AILA is too scary to review, but I’d love to watch others play
Maybe it's the age.
As a horror fanatic, I still enjoy watching horror movies and occasionally playing horror games, especially when a new Resident Evil game comes out.
When the opportunity to play AILA, an immersive psychological horror with an interesting twist, came up, I picked it up and immediately regretted it – not because it was bad, but because I forgot that these story-based, atmospheric horror games get my heart racing so fast that I freeze while playing.
AILA’s first chapter already got me pausing the game non-stop
Anyone who has played horror games knows that the pause button is one of the most powerful tools in the game. Going through AILA’s intro was a bit more bearable, but when I entered the Impossible House (the first level), I was already freaking out, knowing a jumpscare could happen at any moment.
Going through the hallways in circles and trying to find the clues to progress always got me pausing the game just to prepare myself. I used to think I could handle and play these games well, since I play Phasmophobia a lot, but it reminded me that I don’t play single-player horror games as much anymore. I just watch amazing streamers like CaseOh, Insym, or penguinz0 play them now.
Playing a horror game, especially one that forces you to go through your deepest fears, was a bit too much.
After pushing through the first chapter, AILA reassured me that I need to hang up the gloves
After solving some of the puzzles in the first level, I got the hang of the timing of when I could expect something to throw me off. There were a few that got to me, but I eventually pushed through, got out of the simulation, and finished the day.
However, the whole premise of the game is that AILA, a revolutionary AI built specifically to make the best game, wants to use your horror experiences as data to create it. That means she will be testing you throughout with increasingly harder and scarier scenarios.
What caught me off guard was how AILA let me know that she was toying with me. See, in the first level, you’ll get a handgun with just a few bullets. After finishing the level, that handgun was completely pointless. When the time for evaluation came, AILA knew this and brought it up to know what it made me feel holding it, even though it was completely pointless.
She was quite ominous, already looking at ways to make the next levels even darker, and in my mind, I was already saying – Nope. This will probably just be a game I’d watch someone play eventually, and hang up the gloves.
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