Inside

I can just feel writing this article that the term “inside” with all of its uses is going to become very
confusing. With that being said, let’s dive right in and take a look at what’s going on inside Inside.

Inside is a 2D puzzle-platformer developed by Playdead Studios in which you, a small child,
start in medias res in the middle of a dark forest and your job is to keep moving to the right until
something stops you, or to the left if you’re adverse to progress. You might recognise the name
Playdead Studios as they also created Limbo, a 2D puzzle-platformer where you control a small
child running through a dark forest. So it’s safe to say that Playdead have certainly found their
comfort zone in 2D puzzle-platformers with small children as the protagonists. There are subtle
differences between the two games, chiefly that the little boy in Inside has a reasonably proportioned
head unlike the kid from Limbo with his giant, medicine ball head. Secondly, Limbo’s plot was based
around the protagonist - medicine head - finding his lost sister whereas Inside’s plot has more of a
social commentary feel about it.

As you make your way through the large, scary world you encounter masked men doing some
suspect things that you probably shouldn’t dwell on too long, because they will drop everything to
stop a little boy that just so happens to be wandering through the forest alone. And when I say stop,
I mean stop. One thing that Playdead love to do is kill the player character in very visceral ways - see
Limbo’s many decapitation scenes - and this continues in Inside. Shot, mauled, blown apart, drowned,
you name it, it happens and the death screen hangs around for a little longer than you think it does
so you get a nice view of whichever way the boy was gruesomely murdered. Limbo’s dark,
atmospheric theme runs through Inside like the rings of a tree but in a much more subtle way.

Where Limbo showed us that the big wide world is a horrible place and everything in it wants you
dead, Inside goes for a more “head down, keep moving” feel to it with most things of note happening
in the background. Blending in is an important life skill to master so Inside employs what I will
charitably describe as a “stealth” mechanic. This pretty much boils down to hiding in the right place
while the nasty masked men do their thing and leave or making sure to keep out of spot-lights as to
go unnoticed so you can progress. Inside also shows us the power of numbers which is shown with
Inside’s main mechanic of mind-controlling what seem like mindless zombies using helmets to
complete puzzles, like lifting doors or weighing down switches. All of this comes together to create
the same feel that Limbo gave its players, that there is something much bigger than you going on and
it’s probably best that you stay out of the way.

This could be where things get controversial, so if you’ve read this far, have played Inside and like it,
I would stop reading now.

I’m not a fan.

Limbo was great because it was an unexpected indie hit so naturally trying to capture the same
lightning in a bottle is a no brainer. The downfall in my opinion is two fold: Inside and Limbo are very
similar games, similar themes, similar mechanics and similar feel, so what’s stopping you from just
replaying Limbo? (apart from the pretentious, artsy nature of it.) Sure, you get another bite sized
depressing stroll through a well designed indie darling and if that’s enough for you then go for it.
However, neither of the two games are that long so you can burn through them both in under a day.
Call me old fashioned but I like my games with a bit of depth and that’s something that Limbo had
some of and Inside severely lacks on the surface. The plot is left to interpretation, which is fine but
could leave some players feeling a little cheated out of an explanation, Limbo did the same thing but
it had the pretentious thing going for it. Speaking of feeling cheated, that brings me nicely onto the
second reason I’m not a fan of Inside, the payoff.

Because everything happening in the background is left up to your interpretation you can find your
own reasons for why the nasty masked men would throw their own mother off a cliff just to pursue
and send dogs after you - I’m not sure what justification you would come up with but it surely can’t
be a good one. Throughout the game there are various important plot points that can be a bit
confusing to start with and almost have no pay off at all. Without wanting to give too much away,
the swimming lady and the pig stand out in my mind. Those aren’t the worst culprits however,
especially when the last quarter of Inside effectively turns into Katamari Damacy without the vibrant,
colourful aesthetic.

All in all, Inside is a fine game that falls down in a couple of areas for me. Like I said, if you like Limbo
and you’re after another discouraging, visceral and very vague wander through the pits of the human
psyche, then go ahead. Personally, I left Inside feeling a bit let down and confused, all the right parts
are there but it didn’t seem that their potential was pushed enough.

Inside wasn’t for me but it may be for you, if so check it out - it’s on every major platform so you have
no excuse - and remember, check back to Game Changers for more gaming news and updates and
follow us on twitter at @gcgamingtank. Happy gaming guys.