Inside (Xbox One) Review

For the first thirty minutes, I was intensely disappointed with Inside. Six years of development work and all I could see was a carbon copy of Limbo.

But I was wrong.

Inside certainly shares some similarities with its predecessor – though they are not directly linked. Inside, just like Limbo, is a minimalist puzzle platformer developed by the same people. But like any successful follow-up it moves past those basic elements and expands its scope in unexpected yet measured ways. And it is in this new ground that it explores that the game shines.

It just takes an hour to get there.

I must say at the outset that I cannot speak to the story of Inside – not only because Inside is one of those games that should never be spoilt – joining a rare collection of games including The Last of Us and Bioshock, but because the game will mean very different things to each person who plays it.

That’s because there’s no doubt Inside is a work of art. And like any work of art Inside rarely insists on any particular meaning; you are left to determine its meaning independent of any developer intentions. It is a testament to the developer’s restraint that it doesn’t trumpet any great purpose or moral. This is a freeing and mature approach that I hope to see in more games. I have my own theories and speculations as to the game’s meaning and purpose, but it would for one, spoil the plot and two, not even be useful. If dontnod don’t insist on any canon interpretation, who am I to?

Yet for all its narrative ambiguity, at its core, Inside is still a puzzle platformer. Dontnod haven’t strayed too far from the standard platformer course of a player moving progressively left to right. Mechanically, there’s not much new to speak of yet the execution clearly demonstrates six years of considered development and polish. It’s the little touches that make each room special – the way the animations play out so very fluidly, or how an animal rests docilely, inhaling and exhaling. And wisely, Inside never rests on its laurels, not over utilising the same idea until you’re sick of it. It expertly shows you something once, then moves on before you can become bored or frustrated with it.

In frustration too Inside compares well with Limbo. Limbo too often required dexterous control manipulation and exact timing to progress, resulting in certain puzzles becoming peaks of frustration, replacing the somber mood of the game with annoyance. Inside is not a hard game in this way. Mechanics have clearly, obviously and correctly been placed behind the narrative and its impact.

There are a number of secret areas to access, but apart from them Inside is tightly linear. Occasionally the puzzles open up into larger, multi-level rooms that require a bit of back and forth but your character moves quickly and it’s always obvious what needs doing. And though much of the game is composed of textureless gray slabs, the art direction and chosen aesthetic of Inside perfectly matched the mood of the game, more than hinting at a Schindler’s List approach in artistic direction.

If I have any gripes against this game, it’s that the deaths are perhaps again, as in Limbo, a little too graphic. And yet they are inevitable. In certain places the solution isn’t immediately obvious, and it is only through trial and error that you learn to progress. Some of the puzzles too can be a little boring. All throughout the six years of Inside’s development a huge range of rigorous and clever platformers (such as personal favourite BoxBoy!) have come out that have surpassed the basic crate-moving puzzles of Inside. Yet they still serve their correct purpose well and as said rarely if ever get in the way.

But rather than focus on any technical shortcomings, Inside truly shines in the way it makes you feel, its impact on you that lingers long after its short game time. Inside will be a game that will be talked about long after people stop playing it. It’s quiet, measured and deliberate approach contrasts loudly with the spray of features, collectibles, and shouting protagonists of the majority of AAA games. In its quietude it stands apart, unobtrusively drawing your attention, your time, and your thoughts.