A.I.L.A Preview (PC)

AI is all the rage today, from quippy little memes to full on synthetic people and seemingly everything in between. It can have its uses – and also serious faults – at times, but in the world of A.I.L.A, we see it used as a tool to customise a gameplay experience in the (perhaps not so far flung) future. This short slice we’ve been able to preview is promising, and perhaps a little too good of a preview of where the real world may just be heading.

We play as Samuel, a clearly nerdy tech enthusiast who lives in an apartment straight out of the cyberpunk-future; a prompt to remove ads on his mirror with a subscription service; a fully AI smart home called House that makes terrible tea; drone deliveries to his balcony…you get the idea. After a short opening sequence where we, among other things, feed out cat some Weskers pebbles (more on that reference later), Sam takes delivery of an A.I.L.A beta kit – a next-level VR/AI gaming experience that customises the experience for each player. 

After a bit of set-up, we meet the titular Alia, a young AI construct who guides us through the experience and asks questions of what we’re after in our gaming. She reminds me of the Red Queen in the original P.S Anderson Resident Evil film, innocent yet with dark undertones (again, more later). 

Entering the game, we’re immediately on the backfoot as we’re nailed to a cross, Jesus-style. Pulstrix Studios, devs of Fobia: St Dinfna Hotel, don’t hold back in the gore here, or elsewhere. In fact, before we even get started with A.I.L.A , a short intro sequence sees an unnamed playable character get stabbed, and their hand cleaved in two between the fingers by a nemesis who may or may not remind us of a certain Baker household resident…

Alright, it’s time – Resident Evil is clearly a huge inspiration here, from the aforementioned Easter Eggs to the inventory, the presentation, hell, even the hand-torture of our protagonist. I’m not complaining of course, I love RE, and I found it fun to try and spot as many references as I could in this 2 hour demo. But this is a more psychological experience as opposed to RE’s survival horror. There are moments where we will be helplessly trapped, only for things to change before our eyes, or others where we turn around to find the trusty scary mannequin has moved, those sorts of things. 

Back to the cross, and once we’ve gruesomely pulled ourselves down and removed the nails, what follows is an experience in bizarre visuals and simple, if a little drawn out, puzzles. In this level, we’re given a remote that interacts with TV’s that lets us transport to alternate realities of the small area we’re in, looking for eyes and fingers and batteries…I’ll leave why for you to find out. 

Upon completing the experience. Aila quizzes us on what we thought, what could be better, and we’re then put back in with this in mind. Far as I can tell, this is all dictated by a preset tale rather – we only have a limited set of responses to give as Samuel – but the second time through was a bit more grim, and the ending gave me a genuinely out loud gasp as I realised what they’d done. It’s enjoyably gruesome stuff, and while there are minor quibbles to be had – Samuel sounds less under stress and more like he’s been woken up too early, and the puzzles so far have been a case of following the steps rather than anything to truly solve – I’m looking forward to seeing what else A.I.L.A has up its sleeve later this year.

This game was previewed on PC (via Steam). All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by the publisher.

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