Each time I dive back into the Murkhoff Facility, the dystopian MK-Ultra style research lab where The Outlast Trials takes place, I’m amazed at how well it all just clicks. The excellent social hub, the balance between shallow-breathed suspense and co-op silliness, the unlikely performance polish for an Early Access game—from the cutscenes, to the sound design and graphics. It’s odd to say, but to me The Outlast Trials never had a right to be this good. Yes, the Outlast games has a strong legacy of commercial success, but they were very much ‘jump-a-minute’ ghost train rides, and by the time the second one came out, I for one had already had my honeymoon with the ‘run from things in straight lines’ genre.