INSIDE

INSIDE- yes, in CAPS, is a game quite different from the standard RPGs that fill the RMN game library. What's different about it? Read on.

GRAPHICS
The characters are fairly assuming RM2k sprites, mostly seen in cutscenes. The one nitpick I have, and that others have had, with the graphics is the VIBGYOR (read backwards) interface. Red is very bad to be down to, because it means Jack can't take another hit.

The maps (with the exception of some cutscenes) are all custom, too.

GAMEPLAY
If Jack dies in the game, he dies for real. Sort of like The Game or some similar movie title, there's been a few of these over recent years.

Anyway, Jack can't fight back. This means the ice, fire, and earth monsters can't be defeated through combat. Jack has no weapons, and must therefore wait them out. It seems The Game (its true name is a spoiler) is constantly changing. One major glitch must be mentioned. If Jack is hit by an enemy or obstacle in certain areas, he will become trapped.

Keys allow Jack access to the next room, and buttons can turn off the spike fields. Nothing turns off the moving spike balls (well, except in certain sequences).

FUN FACTOR
Ah, yes, the fun factor. It can be surprisingly fun dodging the elemental monsters or the spike balls, or both, running through room to room.

The game alludes to this process taking a lot longer for Jack than it does for us, meaning either time flows faster in The Game, or it takes Jack longer to get to the next area than we think.

It is even possible to make more rooms than there already are in the game, er, The Game, using the RM2k editor, which I unfortunately don't have. That adds even more to the fun factor.

STORY
Believe it or not, there is a bit of a story. Jack was a programmer that was assigned to beta-test the world's first full VR game. But strange things start happening. And you can't miss the event that happens about 5 rooms in, which I won't spoil, or the OTHER event that happens much later.

Minor gripe- the spelling is a little bit off in the cutscenes, which isn't severe enough to be the game's Achilles' heel, but still notable.

SOUND AND MUSIC
The sounds are standard RPG Maker 2000 sounds, but the music was composed by the author himself.

OVERALL
I'd give this game an 8 out of 10, because it is quite addicting in its short game time, with only a few bugs and spelling errors keeping it shy of a 9, possibly even 10.