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Inside Game Review

Inside is a 2016 puzzle adventure video game developed and published by Playdead for Microsoft Windows among other platforms. It is one of the greatest games of all time.

When Inside was released back in 2016 it was hailed as one of the best games of the year, but nowadays it is regarded as one of the greatest games of all time, certainly one of the best in the logic/puzzle genre. And I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment as this game gripped me from start to finish and never let go. I was simply at awe with its many incredible aspects.

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I wouldn’t really classify Inside as a puzzle platformer. Yes, it has definite platforming elements, especially in the jumping mechanics, but most of the game plays like a puzzle adventure first and foremost, and it is by far one of the best games in that genre ever.

You control a boy who has to explore this black-and-white world and evade its many dangers and foes. Honestly, the boy annoyed me at first how utterly slow and clumsy he is, but that is the point of the game as otherwise it would have been too easy to get through. We did not get to know this boy all that well, but more on the storyline later.

The game is presented in 2.5D and it was both perfect for this story and gameplay and immaculately utilized. At first, the boy can only walk and jump, but eventually he learns to swim and even dive, the latter happening in one truly unforgettable plot turn. The game also lets you control other people’s bodies, basically the bodies of zombies, and this mechanic is crucial in solving some of the most difficult puzzles that Inside throws at you.

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The deaths in this game are absolutely brutal. They are so grotesque to the point that I felt genuine remorse for this unnamed boy that I was playing. There are so many ways that you can die, all rather gruesome. The game saves your progress after each puzzle, which was important in making the whole experience more streamlined and enjoyable.

While some have said that this adventure is quite short, I disagree completely. It is such a difficult game that getting all the way through to the end is going to take a while; at least it did for me. And that brings me to that notorious difficulty, the only minor issue that I’ve had with this masterpiece of a game.

First of all, the game doesn’t explain its controls at all, just throwing you into the adventure without proper explanation, which was done for better and for worse. This way they evaded the meddling tutorials, but still it took me some time to realize what the boy can or cannot do, and I wish that he could have done more to be honest.

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As for that difficulty, it was too much for me in certain areas, especially those bigger sections that required from you to go from one room to another and a whole other and each has its interconnected puzzles. I preferred the shorter and smaller sections instead of the vaster ones myself. Many of the puzzles can be solved fairly quickly, but still the game did not quite escape the problem that every game of this genre has, which is some puzzles that are downright ridiculous in the randomness of tasks that it requires you to do before solving it.

For any video game, it is strange that storytelling would be its defining aspect, but that is exactly what happened here. Inside is amazing all-around, but the storyline itself takes the cake as its most unforgettable aspect. While it may prove overly ambiguous in its open to interpretations ending, I actually loved that approach as it made the game more unique and artistic.

That entire final section where the boy becomes a part of that amoeboid monstrosity was by far my favorite part of the game because it was easier in puzzles and simply fascinating to follow in its cinematic qualities. Just destroying everything in your path was so much fun. The scientists helping you out was thought-provoking and a major twist while the theory that I hold myself is the one in which the boy has been the part of this creature from the very beginning.

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Whatever you get from this game, the purely incredible atmosphere here was palpable while the minimalism of this world and the scientific facility on display made for unforgettable imagery. The world building is truly astonishing. While the mid-section of the game is slower in pace and overly difficult in puzzles, the first and the last sections were both absolutely masterful in each and every aspect.

Functioning as this black-and-white animated movie of sorts, Inside is minimalist, but striking in each area. While I did wish to have seen more of the outdoor areas, the ones that we got are fantastic. The swamp and water levels were terrific and the game’s creature designs are incredible. The whole atmosphere as conveyed here is one full of despair, danger and hopelessness. It’s a perfect post-apocalyptic world. The dark mood is coupled with the lack of score and truly amazing sound effects that are both realistic and highly evocative in their echoing qualities. All of these make the game a true audio-visual delight.

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