Something Stupid: Episode 1 - "All-Star" by Smash Mouth

New podcast, about random topics that keep me up at night. Could be about something serious or meaningful, but likely to just cover a bunch of random crap that no one cares about. But hey, if you ever wanted to hear me talk about "All-Star" by Smash Mouth for half an hour, you're in the right place!

INSIDE interpretation with spoilers.

So much of the game deals with themes of control. While the details of what has happened to this world are shady, something is clearly amiss. Many people appear to be literal drones incapable of thought. You run by a city of workers following in step as they make their way to a nearby facility. The people that are not are chasing you, the player, in an effort to detain and subdue you. Some puzzles even require you to use a mind-control device to make the drones do your bidding. Late stages of the game also see what appears to be a bunch of scientists in a research lab as they examine the results of their work. In story, it deals heavily with concepts of control, which are paralleled by virtue of being a video game in which the player controls a character.

At the same time, it's so cryptic that I kind of feel like it has to be about something else entirely. Some have argued it is a commentary about the state of games, and how they are trying too hard to be cinematic, providing all players with identical experiences. This could be seen in the section wherein the boy has to blend in by waking and stopping in perfect stride, and jump when the other people jump, and spin when the other people spin. Some gamers argue that a growing problem in the industry is the popularity of cinematic, linear games. Your experience with Uncharted 4 is not ultimately going to be that different from mine, for example, whereas we could have very different experiences playing Skyrim. It is a fair criticism to some extent (I disagree with it completely, but I understand where that comes from). However, I'm unconvinced that is what the game is trying to do given that Inside and Limbo are ultimately linear games with universal experiences themselves. Seems strange that they might be criticizing themselves.

Then I feel the need to dig deeper, and I can't help but wonder if the whole thing is ultimately just about human conception and birth (and then I think I'm a crazy person!).  I know, I know. I'm almost certainly reading way too much into it, and I'm sure I'm the only weirdo on Earth who finished the game thinking this, but hear me out.

It didn't really hit me until late in the game, in particular near the very end when you wind up submerged in a tank with something looking kind of like an embryo and you end up getting pulled inside it. Then, you are this strange, amorphous fetus-looking monster rampaging through the research lab where everyone is watching. This happens, of course, after you break the glass on the tank, flooding the facility (water breaking). You then make your way through the still linear pathways, at some point getting covered in blood, before finally escaping the dark world you were involved with the whole time and resting in the one section of sunlight, just breathing. (I read this as a sort of "escaping the darkness of the womb into the light of the outside world.")

Of course, once that idea popped in there, I couldn't help but think back to the beginning of the game. In the early stages, advancing requires more speed than problem solving. You have to outrun men with flashlights and dogs just to get into the relative safety of the farm area. Was it a visual parallel to the journey of sperm as the fastest can get through to the relative safety of the cervix? Slow sperm die quickly in the vagina  There is other imagery as well. For example, to get into the final facility (where the "egg" is), the boy has to get through an entrance that does not stay open for long. Then, to avoid being shot back out from fans, you have to stick to the walls of the narrow vent (like sperm have to stick to the Fallopian tube wall).

I also wondered if everyone rushing to the tank (where the "egg" was) was actually indicative of it being time for birth. All the scientists hurried to watch what was happening, perhaps representing what happens socially when a woman goes into labor. Doctors and nurses attend to the women; families halt what they're doing to go to the hospital; et cetera. And, I can't help but feel as though the title of the game - Inside - is ultimately a subtle hint here. Inside? Inside what? Is it really just meant to mean that you infiltrate these facilities? A fair amount of the game isn't even actually inside them. There is the forest, farm, and city, for example, before eventually you submerge (which, the sudden shift in direction at that moment could be representative of the sperm having to pick a direction). Does the title actually refer to the idea that all this is just representation of what happens inside a woman's body when procreating?

Naturally, this would not be a perfect interpretation. There are plenty of gaps there, and I'm sure everyone is more than capable of tearing this take apart. But for whatever reason, that was what I strangely think the game is actually about in a super meta-narrative sense.

I am also almost certainly crazy, and why this might be on my brain otherwise is beyond me at the moment.

Inside (2016)

Sometimes, simplicity makes for greatness. Developers can find something that isn't too complex, do it really well, and voila! You've got an excellent game. Playdead's previous game, Limbo, took a simple concept - a side scrolling puzzle game - and excelled at making it dark and atmospheric. Their follow up, Inside, builds on that. Very similar in structure, it goes even further in creating a disquieting, disturbing environment despite being particularly stylized animation and a simple puzzle side-scroller.

The beauty of Inside is in its lack of direction. Yes, by virtue of being a side-scroller, players can only move to the left or the right, but there are never any prompts. Get stuck on a puzzle for long enough, the game provides no clues to assist you. You are on your own, just like the boy you play as. This element creates a parallel feeling between player and character; it's also why solving puzzles and advancing is extremely gratifying. The lack of aid makes it all the more satisfying when you finally do figure out what you're supposed to do.

Like Limbo before it, Inside tells a story through imagery and some gameplay mechanics only. One thing that sets it apart from other games, especially side-scrollers, is the use of background. When push comes to shove, you will take nothing away from the game in a story sense if you just don't pay any attention to it. While we never find out anything specific, the clues of what is going on are there. The developers do a good job training players to observe the background as well. In the beginning, they have several threats come at you from the backdrop. People with flashlights and dogs rush at you from background to foreground, not left to right. This specifically forces players to pay attention to the background, even though for much of it, there is no gameplay reason to do so. It's really well thought out construction.

The specifics of the story are subtle and often vague. While the background really contributes to it, the strongest aspect is the atmosphere. It is creepy and chilling at the beginning, when you control a young boy fleeing men in trucks. It gets terrifying and anxiety-inducing whenever you have run-ins with dogs. The quiet air with only the sound of your footsteps creates a tension. You often can't help but wonder what is going to come at you next. Panic sets in when you have to swim under structures and you begin to lose your breath. Blending the familiar with the strange makes for a game that is very disquieting and subtly disturbing.

The challenge of discussing more about Inside is that one doesn't want to give too much away. It is such a beautiful, chilling game, and so much of it is just out of the lack of knowledge. If you've played Limbo, then you are familiar with the kind of world they like. Yet even then, there is much about Inside that you don't expect. Suffice it to say that if you are going to play it, you should avoid any and all specifics if you can.

That said, I want to throw out some thoughts - if only for my own sake as I try to sort them.


Click here for my strange interpretation, with some spoilers.


Either way, Inside is a tense, rewarding, unique experience that you really should see for yourself. It's a lot to digest, but it's a great meal to consume.

REDUCTIVE RATING: It's Awesome!