According to Polygon, the new first-person survival horror game AILA, from developer Pulsatrix Studios, is available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Windows PC. The game puts players in the role of Samuel, a QA tester for the evil tech corporation SyTekk in the year 2035. His job is to test a new VR system, also called AILA, which features an AI host named Aila that creates personalized, traumatic horror experiences. The game blends meta-commentary with genre homages, but the review found its gameplay glitchy, its pacing uneven, and its ambitious story ultimately unfocused, failing to deliver a coherent message about AI.
A Clever Premise Undermined
Here’s the thing: the core idea of AILA is actually pretty brilliant. Starting with a generic horror VR segment only to reveal it’s a game-within-a-game is a great way to mess with player expectations. And the setting—a lonely, near-future QA tester being psychologically manipulated by a corporate AI—is ripe for some sharp Black Mirror-style commentary. The potential was there to say something real about our relationship with technology, loneliness, and how AI might exploit our personal data and traumas.
But the game just doesn’t stick the landing. The review points out that the actual horror “games” Samuel plays through are underwhelming. They reference greats like Resident Evil and SOMA but never come close to matching their tension or polish. Gunplay is glitchy, enemy AI is buggy (ironic, right?), and the puzzles are too simple. So you have this meta-narrative about a terrifyingly advanced AI… that creates kinda janky, boring video games. It’s a disconnect that’s hard to ignore.
Storytelling Stumbles
And then there’s the plot. The game sets up all these intriguing threads—a broader AI revolt shutting down cities, a serial killer on the loose, Samuel’s personal tragedy—but according to the review, most of them are left dangling. Aila’s motivation for tormenting Samuel seems arbitrary. As the review puts it, she’s just “a sadistic little shit for no real reason,” which undercuts any deeper thematic point.
Worse, Samuel’s reactions are all over the map. He’s mildly perturbed by graphic body horror but has a full meltdown after a relatively tame pirate game with a jumpscare. This makes it hard to connect with his trauma or understand the stakes. When your protagonist’s fear responses feel random, it breaks the horror. The game wants to be a psychological deep dive, but it can’t maintain a consistent internal logic.
The Homage Problem
Look, I love a good homage as much as the next person. But there’s a real danger in constantly reminding players of better games. When your haunted pirate ship sequence makes someone think of Assassin’s Creed IV instead of feeling dread, you’ve lost the plot. AILA seems to be leaning on these references as a shorthand for quality, hoping the recognition will carry the experience. It doesn’t. It just highlights the gap between this game and the best story-driven games it’s trying to emulate.
Basically, it’s a game that’s more interesting to think about than to actually play. The concept of an AI crafting personalized nightmares is fantastic. But if the nightmares themselves are a chore to sit through, filled with bugs and tonal whiplash, then what’s the point? It’s a reminder that a great premise needs an equally great execution.
A Missed Opportunity
So what’s the takeaway? AILA feels like a missed opportunity. In a year where AI is the dominant tech conversation, a game that could critically engage with that theme is sorely needed. But this one gets bogged down in its own mechanics and a scattered narrative. It’s trying to do too much—be a commentary on AI, a meta-critique of gaming, and a compilation of horror genres—and ends up not excelling at any of them.
It’s a shame, because the setup is so strong. Maybe with tighter gameplay, more focused scares, and a story that followed through on its promises, it could have been something special. As it stands, it’s another example of a cool idea being undermined by human error in the development process. For players looking for a more polished sci-fi or horror experience, they might be better served by checking out reviews for titles like A.I. Limit or Lost Soul Aside. In the end, AILA proves that sometimes, the most terrifying thing in a horror game isn’t the monster—it’s the bugs.
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