A.I.L.A Review - A Nightmarish First‑Person Horror Experience?

ScrambledAshton
3 hours ago
6 min read

AI is scary!

AILA is a horror game about horror games that features a whole host of horror genres and references to other horror franchises; it is really a horror-ception if you will allow me some terrible wordplay. As I found myself knee-deep in a variety of gory, spooky, and quite frankly gross situations, I couldn’t help but wonder if AILA has bitten off more than it could chew. Does its foray into lots of different tales bolster the story, or does it make the game a bit of a ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’ situation?

In AILA, you take control of a game tester in a post-modern sci-fi world who has been given the task of reviewing a brand new gaming device called AILA, a VR headset with a built-in AI that develops and changes the horror games you play each day by infiltrating your subconscious and memories and taking your feedback on board to create the next installment in the story. AILA is manifested as a young girl whom you speak to after (and sometimes during) the gameplay segments, and she is the one who talks you into and out of these terrible situations you find yourself plonked into. But gradually, as it is with all sentient and overly intelligent AI, she begins to seep into your real life, and her hold over you begins to become a problem.

The gameplay is difficult to define, as during your time with the game you really do find yourself doing a little bit of everything. Shooting aliens, stabbing zombies, solving puzzles, and much more, as with every scenario you are thrust into, your goal, storyline, and genre change. To detail just a few so as not to spoil the entire plot, you begin in a more psychological horror situation, where you must escape an endless set of rooms and corridors by switching the TV channel and subsequently the version of time that you exist in. You’re contending with an axe murderer, creepy mannequins that move when you’re not looking (my all-time least favorite type of enemy in any game, by the way, please stop making them so scary), and plenty of body horror.

Then after a quick break in the real world to pet your cat, choose to keep your sobriety or not, and potentially build a circuit board by slamming all the parts into a box until it worked (I sucked at that minigame), you’re sent into the next scenario that is clearly heavily inspired by Resident Evil, and I am not just saying that because of the vibes…there was a police ID card for a Leon S. Michael. You need to solve puzzles, backtrack to unlock doors and progress through the house, and make sure you have enough ammo to deal with the many little aliens and their horrible brood mother. We also get a little nod to the likes of Nemesis as you’re suddenly being stalked by a huge powerful enemy stomping about the place who can only be survived by hiding in cupboards.

This segment was also the first to include a boss fight and the first time I noticed one of my issues with the game in a more prominent situation. Enemy AI in the game is (ironically) one of the things that I feel lets it down. Not only does it eliminate some of the horror factor when an axe murderer is simply standing at the end of the corridor waiting for you to get within activation range, but during what should be a more intense boss fight or battle with other enemies, none of them will attack you until you get within a certain threshold, and then they are suddenly activated. In the aforementioned boss fight, this meant I could stand in the middle of the circle and shoot the enemies that emerged from the lake because they would stand still the entire time. This wasn’t the only issue I had with the boss fight (a major damage flare gun that shot straight through our big bad being the main other one), but it did feel like quite a problem for what they have tried to create.

Then, as real life and simulation begin to blend together, you’re suddenly pushed, sword in hand, into a medieval world filled with hungry zombies that want to scoff you. And while they are a more active enemy who moves without you needing to get within kissing distance, their AI was also significantly wonky. You have to avoid these enemies or take them down quietly (something I only ever saw the prompt for once), and if they see you, you will need to outrun them or take them down quickly before the next one aggros on you. However, none of the AI could ever figure out how to get up some stairs or sometimes just figure out how to get into buildings, so I could just stand 2 feet away from them, and they’d get bored and wander off.

Many of the segments include some well-thought-out, if not slightly simple, puzzles that I did find myself enjoying. From paintings that help solve padlocks to safe codes that require specific movements and even body bags that need you to find the correct (soon to be) disembodied finger, there is plenty of thinking to do alongside the jump scares or actual ‘cutscenes’ that is just you flushing a toilet that is currently home to a massive turd.

There are plenty more variations on the horror genre, but the real overarching story beats include AILA’s use of our protagonist's memories to build his fears into the games, her overtaking his smart home to control moments in his life, and of course, moments from the horror games our guy Sam has played seeping into his real life. The TV is constantly talking about how the AIs are revolting, how there is an eye-stealing serial killer on the loose, and how things are generally pretty rocky in the world at present. As we move through the story, it becomes harder to distinguish if we’re in or out of simulations, and the horror around you does get even higher stakes.

The game includes some lovely audio design, with the signature horror metal whines, spooky ambience, and suitably tense stomps. And with their use of music in some of the key moments and big fights, there are lots of great sound moments scattered through the game. Coupled with the Unreal Engine 5 graphics, the game does look fantastic, and given that there are so many different worlds that have been built for AILA, it is great that all of them feel so distinctly unique from one another and all look visually fab in their own right.

There was the occasional confusion in areas where places it looked like I was able to explore had invisible walls, and areas I was supposed to venture into looked like it wasn’t possible to explore, but that was a really minor thing in the overall experience. Though I couldn’t find the cat food for about 10 minutes at the beginning of the game, so if they could change anything about the game, I’m team make the cat food clearer (or don’t have the cat scream at me the whole time…it was a bit too close to my real life).

AILA also ran very well. Unreal Engine 5 has a bit of a track record for some slightly ropey performance here and there, but luckily I didn’t encounter many dropped frames or crashes. However, there were a few occasions where the ‘you are dead’ screen would either not come up and leave me with a black screen, or would come up in parts and take a while to let me back into the game.

Overall, AILA has a lot of great ideas and it tries a lot of different things, some of which I do think land. However, it feels like it doesn’t lean far enough into the ideas it presents. The choices you’re presented with by AILA don’t feel like they really impact the game at all, and more often than not, the conversations had with AILA feel like the least interesting side of the game, especially in the early game.

Some of the elements in the game feel slightly unpolished and a little wonky in the way they have been implemented, but the overall narrative of the game is still interesting enough that it sort of outweighs the wonky AI issues. The only thing I will say is for some of the combat-heavy areas, I think there should have been some difficulty settings added in because people who lean more towards psychological horror over survival might struggle to do battle with the more violent enemies.

I think AILA has a lot of positives, but it simply tries to do too much, never going far enough or spending enough time with each element it includes. It has an interesting premise, and the later game does have a lot of interesting spooky moments. I unfortunately feel that the lead-up to get to that point is simply not strong enough to keep players interested.

TABLE LAMP

PROS

Ambitious Concept

Interesting Narrative Hook

Tries for a Variety of Gameplay

Strong Atmosphere

Excellent Visuals

Great PC Performance

Solid Puzzle Design

CONS

Unpolished AI

Poor Combat Balance