AD INFINITUM ANNOUNCEMENT TRAILER RELEASED

Ad Infinitum, a survival-horror game set in the abandoned trenches of a World War I battlefield, has finally released its first full-length trailer. While it's not exactly much in terms of new content, and I'm honestly unsure as to whether or not it's all cinematic or not, it certainly looks creepy and impressive. In my humble opinion, WWI is perfect for a horror game, simply because of the sheer scale of death the player would be surrounded by, and because people don't give war enough credit for being crap-your-pants scary, even without supernatural creatures with super-long fingernails.

The trailer itself doesn't offer much to go on beyond offering a look at the atmosphere and teasing us with a creepy voice that gives me strong Amnesia vibes (though I'm quite alright with that). The press kit has the following to say about the game, which only strengthens my suspicions that the devs are aiming for a Frictional Games-style spooky-yet-thoughtful adventure:

Ad Infinitum is an atmospheric single-player horror game, which puts you into a World War I setting experienced in a first-person perspective. You find yourself in the trenches of a forlorn battlefield where vicious creatures lurk in the shadows. Solve challenging puzzles to clear pathways and avoid deadly traps and sneak through a maze of trenches to hide from the manifested horrors of war. The surrealistic gameworld is based upon historical background information that is mixed with some fictional elements which all culminates in a subtle yet intense story.

All of this sounds great, and very much in the vein of The Dark Descent, which is one of my all-time favorite horror titles, so I can safely say I'm pretty stoked. As for the details of the plot, while that last line is a bit vague, I've generally learned to trust indie developers more when it comes to writing a good story, as opposed to many AAA games which often settle for the lowest common string of cliches. They certainly seem to have the desired atmosphere down to a 'T', that's for sure.

My one potential gripe is that like so many other titles in the genre, StrixLab seems to be eschewing combat of any kind in favor of the 'run, hide or die' mechanics that have become pervasive in video game horror of late. This I learned from the press kit, which had the following to say:

​Since this is NOT a shooter in any way, you are forced to hide from and sneak around dangerous creatures and other deadly threats. Apart from stealthing you will be encouraged to explore the game world for goodies while also open new paths by solving puzzles.

While I don't really have too big an issue with this, I would appreciate it if the devs would recognize that given their choice of setting, there's going to be an awful lot of guns lying around. Plus, the inability to fight back has become such an overused trope that it might be wise if more games to notes from Alien: Isolation in regards to giving the player some measure of deterrence against instant-kill monsters. Even Amnesia gave you the ability to throw things at the monsters to slow them down. It would do a lot to alleviate frustration from certain players who'd like to be into horror games but can't stomach being unable to resist in some fashion.

Aside from this, I do think that StrixLab has largely hit the nail on the head with their efforts to create a bowel-knotting vision of war-torn hell. I can't wait to see what else they have in store for us!