Games
Published on July 12th, 2024 |
by Adrian Gunning
Outlast’s Most Depraved Killer Yet
Prolific indie horror studio Red Barrels launches their first major update for their latest title, The Outlast Trials, adding an all-new villain, the mother’s-milk-loving mobster: Franco Barbi. For the first time in the Outlast trilogy, players will face a gun-wielding villain. Franco comes armed with a sawed-off shotgun that will strike Reagents from a distance, making the chase all the more challenging for players. Franco will find his victims in the new map “The Docks,” where the new Trials take place. The Outlast Trials’ new content is available July 16th on PC, PlayStation®, and Xbox®.
This latest update introduces a new villain, a new map, a new game mode, a new player ability (Rig), several new Trials and MK-Challenges, difficulty options for players, overhauls to matchmaking, menu UI, daily and weekly tasks, and a new in-game economy.
Project Lupara is the first of a number of upcoming major updates for Red Barrels’ growing live service game, which has sold over 2 million copies to date.
The perverse son of New Orleans mafia don Salvatore Barbi. Franco is driven by craven entitlement, greed, and psychosexual violence fueled by his impotence and insecurities, a freakish ‘big baby’ obsessed with his ‘Pacifier’; the titular boom stick he sucks on when he’s not using it to blow someone to smithereens.
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Enter “The Docks,” Franco’s drug manufacturing domain from which he infantilizes the world, dragging weak and powerful alike to his level. Solve its deadly puzzles and escape Franco’s tantrums to escape alive.
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New Trials & MK-Challenges:
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- Poison the Medicine: Reagents will come face-to-face with Franco in the new story Trial, “Poison the Medicine”, which will transport players to “The Docks,” a brand-new map and Barbi’s home turf.
- Mansion Escape: Return to the final Trial, Farewell Mansion, for a completely new experience; Mansion Escapes now evolves in difficulty as you release Reagents. Witness an all-new Ending when you succeed.
- Fuel the Release: Justice requires power, and power requires fuel. Carry the fuel, power the court, and secure your liberty.
- Teach the Police Officer: Defining laws creates crime; replace the precinct’s training film with Murkoff’s reels and make future crimes your own.
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New Game Mode: Escalation Therapy
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- Reagents partake in a new rogue-lite game mode pitting them against a never-ending series of randomized Trials with variators until they succumb to a Permadeath and begin anew.
- Reagents will begin with nothing and build their loadouts from Murkoff’s limited selection of upgrades.
- The longer you can survive, the bigger the reward.
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New Player Ability: The Barricade
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This Rig can be used to block paths, giving Reagents the time needed to complete their objectives while pursuers are forced to bash their way through or take the long way around.
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Introduction of Difficulty Options
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Players can choose from four difficult settings: Introductory, Standard, Intense, and Psychosurgery.
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New Lobby Mini-Game: Stroop Effect Test
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The stroop effect is the delayed reaction time people have when viewing conflicting stimuli; the Stroop Effect Test asks participants to correctly select the colour of a word, where the word spells the name of a different colour. For example, the word RED written in blue text, or the word BLUE written in yellow text.
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Introduction of Daily & Weekly Tasks:
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Accomplishing tasks gives Reagents a sense of pride, and earns them various rewards.
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- Behavioral Attire shapes your persona on the path to rebirth. Complete tasks. Earn Stamps. Become a better you.
- Standard Catalog “A New You”: A collection of previously available and new cosmetics.
- First Deluxe Catalog “Project Lupara”: A collection of brand new cosmetics to go along with this update.
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- The Bambino Special Event will run for the first four weeks following the update.
- Franco Barbi appears in certain Trials and MK-Challenges, alongside Mother Gooseberry or Sergeant Coyle, and in Trials and MK-Challenges set in The Docks map.
- The event will have two parts (each split into two weeks) where Franco will appear in different Trials.
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New DLC, “The Exotica Pack”
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Travel the world from inside your cell! This new exclusive set includes four legendary outfits, E.S.O.P.s , cell items, cell posters, and player icons to customize your horrific journey. Available on July 16 for USD $19.99.
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New MURKOFF COLLECTIONS Comic Book Chapter
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Chapter 3 of the Murkoff Collections releases July 12, bringing with it the chilling backstory of our latest Prime Asset, Franco ‘Il Bambino’ Barbi.
Project Lupara update is scheduled for Thursday, July 16.
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The Outlast Trials is the third installment in Red Barrels’ critically acclaimed psychological horror series. In 4-player co-op, complete escape room-style puzzles while avoiding the twisted victims of Murkoff’s experiments using a combination of stealth, speed, and teamwork. In a unique blend of survival horror and online escape room, The Outlast Trials challenges players with Aperture Science-style tests that Jigsaw himself would shudder at. Complete Trials, return to your cell, upgrade your therapies, and steel your nerves to face horrors beyond your imagination.
Set in 1959 at the height of the Cold War, human guinea pigs are involuntarily recruited to test advanced methods of mind control in their nightmare facility. Crush your morals and test your sanity on the path to rebirth as one of Murkoff’s Reagents while discovering the secret documents littered throughout the facility.
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About the Author
Adrian Gunning Adrian lives in Melbourne Australia and has a huge passion for gaming, technology and pop culture. He recently finished his a Bachelor of Journalism and is currently focusing on games journalism. When not writing and playing video games, Adrian can be found in Comics 'R' Us debating the pros of the DC Universe and cons of the Marvel Universe.
