Every Trial in The Outlast Trials, Ranked

Through a combination of a recent major update introducing a new Prime Asset and trial environment to the game, and a free release on PS Plus for the month of December, The Outlast Trials has hit a major spike in popularity in recent weeks, bringing a ton of new and returning players to the game, myself included. I first played The Outlast Trials back when Mother Gooseberry and Leland Coyle were our only two Prime Assets, but have been inactive on it since. Now, upon my return to the Sinyala Facility, I was shocked at how much new content had come to the game.

I was so shocked, in fact, that I found myself playing through each of the trials available in this game multiple times, and had such a good time that I decided to rank them! Today, we’re ranking all 10 of the main trials in The Outlast Trials. I won’t be including MK-challenges in here, mainly because a lot of them are very similar to each other, and it would make this list way too long. I’ll be ranking these trials based solely on how much I enjoy playing them, how fun it is to interact with the Prime Asset, and how enjoyable the maps themselves are to explore, not based on difficulty. With that being said, let’s dive into our ranking of The Outlast Trials!

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10. Pleasure the Prosecutor

Image by Red Barrels

The Outlast Trials is a game that can either be experienced solo, or as part of a team unit, and for practically every trial, their enjoyability can be greatly affected by how you choose to play. However, when it comes to our Downtown trial, ‘Pleasure the Prosecutor’, I dislike playing through this whether I’m on my own, or with a team. To kick things off, this map is a complete headache, and is the only map in the game that I routinely get lost on, even after playing its trial and its MK-challenges multiple times. The main gimmick behind ‘Pleasure the Prosecutor’ is also incredibly annoying to complete, as players must routinely pull levers and wait for a progress bar to fill, while trapped in extremely small spaces with enemies.

The enemies in this trial seem to be hyper-aware of where you’re hiding at all times, and crouching in a dark corner seems to be a fruitless strategy. Even if you stay completely quiet and hide in a dark spot, enemies seem to walk right over to you. Players must also deal with Scapegoats in this trial, which are easily my least favourite mechanic in the entire game. Combine all of this with the fact that this is a Franco Barbi trial, meaning you’ll be dodging ranged attacks left and right, and you get the most frustrating trial in The Outlast Trials, by a pretty hefty margin. But hey, at least the Simon game with the mannequins at the end is a classically fun time.

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9. Pervert the Futterman

Image by Red Barrels

This is a trial I really have to prepare myself to play. Not only does it contain the most unequivocally graphic execution in the entire game, but it’s also one of the most frustrating and difficult trials to complete, regardless of what difficulty you choose to tackle it on. I tend to enjoy Mother Gooseberry trials, but something about ‘Pervert the Futterman’s patience-based objectives really put me off this experience. The opening section, where you must load toy boxes into a trash compactor, isn’t too bad, but even while acting as a tutorial for the rest of the trial to come, it still feels like a slog. There’s nothing more painful than waiting for your toy box to slowly approach the retrieval window, an experience made even worse if one of your non-communicative teammates loads the wrong box onto the conveyor belt.

After playing through this trial a handful of times, the Toy Factory’s layout gets a lot less confusing, but it’s still one of the least appealing maps to play on. It doesn’t help that Mother Gooseberry seems to love hanging around your objectives during this trial, making achieving any progress an extremely tall ask. ‘Pervert the Futterman’ is one of the only trials in the game where I just don’t get any satisfaction out of the objectives, as the entire trial centres around putting boxes on conveyor belts and waiting for them to roll towards you. We get to turn a couple of pipe valves at the end, and then we thankfully leave this trial behind us. Not a badly designed trial by any means, but majorly repetitive, and frustratingly slow.

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8. Poison the Medicine

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‘Poison the Medicine’ is one of those trials that I can’t quite put my finger on. It feels way more difficult than a lot of the other trials, but I couldn’t tell you why it feels that way. The map is pretty cool, but I still don’t like playing on it for some reason. I like how unique the noxious gas mechanic is, but it’s incredibly annoying to deal with, especially if you don’t know where you’re going. Then, you have the yellow-painted symbol section, which is actually pretty enjoyable if you have a team that know what they’re doing, but falls to pieces if you don’t. Laying the whole trial out, I think ‘Poison the Medicine’ deserves some praise for how much new content it brings to the table. However, a lot of it ends up being more frustrating than fun.

