ranzware
There are only so many times a horrible naked screaming man can scare you before it becomes a little rote. Just yesterday, our own Kara Phillips took a deep dive on the difficulties faced by horror games in keeping players engaged and susceptible to a good scare. And with the release of yesterday’s big new update for stealthy co-op frightfest The Outlast Trials, the studio’s solution isn’t doubling down on the jumpscares, but more to get players hooked on the growing tension of the game’s ongoing live story.
The new update, Under Surveillance, has tensions escalating between the comically evil Murkoff corporation and Amelia, a test subject who has escaped into the back-rooms and maintenance tunnels of the facility, and appears to be working to undermine the entire operation.
And, of course, you probably want in on that action, on account of the aforementioned horrible naked screaming people that keep trying to scare and/or murder you.
Update 2.1 continues the Project Breach storyline and adds a mix of new MK challenges (shorter missions) to the game’s growing list of ‘therapeutic’ excursions to undertake in the facility. The new tasks include live-fire roleplaying exercises where you steal and hide drug stashes, and one where you ‘kidnap’ a ‘dominatrix’ (a mannequin torso) and deliver it to an unmarked van for ‘interrogation’.
It all sounds a little bit silly (and I guess it is), but the game’s horrible, grimy atmosphere still sells the nightmare scenario well. But the main focus of this particular update is a series of time-limited side missions getting players further involved with Amelia’s escape plans, completing objectives while dodging Murkoff’s newly installed surveillance systems. You can read the full patch notes for the update on the game’s site here.
And of course, because this is a multiplayer game in 2025, players that get involved with this new content will be able to unlock some special cosmetics to dress up in, or decorate their cell a bit. I’m not entirely sure why the evil corporation is letting people decorate their spaces with the logo of the woman they claim is a threat to their entire operation, but a little suspension of disbelief is par for the course.
It’s a small update compared to the previous release, which added a new Downtown environment and a new “Prime Asset” archvillain to stalk players, the gun-toting turbo-pervert Franco “Il Bambino” Barbi, along with a couple new regular enemy types, but it’s a sign that the game is still in good health. With player counts still riding high after December’s Downtown update, I might just take the opportunity to dig a little deeper into its horrible world of screaming naked people.
The Under Surveillance event (and access to the Amelia-themed cosmetic goodies) will run until April 22nd, with the game currently available at a steep discount over on Epic, if you don’t mind going outside of Steam for a good deal.
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Kurt Indovina
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