A.I.L.A [REVIEW] – An Ambitious but Uneven Horror Experience

A.I.L.A is one of those games that immediately makes you think, ‘oh great, another reason for AI to ruin my day’, but thankfully, this is AI done right. It pulls from survival horror, psychological tension, and even some action-focused areas of design, packaging it all into a series of short, self-contained scenarios that’ll provide their fair share of unsettling thrills. It’s certainly an ambitious approach, and while the execution can admittedly be uneven, there’s enough creativity and atmosphere here to make it stand out in the crowded horror landscape.

Check out some screenshots down below:

You play as Samuel, a game tester trying out a groundbreaking AI-driven program that is designed to craft horror scenarios based around your own emotional response. Between each VR-style ‘experience’, you wander around Samuel’s apartment, which slowly shifts in unsettling ways and forces you to question your own reality. Objects move, projects progress without you touching them, and the smart home feels increasingly aware of your habits, with these evolving changes – along with Samuel’s conversations with A.I.L.A in a stark hub space – building the groundwork for a story where the boundary between simulation and reality is blurred. It’s a really cool concept, and early on, it’s easy to find yourself completely hooked into the direction it takes.

There’s also a simple choice system found across the game, and after each scenario, A.I.L.A asks you reflective questions that can nudge the game into different directions. It’s not the kind of morality system that dramatically reshapes the game (and half the time it’s unclear what counts as ‘good’ or ‘bad’) but it does add a bit of replay curiosity to the already intriguing narrative.

“A.I.L.A might not have a few missteps in the delivery of its ambitious ideas, but it has enough personality and creativity to leave a strong impression for horror fans.”

Of course, the main draw of A.I.L.A lies in the sequence of VR-style horror ‘experiences’, with each one feeling like its own short game. The variety is genuinely impressive – one minute you’re trudging through a medieval village hacking at undead knights, and the next you’re navigating a roadside diner, an abandoned house, or a pitch-black forest full of trees that only move when you’re not looking. The game certainly isn’t shy about its inspirations (you’ll catch echoes of Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Layers of Fear, and more across each experience) but it never feels like it’s just stitching together references, with the bouncing of ideas keeping the gameplay fresh, engaging, and – as a long-time horror fan – a lot of fun.

However, for every moment in which A.I.L.A nails the gameplay and atmosphere, it feels like it takes a small misstep. The biggest offender is combat, with gunplay stiff, aiming awkward, and melee swings a little unresponsive, with the more action-driven segments of the game falling short when compared to the more eerie thrills of its horror. Boss fights in particular were dull, and whilst they look cool, they’re so simple in design and easy to overcome that you can’t help but to feel like they’re a little tacked on.

Check out some screenshots down below:

The pacing also dips a little in the middle, with some scenarios running longer than they need to, and the story gets a little more predictable by the time the finale comes around – it’s not a bad thing, but it does veer away from some of the more intriguing themes set early on. The game has a few other rough edges, and whilst it’s nothing game-breaking, you’ll notice occasional performance drops, the odd animation glitch, or the physics behaving in peculiar ways.

Even with some of its issues, A.I.L.A still manages to stay entertaining, with the rotating settings, clever atmosphere, and strong concept carrying the game even when the mechanics stumble. It gets that right balance of ‘in your face’ scares and subtle dread across each of its experiences too, so as a horror game, it gives a bit of everything to please everyone. It comes in at around eight-hours, and with the gameplay pushing into a ton of different directions in that time, it’s easy to find yourself invested from start to end… I just wish that the combat could have been a bit more polished.

Developer: Pulsatrix Studios
Publisher: Fireshine Games
Platform(s): PlayStation 5 (Reviewed), Xbox Series X|S, PC
Website: https://store.playstation.com/en-gb/product/UP2660-PPSA28503_00-SIEESIEAAILA0000