Ad Infernum

Ad Infernum...what can I say? It's a rather fun and short immersive sim experience. As you can tell by my hours, I managed to finish in 2.6 hours dying only twice on normal difficulty. I'll give pros and cons as normal and you can be the judge on whether or not you wanna try out this fun game.
Pros:
1. Exploring is encouraged. I've found tons of ammo and health items scattered about thanks to me exploring a lot. Running around and killing enemies is important to exploration too as they drop crystals that give you crafting material.
2. Immersion elements are really good. I've jumped through windows to get to different parts of the gas station, created short cuts, skipped puzzles to get specific items early, manually hid under tables to keep stealth and have thrown bricks at enemies to save time and ammo. The immersive elements fit well and make it possible to speed run (this may be the case since there is a completion time that ties in with certain rewards I won't mention for spoiler reasons).
3. New game plus on any difficulty. Wanna test your metal on different difficulties with all your gear like in dead space, go ahead, all the difficulties have a level of challenge that can spice things up even on NG+, plus it adds a lot more replay value.
4. Inventory elements that make items that seem useless play a big part. I picked up a rusty wrench that did more damage than the hammer, problem is, it swung slower due to the rust. Low and behold I used a bottle of acid on the wrench and it removed the rust, making it swing faster again. The items and inventory encourage experimentation that I quite like.
5. Simple puzzles that are fun and challenging. The puzzles don't waste time with their difficulty but also don't feel too easy, they have you thinking outside the box for a bit and can give you a good amount of satisfaction.
Cons: (nothing much since this is a simple and short game)
1. The ending sequence has a small bug, I was choosing the alternate option and I guess it bugged out due to me switching weapons. just a minor fix is needed.
As of this review, the game is on sale from its normal price of ten dollars and its well worth the price, I recommend that if you do try this game out is to go in blind and with an open mind.

Absolutely fantastic survival horror. Good amount of unlocks for NG+ for replaying or challenging higher difficulties. Some really good music and some pretty creepy horror on your first run. Genuinely really surprised me, absolutely worth the price tag. I spent about 4 hrs playing through the game once normally, taking my time to explore, and one quick ng+ run to snag the other ending.
Can definitely recommend this game if you're looking for a fun survival horror game with combat, resource management, and an upgrade system with some variety. Hammer and P19 my beloved.

Note:
This is a review originally written for  Opium Pulses . The full article can be found HERE . Feel free to take a look at the Opium Pulse Steam Curation page HERE as well.
Waking up within the mysterious confines of what simply seems like a stranded desert gas station, you must use your brains, brawn, and finesse to make it long enough to find enough answers to help you escape. Unsure of what is quite reality or a horrible, dusty delusion- struggle to get your bearings and simply survive as you delve deeper into this survival/psychological horror immersive sim by Glass Knuckle Games. With only your flashlight and hammer in hand, seek a way out- hopefully without loosing your head, physically or mentally, in the process.
Ad Infernum combines both immersive sim along with psychological horror, crafting what can be a fairly short format game. In this case, it works incredibly well- despite the game taking places within a quite small perimeter of a gas station. Armed with initially only a flashlight and hammer, you can find and utilize weapons and other items found around you to restore your nerve (sanity meter) and health, ultimately helping you to find your way to the bottom of this mystery you’ve found your way into.
While this game is crafted by an exceptionally small team, the controls feel tight and fine tuned. Jump vault crouch, and slide your way to safety, avoiding the gruesome monsters in hot pursuit. Weapons feel responsive and weighty, as well as firearms feeling accurate, and are easy to aim. 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. Just providing enough detail to sate, you won’t be finding yourself scouring over mass details and intricate environments. Just about any clue you may need is going to be blatant- but left for you to figure out.
You will find yourself pondering over multiple puzzles- all of them relying on number-play and common sense. This leave some to be desired, as none of them require all too much brain power- and offer little-to-no variance. The puzzles provided, also often provide no substance to the core story- only a welcome boost to the state of your game. While this is pleasant, it also proves to be somewhat disappointing- requiring no real effort to advance the story, sans the immediate task at hand.
The music really takes a back burner on this title- sadly the most enjoyable track I found was the unbelievably short credit roll. I really wish that kind of musical prowess had carried through the length of the game. 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. Any actual music fades only moments after initially playing. Effectively leaving not much for your ears to feast on. While there are some very interesting or well timed audio ques, ultimately the lack of music did seem to flatten the mood.
Enemies have some variance, but are overall forgettable- mainly consisting of re-skins of which I noted 4 in total. The AI also feels like a weak point in the game, as most enemies find the most basic and direct way forward, not boasting very much true ability to adapt to the situation. Disappointingly, on hard difficulty, I found some of the creatures merely standing at a complete rest, not even bothering to walk patrols that were frequent on Normal. While some enemies may exist to be dispatched permanently, some are only temporarily downy before resuming the chase. Think quickly, and be sure you always allow yourself an out! Even seeming slightly dim, you can and will be caught by surprise.
The story that Glass Knuckle Games is telling with Ad Infernum, while somewhat cliché in appearance- boast some though entertainment, while also remaining somewhat vague. While the story is the main driving factory, especially within the first run of the game, the real meat and bones of this title lies within it’s New Game + system. Completing the game is really just the springboard into much deeper, darker, far more entertaining depths.
Overall, while having some glaring shortcomings, Ad Infernum is easy to sink your teeth into, as well as a fair amount of hours. Rewarding New Game+ features, as well as the challenge of mastering the game really make it an enjoyable, easy play. Far from perfect but an obvious passion project, I would absolutely giving Ad Infernum a run, especially if you are a fan of Survivor Horror titles. The folks over at Glass Knuckles are highly active, constantly listening and improving on issues they find- constantly seeing to improve the overall player experience.

