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The Outlast Trials takes on the mob with Project Lupara update

For The Outlast Trials' first major update, Red Barrels introduces an all-new villain.

Ozzie Mejia

July 11, 2024 9:00 AM

Red Barrels

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The Outlast Trials arrived earlier this year, delivering psychological terror to player psyches across the gaming space. Now just imagine that it was a small taste of what developer Red Barrels has in store for the game. The studio is promising an offer that nobody can refuse in the form of the game's biggest update so far. On Thursday, Red Barrels unveiled Project Lupara, headlined by the villainous mobster Franco 'Il Bambino' Barbi.

The Outlast Trials has introduced some memorable antagonists across its base game, including Mother Gooseberry and Sergeant Coyle. Franco Barbi brings along his own depraved backstory, introduced as the son of a mafia don warped by a sense of entitlement, greed, and a thirst for violence. Players will sense his presence when they hear his signature pacifier, a symbol of his own insecurity and warped development. For Project Lupara, Barbi has something that they don't: a sawed-off shotgun. This gives the mobster an edge against players that previous baddies didn't have, allowing him to fire at targets from a distance.

On top of that, players won't have an exact idea of the layout ahead of them. The Docks is a new map set in Barbi's drug manufacturing setup, where he drags his victims. Players will have to navigate a new set of puzzles and escape before Barbi can have his way with them. They'll have a new ability (The Barricade) to help them fend off Barbi's advances, but it'll only buy so much time.

One of the other big features of Project Lupara is the debut of a new roguelite mode called Escalation Therapy. This will allow players to take on an endless set of Trials, each randomized with different variants. Once they die, it's time to start over. However, over time, players will earn greater rewards that allow them to persevere for just a little longer.

Look for quality-of-life improvements to make their way to the rest of the game. Four new difficulty options will be available, starting at Introductory and going all the way up to Psychosurgery. New Daily and Weekly Tasks will allow players to earn rewards to help them through the game. Finally, Catalogs will help players organize their cosmetics and shape their character so that at least they're fleeing for their lives in style.

The Outlast Trials will look to usher in Project Lupara with the limited-time Bambino special event, fresh off the success of the last one. This will insert Franco Barbi into certain Trials and MK-Challenges and set others in the new Docks map. Look for the Project Lupara update to come to The Outlast Trials on Tuesday, July 16.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?