A.I.L.A is a psychological survival horror game developed by Pulsatrix Studios and published by Fireshine Games.
Pulsatrix Studios is an independent game developer based in Brazil that has been developing horror games since 2019. They released their first game, Fobia – St. Dinfna Hotel, in 2022, which is in the same genre as A.I.L.A.
Psychological horror games are really interesting because they are intended to give you mental tension and create a deeper sense of horror than other horror genres. That’s the reason why some people love and some people hate this genre.
With so many indie and AAA titles in this genre, it’s really challenging to stand out, and developers need to be more creative to capture players’ attention.
STORY
You start the story as a game tester named Samuel Silva. A drone brings a package from Sytekk to Samuel in his fancy futuristic apartment. When he opens the package, it’s an A.I.L.A Dev kit with a VR headset.
A.I.L.A is able to create games based on players’ preferences and personalize the games. Samuel begins game testing as always, but this time it’s different. A.I.L.A is way too realistic, so much that after every game, Samuel forgets who he really is for a few seconds.
The story might start a bit slow, but it gets more interesting as you continue. While you can guess some parts of the story, and they are obvious from the beginning, it still holds some great plot twists that can surprise you.
Every game you play in A.I.L.A has its own story, which helps the main story progress simultaneously, and the standalone stories are engaging and well-crafted too.
Two things I really liked about A.I.L.A were how my decisions could genuinely give me a guilty feeling and how it shows the horror of technology being so integrated with our lives that it can even control us without us noticing it.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay offers good variety thanks to its different worlds and timelines. You have handguns, shotguns, crossbows, swords, and other weapons from various eras and worlds, and their animations are good and engaging.
However, the core gameplay remains very similar across different worlds, which was something I expected to be better and provide more variety, making it less repetitive. The enemy types are also limited, with only one or two appearing per chapter. The boss fights are good and distinctly different from the rest of the game, making them enjoyable.
Unfortunately, A.I.L.A leans more toward action than horror, except for the last two chapters. The gameplay felt more action-oriented with predictable jump scares, which I really disliked.
The puzzles are good and actually require you to think. They’re not just about going somewhere, taking something, and bringing it back, although there are some puzzles like these. I think they aren’t too much and are actually needed in the game.
There are some bugs that aren’t annoying, except for one that locked my strikes and wouldn’t let me strike until I opened and closed my inventory to fix it, which was annoying. But it still isn’t that big of a deal, as it’s just one and can easily be fixed with an update.
I always appreciate games that take advantage of the DualSense, and fortunately, A.I.L.A uses them really well, especially with the sword’s weight and the adaptive triggers.
VISUALS
The visuals are good and acceptable; the environment is greatly designed and evokes a horror feeling.
Something I like about Unreal Engine 5, despite its flaws, is that it enables small developers to create games with high-fidelity visuals. A.I.L.A is only good in visuals, while I expect UE5 games to be at least a bit better than good.
While the environments are visually good, the enemy designs are really flat and low-detailed, which is really noticeable throughout the game.
The performance was stable for most of the game, except for the medieval experience, which had a lot of FPS drops throughout the whole chapter.
SOUND DESIGN
The sound design is really amazing, and it’s really noticeable. It always gives you the feeling that you are not alone, and it really makes the game scary. You always hear creaking sounds, loud scream sounds, and footsteps. They made sure you never feel safe while playing A.I.L.A.
CONCLUSION
A.I.L.A has a great story that becomes more interesting the more you continue, and it has a really great idea and demonstrates it very well.
The gameplay is good but has much more potential due to the game’s settings and different timelines. Visuals are good, but I expected more from a UE5 game, especially regarding how the enemies look.
The sound design is amazing, always making you feel watched, which makes the game a lot scarier.
