It’s somehow October again, and that can only mean one thing. Scary game season is upon us, so we must abandon all plans to play cosy and colourful games and send out the spooks. Apparently this doesn’t just apply to what we play in our free time, but also to the games I have to preview. I got to kick off the scares this year with the first few levels of A.I.L.A, a horror game about playing a VR horror game which you can’t actually play in VR.
First impressions are important in any game, but for scary games especially that opening section should really put you on edge. A.I.L.A did the exact opposite for me, and immediately introduced itself as the most bland horror game I’ve ever played. Ready to write off the game as a disappointment while being chased by a particularly generic axe murderer in some sort of horror prison, A.I.L.A revealed its hand. Suddenly my character took off their VR headset and revealed they were playing an underwhelming video game, and that the real fun was about to begin.
Now in the real world, I explored my futuristic apartment full of fancy technology and a cute pet kitty. An alert then let me know a delivery drone was incoming, so I sauntered to the balcony to check it out. It was a VR headset, and as a beta tester for A.I.L.A it was my job to play games on it. With the promise of new levels of immersion in gaming, I was ready to see what nightmares this baby could create for me.
When you first put on A.I.L.A you’re greeted by an AI avatar, who lets you know she’s going to create gaming experiences tailored to you. The way she moves is a little unnatural and off-putting, and whether this was intended or not it added to the introduction. After a brief chat she said it was time to jump into the action, which meant actually playing the first level of the game.
In this level my character was trapped in some sort of derelict house, where the world changed in various ways every time you interacted with the TV. Doors would open, the lighting would change, and because this is a horror game mannequins and dead bodies would appear. This led to some fun puzzles that required a whole lot of world switching, and was pretty creepy to boot.
After playing through this stage I had another chat with my virtual friend, who asked about different elements of the stage and how I enjoyed it. After I chose some conversation options that sounded particularly dismissive the AI said it would adapt the stage accordingly, and sent me back into the game. It’ll be interesting to see where the story leads as the game progresses (and if these conversation choices actually matter) because it was very clear from this short preview that there’s something more sinister going on in this world.
Outside of this unique concept for a scary game, A.I.L.A is a fairly straightforward first person horror experience. You’ll explore environments, find items to unlock the way forward, and get freaked out a whole lot while you do so. It’s somewhere on the spectrum of walking simulator and puzzle game, which is exactly where I want my modern horror games to be really.
All in all I’m excited to see what A.I.L.A will bring to the horror genre. The stages I got to play were nice and varied because the VR concept allows for it, and it even managed to scare me a few times too. More than anything though it’s the narrative that makes me want to play more of A.I.L.A, because it’s incredibly unique and I have no idea where it’s going to go next. Whenever the game releases in full I know I’ll be playing it day one, which I suppose is a rather good sign.
A.I.L.A is “coming soon” to PC via Steam.