Back in 2010 Limbo arrived during the much missed Xbox Summer of Arcade and immediately stood out as an innovative and atmospheric 2D Platformer.
I am going to be as spoiler free as I can in this review and all clips are taken from the first half of the game but all I will say if you are on the fence this game is every bit as good as Limbo and in many ways even better. The game begins set in a deeply lit forest and immediately upon our young boy protagonist appearing the similarities to Limbo can be seen. You proceed to travel right and begin to investigate a large facility set in an Orwellian Society.
The forest is soon left behind and eventually you stumble upon a research facility where the true nature of the game’s story begins to show itself. There is no dialogue, no cut scenes or audio logs to find yet the story of the game is told through the environments that you explore. Sure the game is not always crystal clear but that is what adds to its charm and the insane amount of speculative threads already littering the pages of Reddit.
The puzzles in the game are fantastic ranging from physics based puzzles to some with more logic based solutions. The gameplay however remains fresh throughout and at not one point in the game’s relatively short 3 hour playtime did I feel bored or look for other things to do.
The game is 2D but is set in one of the most beautiful 3D worlds I have ever seen in a videogame. The atmosphere on show and the life given to this world are simply stunning. This is a game that solidifies the argument that games can well and truly be art. With Inside there is no comeback.
As well as the gorgeous visuals and excellent camera the game just simply plays perfectly. Not once did I ever feel that a death was caused by anything but my own mistake. This game really is polished to such as high level… and then polished some more. As you play you really feel like every little point in the world has been thought over and crafted with such high care and detail.
Its hard for me to say much more without giving away spoilers but Inside is by far one of the best inside games I have ever played and is definitely a contender for Game of the Year. A wonderful game that I would recommend to anyone that calls themselves a video game fan.
