A.I.L.A Xbox Series X Review 6/10 “An interesting idea that's sadly front-loaded” 📺📼🐈‍⬛ @PulsatrixStudio #IndieGame #GameDev #Horror

A.I.L.A Review – Psyche‑Driven Horror With Big Ideas and Uneven Execution

A Postmodern VR Nightmare That Starts Strong but Loses Steam in the Final Acts

In A.I.L.A, you play as a video game play-tester in a postmodern sci-fi world. You get the new VR gaming system- AILA. It is a brand-new system that uses the user’s psyche to adapt the horror and give a unique experience.

The system uses an AI to guide you through the horror scenarios, the avatar of which is a little girl whom you talk to before and after you play through each of the scenarios, asking questions and guiding you through the experience, checking how you react and how you feel. 

The setup is good and offers a great canvas through which to deliver horror. The game has given a great reason for visiting different locations, and you get to experience a creepy house, a medieval village and a ghost ship - plus some others.

The opening of the game was quite visceral. I was impressed at how quickly things get brutal. I was genuinely shocked at how rough the opening is. It isn't very long, but it’s very impactful.

The next scenario involves a television in a small area wherein you change the channel, and the room changes; it is creepy and very effective. It isn't a large area, but for the little room available, it does well in delivering the scares and getting the blood pumping; it doesn’t outstay its welcome and packs enough scares in its length. 

The next section is the creepy house, which largely pays a lot of love to the Resident Evil series of games, even having nods in the house directly to the franchise, but instead of shambling zombies or G-Virus-riddled mutated scientists, it is little grey aliens chasing after you and trying to kill you. It’s fun, and longer than the first two. I largely enjoyed it, but this is where the cracks start forming for A.I.L.A.

Combat is awkward, you can even say a bit janky; the boss fight, which now comes after every stage, is dull and starts to show that A.I.L.A has big ambitions but can’t quite live up to them. The fight is tedious and takes place in a boring location. In one cutscene, you watch a TV, and the man who is talking puts his hand through his face, not in a horrific sense – but due to graphical glitching -  as you play through, these small things show up, and although they don’t ruin the experience... it does become noticeable.

I won’t go through all the scenarios but I think the best and most interesting stuff is in the front half of the game, the Ghost Ship section - about 2/3rds of the way through A.I.L.A - might be one of the dullest scenarios I’ve played in a while, which was a real shame, the AI is supposed to be using your own mind to create the horror and ramping up but sadly that is not how it feels, the last couple of scenarios are a trudge, which was gutting as it felt like you were progressing through better stages with new twists - but the last two grind the experience to a halt.

The saving grace becomes the bits set in the real world, which do feel like they build and build. You do various little things in-between sessions; they not only break up the horror but add backstory. The television is great at adding depth; the news is always on, and I recommend listening to it to get the full experience. You also have a cute pet cat that you feed and can pet; these little breaks add to the story being told and present an engaging world. The ending of A.I.LA does nicely wrap up the story and at least gives a clear finale to the tale.

SUMMARY

It’s not the noticeable cracks that really took the wind out of A.I.L.A’s sails; it was the final two scenarios that took the game down a peg.

Some dodgy combat and lack of polish can be tolerated, but the last few sections that become dull and tedious can’t be as easily forgiven.

The overall story has some interesting ideas and has some great levels in the first half of the game that do build well, which means you can get something from A.I.L.A.

It is just a shame the last sections run out of steam.

6/10

💧MELTING💧

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