Vidjama Gmaes Work

Script.

Ad Infinitum feels like a troll game at times, and I say that solely because of how often it gives the player a gun and then yanks it out of their hands without letting them use it. A walking simulator set in the horrors of World War 1, Ad Infinitum’s story should be familiar to anyone who has played one of these games before. You’re a guy with psychological trauma who must endure tortures both real and imaginary in order to get the closure you deserve. Or face the punishment you deserve, should you choose that path.

Developed by Hekate and published by who else but Nacon, Ad Infinitum is intelligently crafted. Old mansions during storms are creepy as hell, and when it comes to horror set in war you can’t do much better than World War 1 with its cramped trenches and all the other miserable stuff that went on. Also old hospitals are scary as are old prosthetics.

Ad Infinitum is so easy a dead gopher could beat it, and I can say that because I died six years ago and you’re listening to my spirit continuing to play games and make YouTube videos. I only died at a couple points over the three to four hour campaign and it was only because the game either broke the doors or broke AI pathing. Otherwise you pretty much have to try to die to the enemies in this game, they’re so basic in terms of strategy and non-threatening in how slow they are.

I actually enjoyed the first chapter more than the second or third, and that’s because it felt like it had the most danger. There are a few game mechanics and almost all of them are entirely cosmetic or aren’t used much. It uses the Amnesia style of opening doors by holding the trigger and pulling the joystick, but while Frictional Games gave that function a use in sneaking around or tension in escaping enemies, here it doesn’t do anything. You’re given matches to light up lanterns, but again it doesn’t affect the game at all and you have infinite matches despite finding more packs throughout the game.

Otherwise the game loves to show you mechanics you only use once or twice. Using a siren to lure blind enemies so you can sneak around them, using divots in the trench wall to avoid a big demon dog, using your flashlight to stun monsters that are afraid of light. They’re all interesting ideas, but they’re gone so fast that the game actually spends a lot more time teasing the mechanics than actually using them. It’s almost condescending how many times the game pops up a reminder about hiding from enemies in chapter 1 only for the mechanic to be used in one sequence in chapter 2.

Games like Ad Infinitum exist pretty much to show off the developer’s animation, assets, and soundtrack and the presentation is quite well done. When the game hits it does hit hard, even though you quickly come to realize when you’re in danger and when you aren’t. A lot of the horror beats are completely predictable. No wait, all of the horror beats are completely predictable. You can tell when the spooky stuff is going to happen because the game usually goes into a cutscene. Or it doesn’t and you’ll probably miss it.

But when the presentation goes wrong, it gets pretty bad. Maybe it’s because the game doesn’t need a high intensity soundtrack playing when there’s literally nothing happening. Horror is a lot like comedy in that the key to success is all in your…timing. The big difference is that in horror the buildup can often be more rewarding than the payoff if you know what the audience expects and how to subvert it.

On the other hand it does have a better gas mask than Poppy Playtime.

Ad Infinitum would be a lot more egregious if the game didn’t take a mere three to four hours to beat. I’d also be more annoyed if I actually paid thirty five dollarydoos for it as opposed to renting the PS5 version from Gamefly. Not sponsored. I recommend for a rental, and that’s pretty much it. Or pick it up when it’s under ten bucks. Like and subscribe for more rental videos.