A.I.L.A

Stuck in some survival horror tropes that are already tired in 2025, A.I.L.A embodies the terror of AIs with a frightening villain, macabre settings, and great puzzles. A little more polish would be very beneficial for the game, which has a solid narrative and an excellent variety of horror approaches for each experience in the plot.

A.I.L.A. is a fascinating, if bipolar, horror experiment with a strong artistic vision, offering an unsettling narrative journey that is worth experiencing. However, be prepared for rough action gameplay that betrays its indie budget; this is best recommended for narrative-focused players who can overlook its mechanical flaws.

A.I.L.A. is a fantastic looking game that makes a great first impression. However, spending a few hours with it is enough to expose some of its flaws, including strange puzzles and a lack of coherence between the storytelling and its many different horror experiences.

A.I.L.A is a game of two halves. The first promises an intriguing and mind-bending narrative with gameplay experiences pulling from various inspirations for an exciting, evolving horror experience. The second unfortunately drops much of what makes the game feel unique and special, with a dampened finale and some overly drawn out, familiar experiences. Despite this, it still shines with the glow of an enigmatic A.I machine ready to take the world by storm, even with some technical hiccups.

A.I.L.A feels like a game made with a genuine love for the horror genre. It attempts to balance popular gameplay solutions with its own narrative vision. Unfortunately, shooting mechanics and enemy animations are overly simplistic, to the point where some moments may even come off as unintentionally comical. Even the solid level design and competent audio work can’t fully mask the sense of an often derivative experience. Still, I enjoyed it far more than last year’s Alone in the Dark.

A.I.L.A told a predictable yet relevant story, but flew a little too close to the sun by implementing too many good features versus narrowing on making a few outstanding moments.

A.I.L.A features an incredible first act filled with psychological horror and clever puzzles, making for one of the better horror games I’ve played. Everything after, however, is just a fine, bordering on boring and clanky action horror game that simply fails to be as good as what came before. Still worth a try if the game caught your interest, you just might find yourself disappointed after the first hour.

A.I.L.A. is a game that has potential but fails with the follow-through. The idea of AI generating experiences meant to terrify you while also affecting you outside of the game still works. The games that represent different horror experiences do a good job of taking something familiar and making it its own. While the puzzles are fine, the combat drags down everything greatly, and the pacing means that the whole game becomes an unenjoyable roller coaster ride. There's a chance for improvement with patches, but at the moment, you'll want to wait and see if things get better before diving in.