Ad Infernum
- February 29, 2024
- Entropy Phi
- 4h median play time
Get on Steam
Get on itch.io StoreIn "Ad Infernum," you wake up at an abandoned gas station after a car crash and hear a voice on the radio. Together, you discover a missing cult, unholy rituals, and bloodthirsty creatures. As you witness horrors, your psyche deteriorates, leading to audiovisual hallucinations. Fight back with various guns and melee weapons, upgradable for increased power. Can you complete the cult's final ritual and escape the terrors before it's too late?
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Reviews
- Engaging gameplay that combines immersive sim elements with survival horror, providing a unique and captivating experience.
- The game excels in creating a tense and immersive atmosphere, enhanced by its haunting music and eerie setting.
- Designed with replayability in mind, it encourages players to explore its depths multiple times, uncovering secrets and additional content with each playthrough.
- The game is relatively short, with a first playthrough lasting around 2 to 4 hours, which may disappoint some players.
- The art style and graphics are inconsistent, lacking a strong aesthetic that could enhance immersion.
- The story is minimal and somewhat cliché, with limited enemy variety and underutilized immersive sim mechanics.
- replayability17 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its strong replayability, featuring a New Game+ mode, a points shop with various modifiers, and multiple difficulty levels that encourage players to explore different strategies and secrets in subsequent playthroughs. While the overall playtime is short, the added content and unlockables provide significant incentive for players to return. Many reviewers highlight that the game is well-designed with replayability in mind, making it a worthwhile experience for its price.
“Great replayability, has NG+ and a points shop with all kinds of modifiers and difficulties I'm yet to play with.”
“Interestingly, this game also has lots of replayability due to its extra and New Game+ (you keep weapon upgrade levels and purchased power-ups for the next run).”
“Designed with replayability in mind, it encourages players to explore its depths multiple times, uncovering secrets and additional content with each playthrough.”
“Despite its replay value, the game was shorter than expected.”
“The game offers New Game Plus, but I don't see how it has any replayability.”
“Yes, just keep in mind it's short but also replayable.”
- gameplay15 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Ad Infernum" is praised for its engaging blend of classic survival horror and immersive sim mechanics, creating a unique and captivating experience. While the game features a solid primary gameplay loop and distinct locations, some mechanics feel underutilized, and the overall scope is limited, leading to concerns about its value given the short playtime.
“I can say, in the best way possible, that the designer seems to have copied a lot of the best mechanics from that game and translated them into a fun and very surreal survival horror experience.”
“A nice combination and marriage between classic survival horror and classic immersive sim mechanics.”
“Ad Infernum is a really fun and tense showcase of just how well the core mechanics of traditional immersive sims can be married with survival horror themes.”
“I just wish it was developed more or more focused on its strengths instead of just having a bunch of mechanics that are underutilized.”
“The mechanic of creating your weapon is introduced in the tutorial but is ditched for the whole game after the tutorial.”
“The game itself is good, but the price tag cannot justify around 1 hour of gameplay.”
- story14 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The story in the game is often described as confusing and minimalistic, lacking depth and substance, which detracts from player engagement. While some players appreciate its intriguing premise and exploration-driven narrative, many feel it falls short, with a cliché presentation and insufficient investment in character or plot development. Overall, the storytelling is seen as a missed opportunity, overshadowed by gameplay mechanics and a lack of meaningful context.
“The story that Glass Knuckle Games is telling with Ad Infernum, while somewhat cliché in appearance, boasts some entertaining moments while also remaining somewhat vague.”
“It also has an interesting story with some surprising depth and reminded me of movies such as 'As Above, So Below'.”
“The story is one driven primarily by exploration; finding out what the hell happened in this neglected, and then abandoned, gas station.”
“The story is confusing other than the fact you're supposedly checking out a vast underground system under the gas station itself.”
“While this is pleasant, it also proves to be somewhat disappointing—requiring no real effort to advance the story, aside from the immediate task at hand.”
“There's only 3 enemy types and very little story to get invested in.”
