The Outlast Trials

Lore & Background

Set in 1959 during the Cold War, the Murkoff Corporation runs a deceptive recruitment program that kidnaps volunteers and transports them to the Sinyala Facility in Arizona. The subjects, called Reagents, undergo a medical exam where night-vision goggles are affixed to their heads, then are forced into an Initiation Trial overseen by facility director Dr. Hendrick Joliet Easterman. Reagents must destroy their own records while avoiding failed test subjects known as the Experimental Population, or Ex-Pops. After trials, they return to the Sleep Room to listen to Easterman's broadcasts and interact with engineer Cornelius Noakes, nurse Emily Barlow, and fellow Reagent Dorris Ritter, who provides contraband goods.

The trials escalate in danger, introducing Specialist Ex-Pops such as the Pitcher, who throws Molotov cocktails, and the Night Hunter, who stalks Reagents in darkness. Prime Assets—powerful Ex-Pops ruling themed environments—include disgraced children's TV host Phyllis "Mother Gooseberry" Futterman, ex-police sergeant Leland Coyle, gangster Franco "Il Bambino" Barbi, conjoined aristocrats Otto and Arora Kress, and stealthy priestess Liliya Bogomolova. Reagents deemed ready for release undergo a Rebirth process, completing a final trial that leads to one of five randomly assigned endings, each involving a code word spoken by Easterman and a blackout or death. The Amelia Escape Update (April 8, 2025) added a sixth trial and ending where Reagents escape via corpse disposal train, though this ending was removed with the Project Relapse Update (April 22, 2025), which instead allows players to reset a max-level character to level 1 for permanent upgrades and cosmetic rewards.

Reader's Guide

The Outlast Trials received generally positive reviews from critics. Its significance lies in expanding the Outlast universe backward into the Cold War era, while introducing cooperative four-player multiplayer alongside the traditional single-player mode. The game retains the series' emphasis on stealth and evasion over combat, with night-vision goggles requiring scarce batteries, and items like bricks and bottles used for distraction or brief stunning. A progression system awards experience points and in-game currency based on trial grades, allowing players to unlock abilities called rigs—such as seeing through walls, healing, placing smoke bomb mines, or reinforcing barricades—and cosmetic items. Variators increase difficulty by adding more aggressive enemies or locked doors. The Project Nostophobia update (July 1, 2025) introduced a variator that depletes goggles faster, disables rigs, and removes throwable items and traps, aiming to replicate the gameplay of the original Outlast. The Project Relapse update added a permanent upgrade system tied to character reset, and the Amelia Escape storyline was later overwritten by the Relapse narrative, which serves as punishment for escaping Reagents. The game's multiple Rebirth endings connect to events from Outlast, including the Morphogenic Engine and the Walrider, linking the prequel to the earlier titles.

Did You Know?

• The Outlast Trials was first announced in October 2019 and was originally scheduled for release in August 2021 before being delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• A closed beta was available from October 28 to November 1, 2022.
• The game features six distinct abilities called rigs, including seeing through walls, healing, and placing smoke bomb mines.
• The Project Relapse update, released April 22, 2025, allows players to reset a max-level character to level 1 in exchange for a permanent ability or upgrade and a cosmetic reward.