The Outlast Trials has long been one of the best horror games to play, but in its next update, it’s going to get even scarier. Coming in a patch on October 21, Invasion mode is adding an optional PvP mode to the game for the first time, and the way developer Red Barrels has designed it adds a ton of horror and paranoia to the experience.
As devoted players already know, the normally PvE co-op horror game can be disrupted by “impostors,” NPC characters who appear on the map as violent doppelgangers. These impostors are caught somewhat easily by their tell-tale laughs–they don’t easily fool experienced players, though their behaviors have grown more sophisticated since the game first launched. But Invasion mode is about to overhaul that element in a major way.
During Invasion rounds, an enemy team of up to four players can join a game as impostors, taking turns infiltrating the round while disguised as players on the other team and armed with a kitchen knife. When waiting to spawn in, impostors can spy on the other team using security cameras, while those players can break the cameras as a counter.
It’s the goal of the impostor team to sabotage the mission for the other side. Gone are the impostors’ signature laughs that would give away the ruse, and impostors can even unlock a number of unique skills that will help them move faster, blend in better, and kill more efficiently. In the final moments of a round, all impostors are released onto the map, adding a final touch of chaos. In an added bit of fun, impostors can hear a moment of their victim’s voice comms just before they kill them off, too.
I recently played a live preview of the mode and it was the scariest thing I’ve experienced in the game to date. At the same time, it was hilarious, in that “I’m so nervous, I’m laughing” sort of way. Each round of Invasion becomes fully enveloped in an air of paranoia. Even just working with another player on your team becomes an unnerving exercise. I didn’t feel safe turning my back to my allies, because they may have been killers only wearing their face.
The mode looks like it’ll be a hit for the horror game, and it comes alongside a bigger update that also adds an in-game shop, new missions, and the annual Halloween event, Geister. Twitch Drops are coming for the first time, too. All of these things come bundled in the October 21 game patch on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5.
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