Ad Infinitum
OpenCritic Rating
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for Ad Infinitum
Ad Infinitum balances engaging gameplay with a deep, dark, and fascinating story that tells a tale of a family torn apart by war.
In spite of the occasional bug and basic gameplay systems, Ad Infinitum manages to capture my attention through its imaginative exploration of the horror of battle. Delving between the shell-shocked home of the Von Schmitts and the ash swept trenches of war was a unique perspective on the horror genre that I found to be both poignant and well worth exploring.
What everything adds up to is a game that’s half good. If the more unique and compelling idea of the war was expanded upon, the title could have been much better.
Ad Infinitum deals in many types of horror, often skewering expectations. Though rough around the edges and packing unremarkable puzzles, the terrifying truths of its real-world scares offer more captivating chills than its monster-focused moments.
With a unique setting and premise, Hekate's psychological horror certainly stands out, and its various themes are balanced well. Some more polish and gameplay improvements would go a long way, but more than anything, its horror elements could certainly use more time to shine.
Overall, Ad Infinitum doesn’t do its best job showcasing what the experience is all about in the first hour. But, after that, it really takes off and soars. Especially the creature design, and while I am not a massive fan of the hide-and-seek horror, it plays it well here, and you truly get lost in the trenches. The sound design and voice acting aren’t the best, but it is passable enough. My biggest issue is that I had quite a bit of technical difficulties. Even when I turned the graphics setting to low, I was still experiencing framerate drops and quite a bit of screen tearing. I even managed to clip through some ladders a few times.
Ad Infinitum wraps a deeply moving story of trauma, loss, fear, and self-discovery into a horror game that gets under your skin. The sound design is fantastic and provides numerous moments of suspense. However, the debut effort from German studio Hekate also suffers from gameplay flaws and clumsy animations. But if you can get into the story and overlook the aforementioned flaws, Ad Infinitum is an excellent horror game with depth.
Review in German | Read full review
Ad Infinitum is a little off balance when it comes to how difficult and unfair a few of its challenges are compared to the rest of the game, but with enough patience or guidance to make it through those sections, the rest of the game is set at an intense pace, while an excellently creepy atmosphere and a family whose horrors and the trauma they and the war have imparted onto the protagonist fill the game with character.
