Syed Imran Haider 
If you enjoy cheesy horror movies and their gory appeal, then you will definitely enjoy The Outlast Trials. The game comprises of death games that are quite unique and filled with gruesome. And, devilish horrors, such as formidable killers with lethal and cunning AI. When you survive the bloody corridors, you are rewarded with upgrades in your gadgets and your character’s abilities.
The basics
A survival-horror game, The Outlast Trials gives of ridiculously macabre vibes. The story involves you becoming inmates in a ‘rehabilitation’ center with three of your friends and you end up ‘volunteering’ for a number of death games that require you to elude rampaging sadists. You also have to complete puzzles, such as opening gates with keys taken from discarded corpses, or you may also have to use a proximity detector to look for hidden psychopaths.
While you might be under the impression that being hunted by vicious maniacs would be a terrifying experience, it actually makes you laugh more than it creeps you out because of the over-the-top nature of the villains. The chaotic combination of absurdism and grisly violence somehow work together really well, providing you hours of good times.
The Outlast Trials feels really cool, as it has taken the renowned survival-horror genre and turned it on its head due to the amusing element and there is nothing like it out there.
The story
If you are looking for a story, then you will be disappointed because there is no such meaningful plot here. If you are a fan of the Outlast series, you will come across plenty of lore in this prequel. Which, can be found in the form of documents scattered about. Likewise, there are also some references, but there really isn’t a proper tale for you to follow here. The opening cut-scene sets up a very minimalist reason for you to engage in the murder sports in The Outlast Trials.
The elements
As long as you do not focus too much on the story, you will find The Outlast Trials to be quite a polished game. The characters and environment is quite crisp and even after 20 hours. The game does not seem to have any performance issues and bugs. However, the most impressive aspect is that the enemy AI is extremely intimidating. They come after you and do not miss any opportunity to make you pay when you are caught.
This is certainly important because it pushes you to take each level seriously and those who work as a group are rewarded. But, there are not a lot of interesting things to do. Essentially, there are five main trials and then you tackle the final exam before the game ends. It is true that each level is unique and haunting in its own way. But, they are limited in number and this can take some of the fun out of it. There are some minor trials, which have been named Challenges, which are a good bonus, but they do not add a lot of variety.
The Verdict
The Outlast Trials proves to be a unique cooperative horror game. That, has some memorable scenarios and a spectacular premise, even if the number of levels are limited.
