Inside is the new proposal from Playdead, creators of Limbo. Showcased during E3, it brings a dark story within a monochromatic environment. And it surely won’t leave you indifferent. Here are five reasons why you should be playing it right now.
Inside comes directly from the indie ovens of the Playdead studios. It’s one of those smaller jewels that pave their way through the big parade of E3, raising a lot of eyebrows. Not only because of its visual appeal (monochromatic greatness for the win!) or “Limboesque” vibe, but because it genuinely looked like a story you wanted to explore. The first glimpse revealed an intelligent game, 100% weird and surely beyond compelling. And it’s all of that and more.
Here in the Fanatics we believe that you should be playing Inside. And as such, we have compiled a list of five reasons for you to get it.
As a reminder, Inside came out on June 29th for Xbox One and on July 7th for PC users. It’s still unclear whether it will make it to PlayStation 4 – it looks like it will be a timed exclusive though.
Puzzles, Puzzles, Puzzles!
Like with Limbo, Inside is all about puzzles and gameplay riddles. This could potentially be a downer for a lot of gamers, accustomed to fast-paced experiences. However, the puzzles within Inside do not fall on recurrence, but on the contrary, and blend quite fluidly with the narrative. You won’t stay in a puzzle too long, or too short, and they blend so well with the landscape that you will go through them almost without noticing.
A Compelling Story Worth your Time
If you played Limbo, you probably found yourself muttering one of the following questions while playing: “what the heck”, “what on Earth” and “eeemmmh…?”. The game was a walking question mark, a narrative without an edge. While this worked for that particular title, and certainly added to its attraction, it does not find a parallel in Inside.
The game starts with a little boy amidst the woods and leaps into a full story of chase and tension. Touching sometimes on the spooky, the grim and the paranoid, the journey of the kid takes us from the wild forest to an industrialized hell of laboratories, factories and wandering human husks. There are a lot of stories to unveil… and none of them is particularly comfortable.
A Visual Trip into Minimalist Greatness
Inside proposes the player a world of monochromatic grey, splashed here and there with some hints of color. In that way, it reminds the dark consistence of Limbo’s environments. However, it takes the artistic touch way yonder. The worlds of Inside will stuck in your mind after finishing the game. It’s not only about achieving the next milestone in the boy’s journey. It’s about experiencing the relationship of that little fella with the world around him and the Playdead folks have applied a lot of effort in achieving excellence there.
A Tone that Makes the Music
It kind of ties with the previous reason, but it deserves a mention of its own. The cherry on top the visual environments of Inside comes directly by the use of eerie sound effects and minimalist ambiance. Let’s put it in other words: playing this game with full volume and lights out it’s an experience worth your time. You won’t even miss the lack of music there (it was long overrun by the sounds of factory engines and creaking of the world anyway).
A Great Re-Playability Value
Inside is not what you may consider a long game: it rates around 4 hours average on HLTB at the moment. That characteristic, along with all the hidden secrets and alternate endings that populate the game, makes going for a second playthrough more of a necessity rather than an option. There’s more to that world than what’s apparent by a single journey and you can totally delve into a second revision without the fear of boredom.
All things considered, Inside holds clearly the flag as worthy successor of Limbo. It shows that Playdead have certainly mastered the key elements they explored with their first creation and are cementing a very intimate, yet resounding, gaming experience. If you happen to be convinced by our list and you try it out, let us know what you think!
