Developer: Hekate
Publisher: Necaton
Platform: PC, Android, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X
Tested on: PS5
Ad Infinitum – Review
It’s always exciting to get a new psychological horror game that doesn’t focus on the classic zombies or animatronic fast food mascots. So that is why the promise of a unique scary experience set during World War One, that Ad Infinitum advertises, had quite a lot of people excited. Now it’s finally time to jump into this adventure filled with puzzles, demons, and a lot of walking.
Story
Ad Infinitum tells the story of a German soldier who gets killed in the trenches of the First World War in the first minutes of the game. What follows after that is a mental journey, exploring the horrors of war and the difficulties of family. It becomes clear pretty early on that this soldier hasn’t had the best youth and joining the army wasn’t the heroic action it seemed to be.
The game is split into two different parts that alternate every now and then. The first setting that you’ll be exploring is the ravaged lands of World War One, where the biggest focus is on stealth gameplay while avoiding enemies. While there definitely is a story element to these sections, where you learn more about your time during the war through letters and voice recordings, the biggest focus here is on the gameplay. This lack of storytelling is greatly compensated by the second setting, the house. After you face a gruesome death at the beginning of the game, you wake up in the house you grew up in. These halls need to be explored to uncover the dark family secrets and what happened with the family after they lost their sons.
There is not much conventional storytelling in Ad Infinitum, meaning that most of the narrative is delivered through letters and voice messages. While this can be a tough thing to pull off, running the risk that the game is too vague if you don’t find every tiny bit of lore, Ad Infinitum manages to get the perfect balance. While this makes for a very fun experience, discovering bits and pieces of the bigger narrative every time you visit the house, it becomes pretty clear after a while that the story doesn’t take a lot of unique risks for these settings. It’s still interesting but you’ll probably guess where the story is going pretty easily.
Graphics
If you want to create a great psychological horror experience, the atmosphere is one of the most important parts of the game. Luckily this is where Ad Infinitum nails its presentation. The house you’ll spend quite some time exploring looks straight out of a horror movie, including run-down rooms and flickering lights that will have you stressing with opening every door.
The same goes for the destroyed lands of World War One, where a thick fog and tight trenches will often have you on edge since demons can be around every corner. While on the topic of these monsters, their design is definitely not bad. Even though the basic critters you’ll be avoiding are definitely grotesque, they don’t stand out from the minion demons featured in dozens of other games. The bigger bads, however, are well-designed and clearly incorporate the inner demons they represent. The only drawbacks are some stiff animations and glitches at times, but they won’t ruin the experience.
Sound
While the visual side of a presentation covers quite a bit of it, the sound design defines the rest of the atmosphere. And yet again, Ad Infinitum doesn’t disappoint. The creaking stairs and silent whispers will have you constantly looking over your shoulder in the house, while the demonic sounds and far-off fighting keep you on edge during the war sections.
Gameplay
Ad Infinitum is a first-person atmospheric psychological horror game that has a big focus on stealth and puzzle solving. The game is split into two different settings with each of them having a different gameplay focus, giving players a lot of variety.
During your time at the old house, you’ll be doing a lot of exploring and thinking. A ton of letters and such are scattered around the house that give you an understanding of the story, so you’ll definitely want to search for those. While the letters are a nice and interesting touch, you’ll also have to solve a bunch of puzzles. Most of these consist of finding the right items and using them in specific places. Even though these aren’t that challenging, they are connected to the unraveling story. These puzzles are fun to solve and don’t feel like the usual ‘find the key by using the right piano tiles’ that are always present in this type of game. You’ll be mixing chemicals to learn about your grandfather’s war experiments, for example.
Although this slow gameplay loop is ever-present in the house, the war sections are a lot more action-packed. Here you’ll be sneaking around demons to make your way through trenches and destroyed cities. Most of these sections are pretty similar, as you’ll have to keep your distance from the enemies and dodge items that make too much sound. There are some instances where you’ll have to trick the enemies with some environmental puzzles, but the AI isn’t too smart so these won’t offer that much of a challenge. Lastly are the encounters with bigger demons that feel like makeshift boss battles with their own mechanics that mix up the gameplay just a bit. Setting the game in these two locations and switching them up pretty often was a good idea from the developers since it saved the game from becoming stale.
Conclusion
Ad Infinitum is a horror game that is definitely interesting and scary but it also won’t offer a very unique experience for veterans of the genre. The story deals with some pretty interesting things, but it eventually leans too much on cliches to sell the experience. Luckily, the atmosphere is on point to keep you constantly engaged, motivating you to explore more of these locations. While the story and atmosphere are the biggest selling points of the game, the general gameplay loop also offers some good puzzling and sneaking, but it won’t blow you away. All of this makes Ad Infinitum a worthy horror game, albeit catered to newcomers to the genre.
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