INSIDE

[h1]INSIDE[/h1] In this game you play as a runner boi who runs away from dogs and who doesn't like light. This game feels a bit more brutal and visceral than Limbo, and some scenes are kind of disturbing. It's a dystopia, alright, and I like that this theme is used consistently. Gameplay is basically solving small puzzles that mostly involve moving a lot of boxes, carts and other stuff around. If you're not walking, then you're probably running, climbing, swimming, pushing switches or pulling levers. Some say that this game is better than Limbo, and speaking from the standpoint of graphics or sound design, that is probably true, but the puzzles are still as easy as ever, if not easier. There's a rule that if something moves in this game, then you need to use it and move it (probably for climbing). Listen, I'm not gonna recommend this, and the reason is that this game feels too much like busywork. In most puzzles you can see the solution at first glance, and then it just comes down to executing it. Honestly, I think you're better off doing something more meaningful than playing this game, like reading a book or taking a walk, because as a game it just falls short.

too short, puzzles become very repetitive. Would not recommend aside from the free demo.

Ten years after it was released in 2016, I wanted to give INSIDE a spin and see what the commotion had all been about. This was a game pretty much everybody had fawned about backin the day, a rare example of excellence both gamers and game journalists could agree upon. Well, I'll be the odd one out to disagree. Don't get me wrong - INSIDE isn't all bad. There are cool moments here and there and if Steam allowed it, I'd give it a sideways thumb. Alas, I can't. INSIDE is a platform puzzler, and a rather simplistic one, even compared to ancient classics of the genre like the DIZZY'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURES games. The thing that sets it apart is its visual design - and indeed, INSIDE is occasionally a game of stark beauty. But beauty, as we all know, is painful to uphold and INSIDE falters about a third of the way in. After a magnificent opening, the mid-game opts for the generic drabness of mines and factories. It is at this point that the seams of the puzzle design start to show too: You see, the puzzles revolve around three basic ideas that are varied again and again, until there is no challenge left, just repetition. The puzzles and the settings both start overstaying their welcome after a while too. You'll spend way too much time trudging from left to right to left and back again just to get a lift going. You'll spend way too much time underwater. INSIDE is a short game that feels longer because it is boring and monotonous. And the ending ... ? Sigh. The grotesque is a challenge for any artist, since attempts at it can easily end up in naked stupidity. INSIDE showcases this painfully. The game left me feeling I had wasted my time on something that never got where it wanted to go, a bit like an over-ambitious band project by people who unfortunately lack the finesse to play anything beyond Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It". The design studio behind this, PLAYDEAD GAMES, felt auteurishly self-important enough to tack its name before the game's title, but they haven't released anything since. Their social media accounts have been silent for years. It seems like they went out of business. This is too bad since I would have liked to see what they're capable of doing with a real writer's story. INSIDE too often felt like a pastiche of ideas and vibes that failed to gel. So, should you play this game? Honestly ... no. It's boring and pretentious, it has that scandi glibness. But if you can get it super cheap on a sale you might give it a try.

Game shouldnt be over $10.... literally ripe with sniffing its own ass. Less than 10 hours of actual content. Dont let the theory crafters trick you into buying this dud.