The second game from Danish indie developer Playdead, which gained critical acclaim for its 2010 title Limbo, Inside follows a nameless boy as he struggles against forces who are trying to take over the world through experimentation on human bodies. The game starts off in a dark woods where the playable character is being hunted by guards, and soon continues into a military factory where the majority of gameplay occurs.
The boy must complete a number of puzzles and avoid death as he continues through the factory, uncovering secrets about his world. The only actions available to the player are “jump” and “interact,” limiting the boy’s movements and adding to the atmosphere of terror and mystery surrounding the game. Additionally, no dialogue or text instructions exist in-game, forcing the player to enter the game clueless as to the backstory and details of its characters, locations, and conflict.
Inside is being hailed as a masterpiece by numerous gaming magazines and websites due to its detailed, bleak visual design, stellar use of sound and camera work, and intricate, engrossing plot. The game is certain to provide a number of tense moments as the boy continuously escapes death by the skin of his teeth. Or doesn’t… leading to a number of gruesome death scenes that add to the game’s thrilling and mysterious experience (and don’t punish the player too harshly, given the generous number of save spots).
For all of these reasons and more, Inside is already proving to be one of critics’ top choices of the year, earning a perfect 10/10 from both IGN and VideoGamer.com (and 9.5s from most other review sites) and holding a score of 91 on Metacritic. Though not for the young or the squeamish, Inside should be on the radar of every gamer this year as it continues to win accolades and aims to become one of the greatest titles of 2016.