Franco Barbi returns as the Prime Asset with a really enjoyable personality, but some really unfortunate trials and environments. I also feel like Franco has less of a presence in this trial than your standard Ex-Pop grunts, which makes the entire trial structure feel a little off. I’ve felt far more threatened by the grunts patrolling the drug laboratory and the chemical storage building than I ever have by Franco here. The ending execution is grisly, and one of the more memorable in the game. However, though this trial gets plenty of points for innovation, it’s just not a trial that I get excited to see pop up. Unfortunately, things aren’t looking any better for Franco from here…

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7. Liquidate the Union

Image by Red Barrels

Next, we have my favourite of the Franco trials, but that’s not very high praise. I really struggled with ranking this trial, and honestly, if The Outlast Trials were a single-player game, it might have ended up higher on the list. The ending sequence of ‘Liquidate the Union’ is pretty incredible, and makes for one of my favourite trial finales in the game. However, the build-up to the finale is not only repetitive, but is nearly impossible to complete if you’re working with a non-communicative team. You don’t know true frustration until you’ve played ‘Liquidate the Union’ with a team that doesn’t understand that the frequency boxes need to be tuned in the order shown on the screens.

However, to new players’ credit, I think that ‘Liquidate the Union’ highlights the greatest flaw of The Outlast Trials. Pretty often, it’s quite unclear what exactly the game wants you do, and where it wants you to go. At no point does the game explicitly tell you that you need to complete the boxes in order, even if it is implied. I think that the game could work on making objectives a little more clear, especially considering that brand new players can jump straight into any trial as soon as they complete the game’s tutorial. The learning curve in this game is growing steeper, and I don’t think that The Outlast Trials is doing much to counter this growing problem. I enjoy parts of ‘Liquidate the Union’, but I think that playing it with random teammates acts as a cautionary tale for a future to come if trial objectives aren’t made more understandable.

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6. Vindicate the Guilty

Image by Red Barrels

For the most part, I really enjoy ‘Vindicate the Guilty’. The Courthouse is a great trial environment, and exploring it always feels clear and rewarding. The evidence box mechanic is really fun, and unlike some of the other puzzle mechanics in the game, it feels even more thrilling when you’re being pursued by enemies. Fetching the acid buckets is a little boring, but the trial more than makes up for this section through its incredible finale, and the presence of fan-favourite Leland Coyle as the trial’s Prime Asset. The execution of the Judge is also insane, and deeply disturbing. So, why has this trial come in under the halfway mark?

I blame my ranking of ‘Vindicate the Trial’ on one major factor, and one factor only – the Scapegoat mechanic. I never want to make game developers feel like they’ve majorly missed the mark, especially when it comes to a team like Red Barrels, who have put a lot of love into The Outlast Trials. However, I really think it’s time for the Scapegoats to go. I would be pretty shocked to see them show up in a future trial, given how much the fans seem to universally hate dealing with them. No matter what the future holds though, ‘Vindicate the Guilty’ will always be known as the trial that brought these guys to the game, and that fact alone acts as a sort of unremovable stain on the trial overall.

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5. Grind the Bad Apples

Image by Red Barrels

‘Grind the Bad Apples’ is a really strange trial to rank. A lot of people harbour very strong feelings towards this trial, and often, you’ll see ‘Grind the Bad Apples’ in the bottom spot, or the top spot, depending on the player. For me though, this trial lands right in the middle of my list, as I really appreciate its highlights, but really dislike its weaknesses. Off the bat, this trial loses some points for not having an execution in it, but that’s not too big of a deal for me. It’s a Mother Gooseberry trial, which earns it some of those points back. From that point on though, this is a trial that is split clean in half for me.

I love the Fun Park as a map, and the first half of that trial revels in all of the potential that a theme park environment offers. I love playing the carnival games to win tickets to enter the Root Canal ride. Walking into the Root Canal is also a pretty stunning and immersive experience. From this point on though, the trial falls apart a little. Finding battery switches and turning valves inside dark backrooms simply isn’t all that fun, and feels like a waste of an incredible trial environment. Pushing the boat into the grinder also feels painfully slow when you’re being pursued by enraged enemies. In short then, half of this trial is amazing, and half of it is pretty drab – the halfway point on our list feels like the perfect spot for it.

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4. Kill the Politican

Image by Red Barrels

Maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but I think that the Shopping Mall is the best trial environment in the entirety of The Outlast Trials. Not only is it visually stimulating, but it feels incredibly satisfying to explore, and I practically never lose my way while running around it. Against all odds, I also think the fuse mechanic works really well here, especially considering you can tell which stores have fuses based on whether they’re lit up or not. Even the basic action of turning valves feels fresh and fun in this trial with the implication of the mathematical water pressure puzzles. There’s really only two ways that ‘Kill the Politician’ stumbles as a trial, and unfortunately, they are pretty major.

