Ad Infinitum Review: An Engrossing Surrender to the Mind (PS5)

World Wars are quite effective settings for horror video game titles. It’s sometimes used as a backdrop such as in Martha Is Dead, highlighting the impending horrors of war. Other times, war is integral to the plot, offering a perspective on what it physically and psychologically does. Ad Infinitum is the ladder, seamlessly weaving horrific events occurring while navigating the front lines through trenches, and mysterious haunting events occurring back home. Impressively, Ad Infinitum is developer Hekate’s debut title, one unquestionably fueled by passion that took it from its original conception back in 2014 to completion in 2023. 

Titles like Ad Infinitum are the reason why 2023 is one of the best years in gaming. Although not as terrifying as other games in the genre, Ad Infinitum makes up for it with its haunting atmosphere and engrossing narrative. This Ad Infinitum review will be spoiler-free. 

Ad Infinitum releases September 14th on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam. 

Story – From One Nightmare to Another

Set during World War I, you play as Paul, a German soldier whose mind is split between the trenches and his family mansion back home. The mission in the trenches starts off straightforward; survive and be reunited with your brother, Johannes, who also fights in the war. While survival is always the objective, the rest tends to change as new events occur and information becomes available. Back home is a different story. Initially, you’re unsure what moment you’re in or if you’re just revisiting memories. You will spend a lot of time getting to understand the family dynamics and mystery of the past. 

This is done through sometimes narrated documents found throughout the house. There is one in particular with your brother Johannes and how it resolves in the end was incredibly compelling. On top of those documents, some objects in the house will help you re-live special “memories.” For example, interacting with a can in a closet will help retell a conversation you had with your brother. The word memories is in quotations as some of these events most likely can’t be trusted. Your perspective is warped by war and trauma and as time goes on, even more so. 

Is this real?

Narratively, I thought Ad Infinitum worked the best when at the mansion in Berlin. That’s not to say the trench storyline was bad in the slightest. I thought it was great, and I loved that the story didn’t take place solely in one location. There was a lot of variety and helped my 10-12 hour playthrough flow nicely. But there was something so engrossing and eerie about the story that takes place in the mansion. There are so many question marks about what is occurring. You’re unsure what is real half the time. And more importantly, you’re alone.

Forsaken

Solitary is something not uncommon in horror games. In fact, most great ones are about one person navigating through a horrifying event. But Ad Infinitum is different in the way you always feel the presence of others around you; you just don’t see them. Well, not usually. I’m not sure if it was intentional, but I remember looking through door windows and seeing someone in the greenhouse. They weren’t just t-posing either. They were walking around. And later you find out that this person was actually in that area. It just added more to the idea that you are never alone in the house which made running around it more haunting. 

You navigate through this world alone

This struggle is something prevalent throughout Ad Infinitum. You alone have to deal with the monsters on the battlefield. Yes, you have comrades fighting alongside you, but at the end of the day, their survival doesn’t guarantee yours and neither does their victory. These monsters you fight in the war, the monsters of your past, and the monsters in your head, you fight alone. It’s something you feel every moment you play and what made Ad Infinitum scary.

Gameplay – Regaining Control

Although the trailer showed you have a gun, Ad Infinitum doesn’t have combat. Ad Infinitum at first plays very much like many games in the genre. What helps this title stand out is how gameplay is split between the trenches and the mansion. At the mansion, you’ll mostly be solving puzzles and trying to figure out your family’s mysteries. Much of the doors in the house are locked and require you to perform specific tasks or find keys in order to progress. It’s relatively straightforward here but is engaging due to the mystery of the house and the fear that you’re never alone. Traversing through the house, especially in later parts of the game, had me playing with one eye open in fear that something would jump out at me. 

This gameplay loop is mostly the same in the trench missions but amplified by 100. The horrors implied at the mansion, are on full display on the front lines. As a result, your actions will naturally lean on the cautious side. You’ll hide, stealth, and when all else fails, run for your life.

The war presents many monsters like this

There isn’t a whole lot of variation in the puzzles you’ll perform. It mostly consists of turning on the power in order to progress through locked doors. But it’s how Ad Infinitum handles everything around these tasks that makes it fun. For example, your light source is a wind-up device (a German dynamo flashlight) that illuminates around you for 5 seconds. Then it turns off again. This made for extremely stressful encounters in the later part of the game. I also liked the variety of the locations as it wasn’t just in the trenches. Additionally, actions you take in the trenches’ story missions can impact the story. 

Odd Behaviors

I did run into a few bugs during my playthrough. There wasn’t anything game-breaking but that could probably be different for some people. For example, there was a door during the trenches mission that I was unable to open. There was a half prompt (essentially an empty circle instead of a circle with an X button on it to open) on the door leading out of the room that didn’t function. 

The menu is rather straightforward.

I tried crouching and interacting with the door as I found this to help me interact with some documents on the ground, but it didn’t result in any changes. I reset the checkpoint, but it brought me back to that room with the same issue. The only other option was to “restart the area” and after having spent about 2 hours in said area, I wasn’t too fond of that option. So, I just kept running at the door and spamming my buttons and eventually was able to open it. As the game uses autosaves, there aren’t many options for solving issues. I couldn’t just boot up another save and run through that area again for example. I would have personally liked if this was an option.

Graphics and Audio – Is There a Soul Not Softened By It?

Ad Infinitum is more cinematic than I was anticipating. In general, the production here is higher than those of other indie horror titles. The introduction of certain ideas during cinematics in the trench sequences was spectacular. And even moments that didn’t involve cinematics were often haunting. You can sometimes enter an area you’ve been in before and it’s different. These impressive visuals Ad Infinitum has helped sell all of these horrifying encounters. 

The mansion and its various areas looks beautiful

Early on in Ad Infinitum, when exploring the mansion, you come across a document where Paul’s mother talks about music and how much it has helped her. I didn’t think much of it at first, but later I felt as though this was the developers themselves talking about music. It has to be because Ad Infinitum has some absolutely beautiful music. During the first half of the title, there was sometimes soulful, almost dream-like, inspiring, and haunting music. It had a type of fulfilling yet melancholic tone; a culmination of everything that happened that brought Paul to where he is. It was incredible.

Haunted House

As great as the music was though, I found it sometimes clashed with the overall tone of the title. The music sometimes made me feel like I wasn’t playing a horror game at all. As a result, I didn’t feel much fear whenever some of this heavier music was playing. I remember thinking that the game wasn’t scary at all. It can be though. And that is when the music is more subtle and when sound design takes over more. There were a few occasions in the mansion where I felt a lot of tension. The way the music and sound design played, convinced me that something dark was awaiting me.

This light source is your best friend

Apart from the music, I felt as though the story and game design of certain areas helped elevate tension as well. The fact that you’re only giving a small light that works for moments at a time was a marvelous idea, especially during one specific area towards the end of the game. But it does take a bit to get to that tension. I wish there were more scares here. 

Do you plan on picking up Ad Infinitum? Have you played it already? Do you agree with this Ad Infinitum review? Let us know!

Ad Infinitum was reviewed on PlayStation 5 with a review code provided by Dead Good Media.