Gaming review: Inside

It hosts the magic and charisma of a Pixar short accompanied with the gritty ferocity of a prison fight.

The puzzles are smart and engrossing, yet they can make the player feel even smarter.

Inside is truly a masterpiece from beginning to end, putting all this together and wrapping it up in a big black bow are the comfortably straightforward controls that never fail through the entire experience.

There was a big part of us that really did not want to review Inside, simply because the majority of the game's captivating charm is in not knowing what it's about or what the gameplay consists of. So as we try and preserve the fascination and tone of the game, this review will be spoiler free and explain why we think you should play Inside without ruining it for you.

Firstly the games atmosphere is heightened by not including one word of dialogue. The world will present you with clues about what's occurring in the dystopian city, one thing that may surprise you, is just how violent the game is.

You play as an unnamed, mysterious boy who finds himself abandoned in a desolate forest with a need to advance to the right side of the screen. The impressive 2.5D visuals are stunning in every way, suggestive actions give life to the nameless characters and each environment carries a noticeable feel of intensity. Just like Limbo, you will only require two buttons - they are, jump and grab, these will aid in your adventure to navigate the one continuous level. Controls feel smoother and lighter than they did in Limbo which could occasionally be a bit fiddly. We recommend that you play Inside in a single, four-hour sitting, to get the full emotionally draining and disturbing affect.

One thing that is evident from the get go is that Inside is much more than a puzzle/ platformer. It feels more like an interactive nightmare, not in the way we have become accustomed to with the survival horror genre, this isn't a game that tries to make you sweat or throws in the occasional jump scare. Playing Inside induces that same reaction you get during a frightful dream where you appear to have little control over its path but you seem to understand everything that's going on. Then comes the moment you attempt to change it's direction and everything breaks down and you then find yourself questioning why it caused you to stagger upright in shock during the middle of the night. Despite this sensation feeling all too familiar and unnerving, Inside is certainly the closest I have ever come to surrounding that feeling in a video game.

Inside doesn't go for the trial-and-error deathtraps that it's predecessor opted for, however, there will be occasions when critical parts involving timing - scratch off your struggled endeavour to ignore an obstacle you've once solved. A second (or third) attempt is pretty painless, finding yourself emotionally drawn in and seeing this boy suffer can be difficult. This is where a huge shoutout goes to the sound design for the game, putting all the focus on the dangerous hum of machinery, the fracturing wood of collapsing buildings, alongside the deep breaths or terrified heave of your character. This boy feels much more lifelike than that of Limbo, as a result, the brutal deaths he will surely encounter can sometimes get emotionally disheartening.

While stealth puzzles aren't anything new for the world of side scrollers, the approach that Playdead has taken with Inside feels totally original. They almost give you a sense of urgency to perform each task, imposing players to figure out their next move carefully before they do anything. The game's most extraordinary feature is its use of mind control to produce incredibly ingenious puzzles. There's a sense that every puzzle has been thoughtfully designed so that solving it is isn't too strenuous to the player but at the same time, it never feels completely obvious.

Occasionally those puzzles are quite simple in essence, and other times they will require a little more skill and better timing, however, what's more important is the feeling that each puzzle aids in driving the player forward. Inside is a work of art, it's a game of close calls and anxious moments, intelligent puzzles and questionable themes.

The Verdict -

The final act of Inside is one of the biggest WTF moments I've ever seen in a video game. I won't spoil anything here. But, it's superb, horrifying, shocking, commendable and one of the most enchanting and artistic pieces of animation I have ever seen in any game, movie or show.

This is a captivating, visually stunning, haunting, bleak, gruesome, tense and wonderfully emotional game, it feels weird talking so little about a game that is so impactful and so memorable, but just like I stated at the beginning of this review - the less you know the better. Inside has been in development for 6 years and this is true testament to a team of people that will take all the time they need to make a polished and truly mesmerising experience.