Ad Infernum

THE INDIE IMMSIM REVOLUTION CONTINUES!!!!!!
The opposite of a mile wide and an inch deep. Loved every second.

Interesting game about exploring an abandoned gas station, getting chased by a guy covered in flies, and then turns out you were being radioed by a biblically accurate angel the entire time. Story is confusing other than the fact you're supposedly checking out a vast underground system place thing under the gas station itself. It's whatever, as said, interesting and cool game. (Pro Tip: when using your inventory, you can see your objectives on the left)

In nutshell: Resident evil meets Deus Ex.
The game is a good demo of what such a mixture could be. The game is a short(4 hours for me) gameplay-focused survival horror with good replay value.

Story: Well, let’s say it’s a glue to stick together different in-game tasks. Do not expect big revelations here. Still, the game has a believable explanation for MC motivation, the reason they do not leave the place and why we have a character guiding us through the game.

Graphics: It’s very simple, minimalistic, low poly, low res etc. It’s quite common for indie games. Sometimes it is dirty, disturbing. Still, it’s a horror game, so at least it helps to build up a proper atmosphere.

Gameplay:
Here is the most difficult part to assess. Exploration is rewarded. The game even helps you if you die often. Puzzle solutions and locations are mostly scripted, but there are many ways to get there. Environment is very interactive, you can actively use it for your advance. Still, if you have to find a key or a code, you can not avoid it.
I welcome the opportunity to grab the edge of something and climb on it in such games. I welcome the freedom to run, jump and slide in the game.
I recommend playing the first walkthrough on hard difficulty. Do not worry, the game has tons of tools to overcome in-game obstacles. The game has a system of rewards and challenges to motivate you to experiment and replay the game. I just wish the location of items and codes would be more randomized, so that every walkthrough is more unique. Check implementation in “Amnesia: the bunker” for reference.

I find it strange that the game tracks your death count to support you, but allows you to stop the whole game on esc and quick load. I guess the developer wanted to make the game easier, but here it’s overdone to the point when the game mechanics contradict each other. I would disable the in-game world stop on esc and block the ‘reload from last save’ button if the player is under attack. It would make so much sense at least on the higher difficulty.

Technical state is satisfactory or rather good. I get 80+ fps in 4K resolution on max settings on the Radeon RX7900 XTX. I’ve not encountered any crashes or softlocks. I somehow managed to clip to the fridge room through the shelves once, but it’s a random small glitch.

Side note: I played it on linux. I would like to thank the developer for the linux build.

This game is good. It's a short horror-themed immersive sim, but on a very small budget.
I finished a first playthrough in around 2.8 hours. I died a lot since I tend to play these types of games pretty recklessly.
There were a few times I got stuck for a short period, and a few puzzles it took me a while to figure out, but nothing annoyingly obtuse. I didn't have to look up a walkthrough on YouTube at all.
Progression felt pretty smooth overall, and it was usually pretty logical what to do next.
Areas are fairly small, but also fairly dense with smaller areas to explore or move through. There's a bit of nice inter-connectivity between a couple areas.
For a very small team, this is a good game. It encourages more runs through the game, offering various rewards for meeting challenges.
I haven't started a second run yet, so I'm not sure how much changes, if anything. I'm sure it's not SaGa Emerald Beyond levels of wildly different outcomes in subsequent playthroughs, but I wouldn't expect that.
While I liked the developer's earlier game Heliophobia and also recommend that one, Ad Infernum is more mechanically dense, although also a bit smaller in scope.

It would be interesting to see what the developer could do with a decent budget, because this is already very solid and a worthwhile experience.

minor complaints but still a surprisingly good game

It is absolutely wild that this game has been overlooked. A truly impressive indie survival horror immersive sim that borrows elements from Eternal Darkness, Resident Evil, Prey, and many other survival horror classics, yet still manages to create it's own identity. While this clearly has a fraction of a fraction of the budget those games had, the passion behind this project elevates it to a level way above it's weight class. Care was clearly taken in every part of this game's design. Do yourself a favor and dive into this hidden gem.

fun, bit clunky but def good enough for recommend.