Inside

INSIDE. (2016) Set in a dark apocalyptic, near-future world, the story itself is very hazy and vague, leaving room for various interpretation. At times it's very H. G. Wells's: War of the World and at others, Orwell's: 1984. You play a young boy, as he doggedly and determinedly makes his way deeper into the mysterious world, seemingly towards danger itself.

The side-scrolling puzzle platformer game is very artistically minimal, subtly stylistic and yet very visually macabre in the details that in does present to you. All very intentionally dark and vague. Similar to Limbo, although having a bit more color. Inside offers tantalizing hints at a dark futuristic world, altered landscapes, filled with powerful organizations, shadowy masked villains, mind-control technology, mysterious creatures (possibly the result/victims of mad science) and a disturbing parasitic invasion (either man-made or alien in nature).

Developed and published by Playdead. This Indie game is a true masterpiece, as was Limbo, and I can't wait to see more from Playdead. Either way, it was very good. Eerie, subtle, creepy, and highly imaginative. It made me really want answers. I highly recommend this dark little gem to puzzle fans. Not for the faint of heart.

STORY: 7/10 GAMEPLAY: 9/10 GRAPHICS: 9/10 ART DESIGN: 9/10 MUSIC/SOUND: 7/10 OVERALL RATING: 8.5.

I used to have a mind, but then I played this game. That's how mind-blowing this game is.

I bought this game for literally E 5,00 which is a bargain. And I knew next to nothing because there is hardly any real info, background or explanation. All I knew is that it had positive reviews when looking for horror games. Also interesting is that there is no build up or intro, the game just......starts.

Once started, you'll notice that you know exactly nothing. Almost like you ARE the character in the game, who may be a man, or a boy, or a human, or something else.

It's a pretty simple and intuitive platform game where you simply walk from left to right (most of the time) and let the game surprise you with puzzles and challenges that give you slightly more info, but many more questions.

The graphics are simple and minimalistic, but boy are they effective. In some way, the makers succeeded in drawing you into some weird, incomprehensible world that resembles hour, but is also very different.

And that is the strength of this game. It lures you in with its addicting atmosphere and weirdness, and won't let you go, even long after you played it.

Played Limbo? No? Go play it now. Then play this. They are awfully similar, and not just because both are made by some danish guys. This game, the "storyline" in it if one can call it that + the atmosphere... is just pure insanity. I have no idea what it's like inside the head of someone who is both artistically gifted and absolutely insane but here one can really get... "inside" it. From start to finish it is thoroughly enjoyable, the scenery changes all the time, the puzzles get ever harder, it never really gets boring and the ending is perhaps the most peculiar thing I ever saw. And just like in limbo - never was something so depressing and so dark so much fun! Just like there are movies with story lines and acting so good that the viewer is mentally raped and feels almost some kind of bruising in the gray matter after the credits start rolling the same exact thing is delivered by this game. Or to put it differently - when art is made as MGM's Latin slogan says - "art for art's sake", it really shows. It really shows that the maker puts his/her soul into the work, and the product becomes more important than turning a buck off it. So much so that it shines like a diamond in the big ocean of boring stuff made by people who are not artists at all. This game is one of those diamonds, no doubt about it.

When it comes to indie games, there is always a lack of something. May it be the story or the gameplay... But this game honestly pretty much nailed most or all aspects. The visuals in this game are astonishing. The fact that its always kind of creepy and dark can drive a person mad. But most specifically with me, it felt like clostrophobic. The gameplay featured in this game is ok, but not especially good compared to what some other games manage. What drives the game and makes it good though is its story. Its very poetic in every sense of the term. Even though its a very short game to complete, I feel this is a very good story. So honeslty I think most single player gamers should try this, especially considering that its supposed to take like 3h to complete it.