Inside Review

"Sorrow and Death"

Campaign

Inside is a game that people will be discussing and talking about what exactly happened for many years. It's a gorgeous title that takes a look at despair and sorrow in what's a desolate world. I have a few guesses of what exactly happened or was going on during the narrative and I'm sure others will come to conclusion as well. It goes from sad to strange with intrigue and then eventually bizarre, but I won't dive into any spoilers.

You play as a young boy attempting to survive in a dangerous world where everything is trying to kill you though there are a couple things that come to your aid. Most of the game uses simple platform and puzzle solving in order to progress so it never took too long to find out a solution. It was all mostly logical for solving and this was perfectly well done as you warded off creatures, used zombie-like people to solve puzzles or even for climbing through a hostile world.

The story is told with no words and is conveyed in such a lovely softness as you explore further. The majority of the experience is not only chilling, but filled with wonder of what's exactly going on and by the end I'm still not quite sure. This is part of the wonder when playing Inside and I'm sure it'll evoke similar thoughts in others as well. The game features an amazingly capturing campaign though is a bit short with perhaps too open of an ending for some.

Gameplay

One of the key aspects that makes Inside so amazing is the world, they've perfected the 2D environments making them feel like a 3D world while progressing you along a single linear track. The puzzles were well done being logical with some taking a bit more skill to pull off and a couple tries.

The world is also color focused only showing certain shades to build emotion and it's ever soft in how the character moves through key cinematic type areas. It's a strange land and you'll need to be careful to survive against people, creatures and dangerous landscapes. The story will take you a far distance in a short amount of time with highlights being the offices and a section with a submarine.

The Conclusion

I can't go too in-depth with my thoughts on Inside as I don't want to spoil any aspect of what's sure to be one of the more iconic games of the time. It's going to create great debate on the thoughts behind what happened to this world, who this boy is and perhaps someone will give more explanation on what happened at the ending.

This is an experience that you won't want to miss out on as it carries such a heavy and dark tone that's somehow hauntingly beautiful. It's one of the more styled games I've ever played with an alright story length which might be its drawback and little room for replayability as unless you're going for collectibles it's a one through.

Inside Review on Xbox One
Review Code Provided by 47

Rating Overall: 9.0