Inside

Genre: Puzzle-Platformer

Players: 1

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Review:

Inside is a Puzzle-Platformer from developer Playdead, the makers of Limbo, and as such it shares a lot of similarities to that game, to the point where it is often considered a spiritual successor to Limbo. Originally released in 2016 on the Xbox One and then brought to other platforms, the game arrived on the Nintendo Switch in 2018.

Where Limbo took place in a fantastical nightmarish world of giant insects and massive machines, Inside has more of a clear science fiction theme, following a young boy as he enters a scientific facility running all manner of experiments and staffed by employees who don’t hesitate to gun him down or have their dogs tear him to shreds. Much as with Limbo, Inside is merciless in its depiction of violence against the child the player takes the role of (along with others), so those who are upset by such violent depictions, consider yourself warned.

However, while Limbo was a marvel of efficiency, fitting an impressive-looking game into a tiny file size, Inside shows us what this developer is capable of when they let loose, and suffice it to say, the results are stunning. The world in this game, while largely desaturated, is not monochrome like the first game, and the environments players explore are large, impressive, and filled with tons of detail, fantastic lighting effects, great subtle reflections, excellent water effects, nice atmospheric fog, excellent details like a light wind affecting plant life and dust falling from above in indoor areas. The animation in this game is superb, correcting one of the few weak points of the first game’s presentation. In so many ways, Inside is one of the most impressive-looking 2D games ever made, and if it has suffered at all in its transition to the Switch, I didn’t notice.

The sound here is excellent as well, expanding on the already-excellent work done on Limbo with superb water effects, and some wonderful things done with sound in a few of the game’s more sci-fi areas that I won’t spoil here. The game also makes use of a fantastic subtle score in places to help sell the feeling of different areas, which can be particularly chilling when you leave that area and it suddenly cuts out. All in all, excellent stuff.

The gameplay this time around feels a lot more evolved as well. Again, just as in Limbo, the control, setup here is simple, just movement, jump, and a button to interact with the environment where appropriate, but the ways these tools are used are amazingly clever, especially with some of the game’s more interesting sci-fi devices. What’s more, I feel like this game has done a much better job balancing out its deaths – you’ll still likely die a lot, but this time it won’t be because the game suddenly throws something unexpected at you that you couldn’t have possibly predicted in time to react. At least, it does this sort of thing far less often, making deaths in the game feel a great deal more fair.

However, the really fantastic thing this game does above and beyond Limbo is that it expands on its environmental storytelling. There are still no words and no interface, but so much of the details in the world around you tells an amazing story in and of themselves, and the game often takes a moment to ensure that the player is shown these details to give them a feel for the world they find themselves in. As much as this game improves on nearly every element of its predecessor, this may well be the one that I appreciate most.

However, there is one element that this game doesn’t improve on – its length. Inside is an incredible experience, but it’s also a very short one, only 3-4 hours long. I think I could easily play a game this good for twice or even three times that length, but alas, I suppose it wasn’t meant to be.

But really, that’s just about my only complaint about Inside. This is a game that improves upon its predecessor in nearly every way, delivering a phenomenal Puzzle-Platformer that looks great, is full of inventive ideas and variety, delivers a gripping story through its world and its gameplay, and if my biggest complaint about a game is that I wanted more of it, that’s usually a sign that the game is an absolute success. If you have not played this game on another platform (and if you’re not scared off by depictions of gruesome violence involving a child), you should absolutely take the opportunity to do so now.

tl;dr – Inside is a Puzzle-Platformer that is the spiritual successor to Limbo, and it improves upon the first game in nearly every way, with stunning and stylish visuals, clever and varied gameplay, and a fascinating and detailed world. The only complaint I have is that the game is tragically short – just 3 or 4 hours long. However, it’s an enthralling 3-4 hours, and if you don’t already have this game on another platform (and don’t mind the game’s gruesome violence), you should absolutely pick this one up.

Grade: A

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