Red Barrels has detailed the first major update headed to The Outlast Trials. Set to launch on 16 July, Project Lupara looks to add even more discomfort to the fantastic horror game.
Project Lupara features a new villain named Franco Barbi who, by the look of things, is the most distorted killer yet. Barbi is a gun-wielding character which marks the first in the series. He loves shooting people up just as much as he loves mother’s milk.
Red Barrels says Barbi can shoot players from a distance and each shot will add debuffs to the player. The new content comes with a new map called The Docks. This location adds new objectives to the mix alongside new corridors to run through and hiding spots to take advantage of.
Project Lupara also comes with additional content including a new player ability called The Barricade. Players can block pathways using this Rig forcing pursuers to bash through them. As a result, players will gain some much-needed time to complete objectives.
The content is also adding a new rogue-lite mode to the game as players can compete in never-ending Trials with different variators. The longer players survive, the more rewards they earn. Here’s a rundown of all the content:
- New Prime Asset: Franco “Il Bambino” Barbi
- 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.
- New Map: “The Docks”
- 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.
- New Trials & MK-Challenges:
- 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.
- New Game Mode: Escalation Therapy
- 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.
- New Player Ability: The Barricade
- 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.
- Introduction of Difficulty Options
- Players can choose from four difficult settings: Introductory, Standard, Intense, and Psychosurgery.
- New Lobby Mini-Game: Stroop Effect Test
- 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.
- Introduction of Daily & Weekly Tasks:
- Accomplishing tasks gives Reagents a sense of pride, and earns them various rewards.
- Introduction of Catalogs:
- Behavioural 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.
There’s also a new Limited Time Event launching on 16 July alongside this content. It will run for four weeks and see Franco Barbi appear in other Trials. He will torment players alongside the existing Mother Gooseberry or Sergeant Coyle.
The new DLC called The Exotica Pack will also launch on 16 July and bring new cosmetic items to the game. The pack includes four exclusive player skins and cell items.
The Outlast Trials is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. Read my review of the game here.