The Future Project, developed and published by Infinite Level, is a weird game to have to review. There is much wrong with this game, but due to its concept I was questioning for the longest time, “Is this intentional?” So, hold on tight as I take you on my adventure down this rabbit hole. By the end of this review, you can make up your mind if this is a game for you or not.

The story is about you, an AI-controlled robot being tested in a simulation against potentially perceived events it may encounter on other worlds. The simulation started when aliens visited Earth, leaving after only one day with us, and simply saying, “Become better”. To prove to the aliens we are better, the simulation was started and named The Future Project. The purpose was to pursue the aliens into space, stand upon their world, and show how worthy we are.

The story had me rather intrigued by how it unfolds through the simulation. As you explore you find green speech bubbles which give insight into general banter and decisions made about the simulation. It was the story alone that made me push through to the very end. 10 hours later, I’m glad I did, because this proved to me whether all this was intentional or not.

You begin in a place called Heaven. Standing on marble steps and clouds all around, you see two large golden gates before you. Armed with a plasma gun, you pass through the gates and begin the tutorial section. Immediately, you will notice the environment appears unfinished – movements are janky, and the music and sound are weird. This certainly lent itself to being a simulation in development, but the question remained. “Is this intentional”?

The Future Project controls just like a first-person shooter, however, shooting enemies is not the true goal, and though you will fight enemies and bosses, your primary task is to explore. The Future Project plays more like a Metroidmania. You will search the environment for upgrades to keep exploring, and there are many to be found, ranging from health, weapons, and traversal. There are a total of six environments to explore where each will test you and your newly acquired upgrades, but you’ll be backtracking a lot and revisiting previous simulations to access new areas as you discover more upgrades.

Early on, the backtracking is very tedious, but the more upgrades you get, the faster getting where you need to go becomes. Each environment is unique to test the AI, but every single one is unfinished. Textures and details are good on some objects, but not on others. Enemies clip through objects and move awkwardly, while wire frames and invisible walls block your path, just to name a few bizarre occurrences. The concept of a testing simulation and these terrible mechanics, graphics, and audio certainly held that question strong in my mind. “Is this intentional”?

As already mentioned, the graphics are all over the place, with low-quality textures and details on some objects but not others, and terrible animations as enemies clip through objects or move awkwardly. It made it very difficult to praise or reprimand what was being done here, as the game is about a testing simulation for an AI to adventure off-world. It begged the question, how much resource would you throw into a project just to test something? An AI would have no concept of what is detailed and what is not, nor would it perceive or judge creatures moving oddly through an environment as good or bad. Finished or unfinished environments would have no bearing. The results would be all that mattered. Our preconceived notions certainly can limit us to what we see as right, wrong, good, or bad. Again, the story alone had me transfixed to reach its conclusion and truly discover, “Is this intentional”?

The audio also raised the question already said so many times before, with heavily synthesised music switching from being a calm affair to a grating loud annoyance, and adjusting the volume when it became too much did little. It would work sometimes and not others. Sometimes there would be no sound at all. Other times, when turned off, it would come back unexpectedly and sometimes eardrum-poppingly loud. The sound effects are also a mixed bag – some sounds appear to be made with a thoughtful idea, whereas others felt like they were just crammed in there to fill a void. Just like the graphics it raised the question of testing versus resource amount.

The Future Project was a very polarizing experience for me. As I was playing, I was agonising about the review. How was I to review a clearly terrible game with an intriguing concept? For the longest time I was torn right down the middle. Sticking with it right to the very end to get the story’s conclusion was my only answer. Even then, The Future Project had me questioning what I had played. After defeating the final boss, I was greeted with a black screen. With how the story unfolds, it felt so fitting, I was convinced everything was intentional. Curious, though, I played the final encounter again thinking to myself, if I try something different will I get a different ending?

I was wrong, oh so very wrong. I had given way too many allowances and credit to The Future Project. Finishing the game again proved this was not intentional; the black screen was nothing more than a well-timed crash. The Future Project is an unfinished, buggy mess. Had Infinite Level purposefully made it janky in a functional way, the story alone would have forgiven everything, and I would have been scoring this a different way.

Written by: Ashley Barnett-Cosgrove