bit more breathing room with how tough the challenges are.
There's also a new roguelite game mode for players to enjoy. Known as Escalation Therapy, it'll pit you against a neverending series of trials, which will all be random until all players die. You'll also begin with nothing, which means upgrades and perks will have to be found while you're navigating through all the puzzles.
It's a really cool feature for The Outlast Trials, not just because it'll make use of old trials in new ways but also because I found that repeating trials, even with new MK Challenges, (which just change the objective minimally), could get a bit boring. I'm a big fan of roguelites, so the idea of testing myself against changing odds sounds like great fun. There'll also be some sort of prize at the end of each run—the longer you survive, the better that'll be.
Every new addition in this update sounds like a great idea, and despite the absolute terror that I have to face every time I play The Outlast Trials, I'm actually really excited to jump in and give it a try.
