The Outlast Trials is a first‑person survival horror game where you play as a human test subject trapped in brutal psychological experiments run by the Murkoff Corporation during the Cold War era. It acts as a prequel to the first two Outlast games and focuses on completing “trials” that are designed to break your mind and reshape you into a controllable weapon.
Setting and story
The game is set in the 1950s, in a secret Murkoff facility where people are abducted or lured in and forced into brainwashing and mind‑control experiments. You play as a “Reagent,” a test subject pushed through increasingly sadistic scenarios that mix real locations with constructed environments meant to trigger fear, trauma, and obedience.
Core gameplay
Gameplay revolves around stealth, hiding, and resource management while avoiding violent, deranged enemies created by previous failed experiments. Instead of fighting, you sneak, use limited tools, complete objectives like “punish” or “cleanse” targets, and try to survive long enough to progress through Murkoff’s “therapy” programs.
Multiplayer focus
Unlike earlier Outlast games, The Outlast Trials is built for co‑op, letting up to four players go through the trials together, though it can still be played solo. Working as a team makes it easier to distract enemies, revive each other, and coordinate objectives, but the tension and jump scares remain central to the experience.
Themes and tone
The story emphasizes themes of dehumanization, corporate cruelty, and the weaponization of psychology, showing how Murkoff tries to erase subjects’ identities and rebuild them as tools for war. The overall tone is extremely dark and graphic, with heavy body horror, torture imagery, and constant psychological pressure meant to feel more like surviving an experiment than playing a power fantasy.
