Before even touching developer Playdead's
Inside, I made my mission to 100% their breakout title
Limbo on PS Vita, a game mind you the was released years ago on the Xbox 360 during the time of the indie arcade craze. although the video game may not persuade this blogger to fully do everything in this 3D side-scrolling platformer, not because its on PC and I don't feel the same attachment to Steams' achievement as I do to PlayStation's trophy system, but I rather keep my experience much like many people did with
The Last of Us, by keeping it as a one-and-done amazing experience. To quote the words as this one random writer/reviewer puts it "Describing Inside is difficult, not because one can't find the words, but because it has to be seen to truly be believed." - Jim Sterling
Three words come to mind when reflecting upon this game; interesting, obscure, and WTF! As much as I enjoyed this game for what it is, I can't get over the fact that
Inside raises more questions than it answers. Understandably much like Playdead's previous title the game is meant to be interrupted by the player, but unlike
Limbo, Inside doesn't have a clear story. Whether it was intentional-or-not the plot contains many holes that is clearly controversial, proof given as a quick internet search could easily prove my point.
Lovely enough
Inside chooses to show the audience its world rather talking about it, and as anyone who knows anything about story-telling knows, its always better show-don't-tell.
You play a faceless boy in a faceless-society, where it appears that the kid is being hunted down by said faceless citizens. Without saying much about the story since it is only about a great 2-hour experience, let's simply say its dark and twisted beyond belief. The amount of ambiance engages the player with intrigue and suspense.
Inside brings up a lot of pondering circumstances such as the idea of self-awareness, society, and the concept of "big-brother" a current topic that has gathered many regard in this day-and-age. Mind control is quite prominent in this games' theme, which had even I questioning personal life decisions. What I can honestly say I really enjoyed about this title is the clever level-design. You see beyond being a convoluted theoretical "circle-jerk" this game is, it is also a puzzle game. And damn if the puzzle design in this game ain't superb. Without hesitation I can say I suck at puzzles; whether it be riddles, quizzes, brain-teasers... you name it, I stink at them. Normally what I have to when I get stuck in a game, is like many gamers eventually going to the all-access information which is the internet. I can only think of two other puzzle games that had the same amount of ingenious puzzle-design on par with that of inside. Color detail as-well-as perfect visual placement had me for the first time ever not go to the aid of the web. So in summary this game is smart, plot-confusing, but smart. Game is short which is up to you whether you like that kind of game or not, but like most short games its up to the player how long you'd like to prolong ones experience. My final rating may not reflect the amount of attention this game got during 2016's Game of The Year Awards, but trust me when I say you will have an interesting experience with Playdead's INSIDE.
Rating: ⭐⭐
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| TGWP's Seal of Approval |
Tips & Tricks:
- Try to get the game on sale
- Take your time with the game
- Puzzles will make you feel smart
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