Saw’s theatrical franchise may not be everyone’s favorite horror series, especially in its later entries, and its game adaptations may not have had any better reception. ButSawis still an IP that could potentially be adapted to games in a meaningful and satisfying way, so long as it has the right developer and the right gameplay. Considering thetorture puzzles that typically constitute aSawexperience, there are few designs that would work. Fortunately, Red Barrels’ next horror title will beThe Outlast Trials, which could offer the perfect formula for a co-opSawgame.
Further, it’s not like there hasn’t been an attempt to revive the franchise in games in the recent past, since it is already publicly known thatBloober Team passed on theSawlicense in favor ofBlair Witch. If the intent is to remove the IP from the shelf and give it a home with a new developer, Red Barrels might find success with it following the third installment of itsOutlastfranchise. Only scarce details have been shared aboutThe Outlast Trials, but its survival-horror co-op gameplay may lend itself well to having players help one another escape Jigsaw’s traps.
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The Outlast Trials Seems to Follow the Saw Formula
Relinquishing the story-driven premise ofOutlastandOutlast 2, Red Barrels has decided to take its third installment in a relatively opposite direction withThe Outlast Trials. Set during the Cold War, players are involuntarily dragged off to be scientific test subjects and endure sadistic challenges that it considers therapy, with survival being the only goal that players have.
The environments shown thus far forThe Outlast Trialsare incredibly elaborate set pieces, not unlike the ones established in theSawfranchise. This gives Red Barrels an unending amount of ingenuity and potential with the trials it proposes for players, especially when it is considered thatThe Outlast Trialsintends to feature co-op with up to four players.
Outlast’s traditional cat-and-mouse gameplaymay be reprised here in some regard, butThe Outlast Trialsalready looks more robust with new gameplay mechanics that players should expect. Such mechanics include setting remote trap devices as a way to finally fight back instead of exclusively hiding or running.
Red Barrels Could Be the Perfect Developer for a Saw Game
Outlast’s simplicity is likely what made it so popular back when it was released, even if nowadays that same simplicity is critiqued for not having much substance to it. That is a fair argument when considering that the entire experience consists of hiding and peering out of cabinets while looking through a night vision camcorder.
However,The Outlast Trialsseems fairly emergent for Red Barrelsin terms of what it can offer in gameplay, and it could be an easy transition fromThe Outlast TrialstoSawin the future. On paper, the premise for bothThe Outlast TrialsandSawis the same: victims gain consciousness and learn they are part of a horrific experiment that is proposed to them under the guise of therapeutic enlightenment.
Individuals are coerced into performing a horrible act of violence, or trapped in a delicate mechanism and must put themselves through irreparable anguish to escape.The Outlast Trialsclaims that players will be freed if they successfully survive, and whether that is true or not, that is the same promise made bySaw’s Jigsaw. Of course, mostSawtraps are engineered to be inescapable. But because bothThe Outlast TrialsandSawseem to share so many similarities, Red Barrels should absolutely be considered as a developer if the license is still being offered around.
The Outlast Trialsis in development.
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