You see loving attention to detail throughout this game, and one of my favorite places where that attention manifests is in the way you interact, or rather that you don't interact, with the many objects you can use in your puzzling. Thankfully Inside more than recaptures that uncanny sense of control it expands on and integrates it even more seamlessly into the way you run around in and touch the world around you, creating bigger and more elaborate puzzles and obstacles than Limbo ever did. Granted, a lot has changed since 2010, and these days there's no shortage of similar puzzle games with nice physics, so another game that simply recycled Limbo's bona fides obviously wouldn't make the same impact today. The one thing I remember Limbo doing better than any similar puzzle-platformer at the time was making your interactions with the game world grounded and tactile, giving you a feeling of direct control over whatever box, lever, rope, or giant spider leg you were yanking on at the time. Limbo was mostly built around two concepts: relatively simple, physics-based puzzles and challenges, and killing you over and over (and over). Inside's building blocks-from its core mechanics and controls to minutiae like the achievement design and chapter select-are right out of the Limbo playbook, though Inside diverges from its predecessor in some important ways. I don't know why there are trees in this room. Inside takes itself seriously, but it's way too good at everything it does to ever become bogged down in pretension. If you roll your eyes at games that can even be loosely described as artsy, you should at least know what you're getting into here. You may be scratching your head a little when it's all over.
You will solve satisfying puzzles in macabre scenarios you won't be told a coherent story. You will pick your way through a wide array of different environments, stitched together seemingly at random and oozing with unsettling imagery. It's important to note up front that the tone and presentation of Inside are just like that of Limbo, which is to say it's preeminently focused on having you puzzle-platform your way through beautifully rendered, increasingly grim scenarios at the expense of everything else. Inside expands on the concepts and scope of its predecessor in wildly creative ways, and it's so immaculately designed and constructed from top to bottom that it almost feels suitable for display in an art museum. But you can't spend more than a few minutes with this game before realizing how much Playdead's ambitions, and its ability to fulfill those ambitions, have grown in the six years since Limbo. Evil stealth robots are just the start of your troubles.Īt first glance, Playdead's second game Inside seems like a better-looking retread of its breakout indie hit Limbo, in that you're another faceless child who wordlessly starts off in a forest, running to the right while occasionally pushing, pulling, and jumping over things.