Whether it be in the sleeper rooms, the scientific debriefs, or the trials themselves, you are constantly reminded of the failings of society as well as the limits of your own personal beliefs.
Lifton describes it as a two-part process that starts with a “confession, the exposure and renunciation of past and present ‘evil’ and re-education, the remaking of a man in a certain image”. It’s evident in more ways than one that Red Barrel’s extensive research on Thought Reform is a critical part of what allows The Outlast Trials to deliver its unique breed of psychological horror. The process described by the developers is similar to how sleeper agents are created in fiction and is, all told, profoundly creepy. Only after this is achieved, can the secretive company build the player back up with a new ideology and psychological framework. “Murkoff’s goal is to break down the player’s beliefs,” Morin says – an idea that is at the centre of Lifton’s academic research on Thought Reform. This attitude is intended to blur game and reality, connecting players with the trials and the horrors taking place at the Murkoff facility on a deeper, more fundamental level. “We want players to see the game devs as Murkoff, building environments and patching holes in their trials,” Morin says. The psychological brainwashing known as Thought Reform is central to the experience of The Outlast Trials and its development. You are constantly reminded of the failings of society as well as the limits of your own personal beliefs
The main inspirations include Saw and Cube films, The Stanford Prison Experiment, MK Ultra, and Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism by Robert Jay Lifton.
In an interview with senior game designer Phillippe Morin and game director Alex Charbonneau, we discussed the inspiration behind the more psychological elements of The Outlast Trials.
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