‘Outlast Trials’ Composer On Building A Disturbing Soundscape [Interview]
Justin Wood
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Outlast is infamous in the gaming world. It is the game that launched Red Barrels into the spotlight and the series that refined the hide-and-seek horror genre. Now, Red Barrels has created a multi-player experience with the latest game in the series, The Outlast Trials
With the release of the third installment in the horror franchise, I sat down with The Outlast Trials composer Tom Salta, to talk everything horror and how he brought this soundtrack to life. Be sure to check out Dread Central’s review of The Outlast Trials here.
Dread Central: Looking back at your history in soundtracks for video games, this isn’t your first horror title. With Cold Fear (one of my favorite PlayStation 2 titles) being your first foray into the horror gaming landscape, how has the scene changed since then?
Tom Salta: You certainly know your history! But technically, I scored a horror game even before that one. It was a PC point-and-click adventure called Still Life by Microids. And yes, lots has changed in the horror gaming landscape, mainly on the technological side. The Outlast Trials is a feast for the eyes, albeit a horrific one. It’s also the only horror game that I know of that has the kind of cooperative multiplayer element that it does. It also holds nothing back. There are a lot of things that some people won’t be able to “unsee.” This is a grisly game that is not for the faint of heart.
DC: Outlast has a long lineage of being incredibly tense and horrific. Did you look at past Outlast games to gather inspiration for the soundscape for The Outlast Trials?
TS: That’s a great question. I relied on the leadership and guidance of the audio director, Francis Brus as well as the vision of Red Barrel’s co-founder, Philippe Morin. They knew exactly where they wanted to take the musical direction of The Outlast Trials. Although it did have some common elements with the previous scores, it went much further into using unusual instrumentation and textures to create an immensely disturbing score.
DC: What kind of cues were you given when creating the soundscape for The Outlast Trials?
TS: The musical recipe for Outlast Trials has a very specific formula that was the result of countless hours of exploration and experimentation. It was initially described as a blend of orchestral, some minor analog synths, and melodic themes built with elements that fit the environment the player is in, along with the occasional diegetic music coming from the environment itself. Musical references included Penderecki (of course) and a mixture of cues from a variety of trailers and soundtracks like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Chernobyl, Hereditary, and others.
The dynamic range of the music would be vast, going from very ‘low-key’ elements to hair-raising big moments dialed up to eleven as the player is forced to complete all sorts of creepy, disgusting, horrible, and just plain crazy objectives.
DC: Is there a different approach when tackling something like The Outlast Trials other than a Deathloop or Wolfenstein?
TS: The main gameplay mechanism is all about walking around and trying to avoid the “bad guys.” And then, of course, when you are detected or getting chased, you are running away as fast as possible and trying to hide. Most other games, like Deathloop or Wolfenstein, allow the player to fight back, but not in The Outlast Trials!
Although the gameplay is very different, I always approach my projects with the players in mind. The goal is for me to create music that completely supports and enhances the emotions we want the players to feel as they experience the game. To do that, I will immerse myself in all the material I am given to come up with a musical style and sound that becomes part of the game’s DNA. This is often a combination of concept art, video captures, and written documentation.
A large part of this involves fully understanding what a “vertical slice” of the gameplay looks like, and then creating all the musical components to support that and testing it out in-game as much as possible.
DC: The Outlast Trials has an incredible range. “A Cross To Bear” is probably my favorite, with it seemingly experiencing all the emotions of a horror film in the span of four minutes. Could you walk us through your creative process for a title like this?
TS: Ah yes, I remember that one well. Super disturbing. So, like all the other areas or “trials” in the game, I am given a full description of what the area looks like, what the trials are, and what gameplay elements there are that need to be supported by the music.
In the case of “A Cross to Bear”, as the name implies, the player is faced with a grisly scenario involving an NPC who comes out of the wall up on a cross. So that your readers can sleep tonight, I’ll leave it at that.
Musically, the goal was to immerse the player into this scene by combining church-inspired instrumentation with the disturbing and grisly insanity that is going on. The “musical recipe” became a combination of pipe organs, gothic choir, metallic scrapes, indistinct whispery chanting, and all kinds of distant and atmospheric dirty textures.
When the action part comes in, you’re now hearing the “Get Out” music which supports the player trying to escape the area after completing the mission while being chased by Gooseberry. One of the most horrific and memorable movie moments I recall as a kid was the famous “face-melting” scene at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. I used a similar instrumentation by combining dissonant, staccato trumpet clusters layered with sticks slapping a bass drum and combined that with all the organ chords and other insanity. It all comes together to create a climactic, hair-raising experience.
DC: Have you played The Outlast Trials? If so, what has been your favorite trial/character?
TS: I’ve been able to play sections of it. I’m waiting for the console release and even then, I’m not sure my heart can take playing through the entire thing! My favorite map is probably the Fun Park. I love the spooky factor of a dilapidated and corrupted1950s amusement part, complete with Midway-style games and even a scary boat ride called “The Root Canal” with freaky animatronics and an “It’s a Small World”-like song to accompany it.
Creating the musical ambiance for the Root Canal was a blast. I created much of it just with my mouth. And then getting a chance to create a song that the creepy bears and teeth character sing called “Brush Your Teeth” was the icing on the cake. That’s one of those rare moments of gratitude when you look at what you do and think, wow, I’m getting paid for this!
DC: Do you have a favorite track in The Outlast Trials?
TS: The main theme has to be my favorite. It was the most important track for me as it represents the world and the sonic signature of The Outlast Trials. My goal was threefold; to create something that sounds really scary (of course), to create something with a strong and memorable melody, and to create a motif simple enough to play on a piano and have it be instantly recognizable as The Outlast Trials, in the same way you instantly recognize something like the theme to “Halloween.” Listening to that theme is like a roller coaster ride through hell.
DC: With the second volume coming out with the console release of the game, what can players expect in terms of themes?
TS: The Volume 2 OST contains all the music that I was still working on during and after the PC release on Halloween 2023. The new areas heard in Volume 2 come from the Courthouse and the Toy Factory. There is also some additional tension music, various holiday-themed diegetic lobby music, and one track that I forgot to include on the first OST (the Diegetic Carousel music from the Fun Park).
It was a pleasure to hear how much love and passion went into the creation of the composing for Outlast Trials. If you want to check the OST out yourself, it comes to streaming platforms on March 18th and you can go pre-save the soundtrack right now!
Categorized:Interviews
