‘The Outlast Trials’ Is Pure Chaos on Every Front, and We Wouldn’t Want It Any Other Way

Like True Gamers™, Dwayne, Matt, Brent, and I went into The Outlast Trials without checking out the tutorial. The first of many mistakes made on our inaugural trip into this horrifying Hellscape, we wanted to go in as if we were stuck at Murkoff ourselves. I, personally, played through the original Outlast a few years ago and knew nothing of The Outlast Trials before I was invited to join alongside my friends. The experience we had was something that I don’t think I could ever forget, even if I tried.

Going Into ‘The Outlast Trials’ Blind Was Both the Greatest and Worst Decision We’ve Ever Made

After creating our characters, we all met in the mess hall. Each of our characters was a dramatized recreation of our inner selves in some form or another, different enough that we could find one another if things got a little rocky within the Trials we were about to face. It was our first time playing, so selecting “Introductory” was our best option. Or so we thought as we prepared to embark on our initial journey. It was our job, as instructed by the faceless man on the television screen that dropped before us, to Kill the Prison Snitch. Easy work, right? No, not in the slightest.

Pro-Tip: Turn Down the Master Volume in ‘The Outlast Trials’

The first mistake we all made was not turning down the Master Volume of the game. But this also led to some of the most memorable moments of the night, as I’ll get into a little later. We left the Shuttle and began to explore the world before us. Dark, dingy, and gritty: just how we all like it. Brent took the initial first steps into the world as we all attempted to get our bearings and a grasp of all the controls. The first lesson we learned: Don’t approach anyone in The Outlast Trials. What we thought was just a helpless NPC viciously socked Brent in the jaw, sending him tumbling to the floor rather quickly.

After standing back up, we started to check out the buildings to our immediate left. A barricade blocked an entrance, and after enabling our Night Vision goggles, we saw that plenty of goodies resided within. We didn’t know, however, that a massive, hulking creature also waited within these walls. Full of courage and determination, Matt bashed down this barricade and entered the room. The bloodcurdling scream that followed, however, was the perfect indication of how the night was going to go.

We Quickly Learned That You Should Never Break Away From the Team in ‘The Outlast Trials’

A bright yellow exclamation point rocketed to Matt’s character, and we all made our way over to him. Unaware of the creature’s presence, we waited for him to get back on his feet so we could continue along our merry way. That’s when I heard it: something in the immediate vicinity calling me a “fuckpig“. A massive woman, towering high above me and the rest of the crew, popped into the room, and the initial shock was awe-inspiring. We quickly ran, scattering like rats and trying to find our way into the next area. Using my Dead By Daylight skills, I attempted to keep this Giantess away from the crew, looping her around the massive ’50s-era car near the entrance.

After I heard over the proximity chat that an entrance had been found, I sprinted as quickly as I could to get away from her. We were within the prison walls themselves, and we needed to track down the Snitch. It was our responsibility to end their life, after all. And once we were inside, things calmed down a little bit. Our resting heart rate possibly went back to a normal amount after the initial shock. But that’s when we were introduced to our second big-bad of the night. Leland Coyle, or lovingly referred to in the heat of the moment as “Leather Daddy”, was an even more… shocking opponent to face off against.

Since weapons aren’t really a thing in The Outlast Trials, we tried our best to keep Leather Daddy away from us by tossing bricks and bottles directly at his terrifying face. And this worked. At least for a little while. It bought us enough time to start pushing forward, on the search for keys to unlock the doors to the Snitch’s final destination.

One Person Can’t Do the Job of Four, Especially With Leather Daddy on the Prowl

The Outlast Trials is not a game for the squeamish. It’s bloody, disgusting, and most importantly, not afraid to hang dong when it needs to. But, that’s beyond the point. We crept through the prison like discount Solid Snake, trying our best to avoid Leather Daddy and his band of merry men. We pushed the Snitch forward, digging through corpses with giddy delight, hoping to find another key to unlock the next set of barrier doors. Slowly, but surely, we started learning the ropes as we tried to make our way through a living Saw attraction.

And chaos was truly the star of the show this night. We found a large garage door, one that we needed to pick up and quickly crouch under. We all found ourselves on the other side, searching for gas cans to start up generators to fry our Snitch. Kentucky Fried Snitch aside, we started running incredibly low on our battery levels. The dark became our worst nightmare as I watched myself walking through the hallways. Wait, why am I seeing myself? I watched and listened in horror as Matt discovered that Leather Daddy was down here, and I tried to warn Dwayne about the fake me.

But chaos has a way of derailing every good plan, doesn’t it? As Matt and Brent screamed, the crackle of electricity buzzed loudly in the air, and Dwayne couldn’t hear my panicked warning. I watched as my doppelganger approached him and started stabbing him in the stomach. He begins screaming, I begin screaming, and Matt and Brent are still screaming. Leather Daddy is screaming. Everybody is screaming. And we’re all laughing, panicking, and having the time of our lives together during this abhorrent shitshow of a first run.

Our First Run Ended in Tragedy, but I Cannot Wait To Play With Everybody Again

Somehow, we escaped our encounter with the Leather Daddy. Everybody was still alive, even if it was just barely. Medication, antidotes, and batteries are swapped around like we’re in prison, bartering like our lives depended on it. I mean, they technically did. But we were quick to share the spoils of our victories. After escaping the garage and getting the generators turned on, it was time to get our Snitch to his final destination. We enter the room, each player grabbing onto the lever, and the countdown to his final moments begins.

I’ll spare you the details of what happened next, but let’s just say Leather Daddy didn’t take too kindly to what we were trying to do in this room. We all quickly found the receiving end of his electrified baton, and our first run in The Outlast Trials came to a sudden end. Right at the end of the run and everything, too. But all this did was make the crew even more determined for the next run. We had the basics down, and we knew exactly what we needed to do to make our next one successful.

Every moment of The Outlast Trials was utter chaos. But we thrive and try to survive on that here. If anything, that pure chaos has us more than excited to jump in again for another attempt. We need to find the time to get the whole squad together once again to keep on running it. But, until that happens, I’ll be thinking of this experience for quite a while. Unlike any other gaming experience we’ve ever had here, The Outlast Trials was terrifying, tense, and at times, absolutely hilarious. I think I speak for everyone when I say: we can’t wait to return to Murkoff very soon.