Short but well-made ImSim horror game. The atmosphere and sound is great, while graphic is acceptable (it's has its own charm though). Interestingly, this game also has lots of replayability due to its Extra and New game+ (you keep weapon upgrade level and purchased powerup to next run).

Story is bit weak in my opinion, and the feel and music choice of the last section of the game is a bit out of place (but I welcome it, since it feel like a relief after the horror part of the game).

Overall 8/10. Worth your time and money.

a short game, only 1 and a half to 2 and a half hours long (first playthrough of course), but an interesting look into how you'd make an immersive sim styled game such as prey into a shorter format. Has some challenges you can try do for added play time, but most people will only get 2-5 hours of playtime out of it at most.
If the playtime doesn't scare you off, its quite enjoyable, though i wish more was done with the nerve system as I found it didn't impact the game much, especially after the first playthrough.
Can recommend, but only if the length doesn't bother you much.

A Short Pit Stop On The Road To Hell
Check out the full review on 2 Headed Hero!
Ad Infernum takes on design tenets from celebrated immersive sim dungeon crawlers like Prey 2017 or System Shock and smashes them into a compact, intricately crafted survival horror experience. If you're looking for an interesting take on the horror genre that gives you the freedom to explore and solve its problems as you see fit, you need to check out this short but sweet occult adventure.

A decent little horror game with an immersive sim design for it. I don't consider "immersive sim" a genre, more so a design philosophy. It's not quite as fleshed out (pun intended) as Amnesia: The Bunker or System Shock. I believe it's more an issue with the game having too much for so little. The entire map is pretty small with only a few branching paths. Not sure why the game has crafting, customization, health/nerve upgrades, and so many items/weapons for a game that can be beaten in about 3 hours. It feels like a game that was supposed to be bigger. There's only 3 enemy types and very little story to get invested in. It certainly has a bizarre ending(s). I enjoyed the sanity system, but it could have been better implemented. Food, pills, medkits are way too plentiful for nerve to ever be a concern. It doesn't help that you can easily craft these items. The low sanity effect is way too intense. I couldn't see at all and that's a problem when just being in the general vicinity of an enemy lowers your nerve even if you're not even aware they're around. Combat and movement are very clunky. There's no impact to melee weapons and animations are stiff. Enemy designs are largely forgettable. The graphics aren't great, but that's fine. The atmosphere is there and the game scared me at several points. The final gauntlet at the end was just out of place and the eye enemies that spawn around you just undercut the stealth focus of the previous portion of the game by forcing combat. I found Ad Infernum still refreshing nonetheless mainly because it's an actual game. Too many horror games that are linear walking sims with cheap jumpscares and dull "you went crazy and killed your family" plotlines. I see the vision with this game. I just wish it was developed more or more focused on its strengths instead of just having a bunch of mechanics that are underutilized. For example, acid used for dissolving rust is rarely used or needed. I recommend the game for its low price. (6/10)