Firstly, this is the only trial currently available for the Kress Twins, the fourth Prime Asset to be introduced to the game. I’m not quite sure what went on with these guys behind-the-scenes, but it would be an understatement to say that they feel like an afterthought compared to all of the other Prime Assets in the game. Not only was their release quickly overshadowed by the debut of Liliya less than a year later, but they don’t even get a formal introductory cutscene in this, their only trial. The execution at the end of the trial is its second issue, as playing solo, killing the politician feels really difficult, as the Kress Twins are constantly on your tail, while when you’re playing in a group, it feels like the pair can barely make their way down to you before you’ve finished your execution completely. I really enjoy so many aspects of this trial, but it’s far from perfect, leaving it just barely out of our top three.

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3.Despoil the Auction

Image by Red Barrels

‘Despoil the Auction’ may not be the most varied trial in the game in terms of objective, but boy, is Liliya Bogomolova a stroke of genius on the part of Red Barrels or what? There are really only three major parts to this trial – unlocking doors throughout the Resort using animal keys, retrieving jewels from mannequins, and finally, carrying out the execution at the end of the trial. However, through incredible map design, and the ever-looming possibility that one of the mannequins you approach could be Liliya herself, ‘Despoil the Auction’ stands out as one of the most unique and compelling trial experiences to ever hit the game, and considering this is the newest trial to be added to The Outlast Trials, it’s great to see that Red Barrels haven’t run out of ideas yet.

I really enjoy this trial, even if it feels like Liliya is constantly a little too close for comfort in the finale sequence. However, I do have one major issue with it, an issue that I think could be solved with one minor patch. If you’re playing in a group on this trial, you must collect $450 worth of jewels to progress to the trial’s finale. This amount feels way too steep for players who aren’t familiar with the Resort map, and during my first playthrough of this trial as a team, we spent nearly 2 hours running around the trial, scanning mannequins endlessly. On higher difficulties, and with more experienced players, I can see $450 working. However, I think that on lower difficulties, the $350 needed to progress solo is more than enough. Outside of this flaw making the trial last way longer than it needs to, ‘Despoil the Auction’ is a pretty incredible trial, and a perfect introduction for The Outlast Trials‘ newest Prime Asset.

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2. Kill the Snitch

Image by Red Barrels

Now we jump from the newest trial in the game right back to the trial that started it all, ‘Kill the Snitch’. When a trial has been acknowledged by the majority of the fanbase as the best trial in the game, even with so many new trials releasing after it, you know it’s a good one. It may not be my absolute favourite trial in the game, but ‘Kill the Snitch’ is more than deserving of the praise it gets, acting as the perfect introduction to the general flow of a trial in this game. Collecting keys and pushing the Snitch in a chair may not sound like the most gameplay in the world, but there’s something satisfying about how simple this trial is. The trial also features Leland Coyle as its Prime Asset, with the Police Station environment acting as an added bonus.

The finale sequence is also potentially the most iconic in the game, and easily one of the most fun, landing just behind ‘Liquidate the Union’ as my favourite trial finale. I haven’t talked much about these parts of trials, mainly because they’re usually so straightforward, but I really love the sprint back to the trial shuttle in ‘Kill the Snitch’, after the execution has ended. There’s so much to love about this trial, and for many players, it holds a lot of nostalgia as the first trial they ever completed. I was tempted to put it at number one, but one final trial claimed that spot…

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1. Cleanse the Orphans

Image by Red Barrels

Whenever people talk about all the things that they love about ‘Kill the Snitch’, I can’t help but mentally apply them to ‘Cleanse the Orphans’. This is the trial I’ve played the most times in The Outlast Trials, it hosts my favourite Prime Asset in the game, it’s easily the most nostalgic trial for me, and I’ve helped a huge amount of new players get introduced to the game with this trial. It’s not perfect, and I think that the execution at the end of the trial is actually pretty underwhelming compared to all of the other ones in the game, but I love it from start to finish nonetheless.

The frequency boxes are actually enjoyable to complete here, considering you don’t have to keep the order in mind like in ‘Liquidate the Union’, while swapping out the film reels in the classrooms feels extremely tense if you’ve got an enemy on your tail. I also love the chapel section, powering the basement generators while simultaneously collecting keys for the giant saw. With two generators to power, and two keys to collect, each of the four potential players of this trial have something to do, leaving no Reagent behind, as a lot of trials tend to do. Running away from Gooseberry at the end is also thrilling, as she feels like the most aggressive pursuer in the game. There’s nothing I dislike about this trial, making it an easy choice for my favourite experience currently available in The Outlast Trials. An oldie, but a goodie!

See also: Best PlayStation Games of All Time

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Conclusion

That’s our ranking of all of the trials in The Outlast Trials! Do you agree with our picks? Who’s your favourite Prime Asset in the game, and which trial environment do you love being sent to? What trial do you hate the most, especially when you’re in an online lobby with no voice chat? Be sure to let us know, and thanks for reading!

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