- graphics14 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are described as a polarizing blend of modern and retro aesthetics, often falling into a "default Unity engine" look with shiny surfaces and a somewhat amateurish semi-realism. While the art style has its charm, it lacks commitment to either a low-fi or realistic approach, which may detract from immersion for some players. Overall, the graphics are considered acceptable but not a standout feature, with some users noting issues with optimization and stability.
“The aesthetic of the game is amazing, as is its soundtrack, voice acting, and atmosphere.”
“The graphics are somewhere between modern and retro.”
“While the art style works well, it could leave some to be desired, falling in a strange middle-ground.”
“Be aware that there is some jank and the game does have a very 'default Unity engine' aesthetic; all shiny plastic surfaces with crispy normal maps.”
“It doesn't look like much at first: unlike many recent low-budget horror games, it does not commit to a fitting low-fi aesthetic, but goes for, uhhhh, I guess ugly amateurish semi-realism?”
- music14 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The music in the game is described as minimal and often fades quickly, which some players feel detracts from the overall atmosphere, despite its haunting quality. While the soundtrack and sound design are praised for enhancing the eerie setting, many reviewers express disappointment that the music does not maintain the same level of engagement throughout the game, with the most enjoyable track being the short ending credits song. Overall, the minimalist approach to music and storytelling is seen as a missed opportunity to further enrich the gaming experience.
“The music and soundscape is well executed as well, I really like the ending credits song.”
“The music is haunting and sets the atmosphere well.”
“- Engaging atmosphere: the game excels in creating a tense and immersive atmosphere through its haunting music and eerie setting, enhancing the overall horror experience.”
“The music really takes a back burner in this title - sadly, the most enjoyable track I found was the unbelievably short credit roll.”
“The music is fairly minimal, likely to try and lend to the eerie silence, but I feel like the sound direction could have been better.”
“While there are some very interesting or well-timed audio cues, ultimately the lack of music did seem to flatten the mood.”
- atmosphere7 mentions
- 57 % positive mentions
- 14 % neutral mentions
- 29 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised as its strongest element, characterized by a haunting soundtrack, eerie settings, and immersive sound design that effectively enhances the horror experience. Many reviewers noted that the game's aesthetic and charm contribute to a tense and engaging atmosphere, with moments that successfully evoke fear. Overall, the atmospheric elements are considered a standout feature, elevating the game's appeal despite some criticisms of its graphics.
“The atmosphere is excellent and is the single strongest element of the game.”
“Engaging atmosphere: the game excels in creating a tense and immersive atmosphere through its haunting music and eerie setting, enhancing the overall horror experience.”
“Ad Infernum is a really atmospheric indie horror game with lots of charm and one hell of a premise.”
“The atmosphere is there and the game scared me at several points.”
“The music is haunting and sets the atmosphere well.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 150 % positive mentions
- -100 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is criticized for experiencing jank and microstuttering, which detracts from the overall experience. While players appreciate the immersive elements and item interactions, they note that stability improvements are needed for a more enjoyable gameplay experience. Overall, the optimization issues prevent it from reaching its full potential.
“The game has a lot of items scattered around the map, and if you know how to find them quickly, it can be completed in just a couple of hours. However, it could benefit from some stability and optimization to enhance the overall experience.”
“I appreciated the voice acting in this short immersive sim. The ability to upgrade weapons, like my pistol with a special camo and increased damage, adds a nice touch, but the game would be more enjoyable with better optimization.”
“While the graphics were not the best and there were some issues with my graphics card, the gameplay was engaging. The optimization could use some work to improve stability and make the experience smoother.”
“There is a fair bit of jank and some issues with microstuttering, but once I got my bearings, I had a very good time with this.”
- grinding1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players generally find the grinding in the game manageable, with one reviewer noting it took about four hours to achieve 100% completion, although some challenges may require additional effort that they are not inclined to pursue.
“Probably took about 4 hours total to 100% the game, besides a few challenges that I don't feel like grinding out.”
“The grinding in this game feels endless and tedious, making it hard to stay engaged.”
“I found myself repeating the same tasks over and over just to level up, which quickly became frustrating.”
