Inside is a cinematic masterpiece disguised as a puzzle-platformer adventure game. It is the second game from Playdead, after Limbo, another atmospheric puzzler wrapped in a unique black and white art style that keeps you drawn into the universe.
Each scene in Inside is staged like a scene in a film. You are getting a new piece of the story every step of the way. But Playdead makes it so seamless that the whole game smoothly transitions from one piece of the narrative puzzle to the next that by the end of it, you’ve got a massive picture of this dystopian future to decipher. The story is very much open to interpretation, just like Limbo, and I think that the developers like giving the players something to think about long after they are finished with their games. It also ends in one of the best WTF moments I’ve ever experienced in gaming history. I remember the first time I played the game I was grinning ear to ear because it was so absurd that I couldn’t believe the what I was playing. I would recommend the game on the ending alone, I’ve never experienced anything in my gaming career that made me think “WTF” and “Of course this is how it ends” at the same time.
The gameplay is less aggressive than Limbo. Limbo made sure to punish you if you were not paying attention enough to your surrounding’s or if you got too cocky about running straight through the levels. Inside took the safer approach of letting the player know the dangers beforehand, and letting them figure out the puzzle with all of the facts. Both ways work just fine, but I really enjoyed the puzzles in Limbo where you were certain you knew how to solve them, only to be killed by an unsuspecting element. I also remember my first play through of Inside being more difficult and even though I played it again about a year later, I still remembered the parts that tripped me up and the second run was much easier (that’s to be expected with any puzzle game).
Inside is another amazing game from Playdead and I’ll be picking up everything they have to offer in the future. If you love atmospheric games that play more like beautifully crafted films than Inside is for you. I would recommend this to anyone as it’s one of the best looking games you can get your hands on.
