In Between (PC)

Playing video games, you get so used to dying that you don’t even think about it – after all, you can usually just come back to life and start over. In Between is a game that does want you to think about it, though, by focusing on the process of dying, with emotional repercussions for the whole game. The title is the result of a bachelor’s thesis, the brainchild of German college student Daniel Denne, co-founder of the development studio Gentlymad. In Between received several awards even before it was officially released on August 21st, including the international Red Dot Award and first place in the “Best Up-and-Coming Talent” category at the German Video Game Awards. Keep reading to find out how well we think the developers managed to turn this sensitive topic into a video game.

A Dying Man Looks Back

The graphics in In Between are done in a mature graphic novel style, portraying the events of the story and gameplay in a 2D perspective. At the beginning of the game you see a sad-looking man sitting in a wheelchair next to a hospital bed. From somewhere offscreen, the character explains the tragic circumstances he now finds himself in. Though he’s never smoked a day in his life, he’s been told that he has lung cancer, and the doctors estimate that he has no more than a few weeks left to live. Using the arrow keys, you lead the man out of the room through a hospital corridor, while the names of the developers appear in the background. Once you get the man out of the hospital, there’s a transition of sorts, and all of a sudden the man can walk again, and is wearing different clothes. As you walk past people, they shatter into pieces, but you keep going until you reach a glowing portal at the end of the street. This is where you press the spacebar to start the actual game.

 

Of course the man in the wheelchair doesn’t really regain the ability to walk from one moment to the next. Rather, what you’re looking at is the allegorical journey taking place inside of one man’s head as he struggles to face the inescapable reality that he is going to die soon, looking over the life he’s lived and trying to make sense of it all. The game takes the players through five phases illustrating the five stages of grief as described by Swiss-American psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, whereby a person goes through Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance when attempting to come to terms with tragedy. Each segment is introduced by a short back story that sheds more light on the man’s life. After this, you have to take the man through a series of rooms, with a portal at the end of each one leading to the next segment. Careful though – there are spikes all over the floors and walls, and touching them will cause the whole room to break apart, forcing you to start over. You’ll also have to activate switches, move blocks, and avoid certain objects.

 

When the Ground Falls Out From Under Your Feet

All of this sounds a whole lot easier than it actually is, of course. Perhaps the most decisive gameplay element in In Between is gravity – inside the human mind, there is no up or down, and you’re going to have to use the arrow keys to manipulate gravity by reversing its polarity in order to “fall” in the right direction and walk on walls and ceilings. The controls might seem a bit strange at first, but it doesn’t take long to get the hang of them. And you’re going to need it, too, since even the earlier levels require a significant amount of concentration and skill. Later in the game, the rooms get larger and more complex, like in Portal. If you’re not careful enough, or you accidentally switch gravity in the wrong direction, in most cases this means you’re going to have to start the room over from the beginning. It’s especially frustrating when you’ve made it almost all the way to the end of a room and screw up just before you reach the portal. But you’ll learn from your mistakes, and soon you’ll have internalized the level design and mastered all the parkour tricks. Despite its high level of difficulty, In Between is always fair, and with 60 different rooms in all, there’s a decent amount of content there, too.

Since each chapter is meant to embody one of the states of grief, each one has its own visual style. In “Denial”, for example, the screen is in constant danger of being engulfed by an encroaching blackness that represents the fear felt by the protagonist. When you look in its direction – i.e. when you face down your fears – the darkness begins to subside, at least until you turn your back on it again. This forces you to move quickly as you try to reach the portal. In the second chapter, “Anger”, pulsating balls of energy representing the character’s inner feelings of anger flit about the room, and you have to avoid them. New elements show up from time to time, which you will have to interact with in some way within the context of the room you’re in. For example, in one part you have to line up a block with a human face, which reverses the gravity whenever you do it.

Using Simple Means to Great Effect

The visual style of In Between makes it clear that we’re not dealing with an ordinary title here. Instead of a colorful palette, the dominant color scheme is made of of contrasting light and dark tones, as befits the game’s rather bleak overall theme. The hand-drawn artwork shows great attention to detail, though the actual textures could have been a tad bit sharper. This gives the graphics a kind of washed-out look, especially close-up, even at the highest resolution. But the overall artistic style and all the creative concepts they’ve incorporated into the game make it easy to overlook this minor flaw.

I really liked how certain elements are illuminated within the individual levels, in stark contrast to the game’s otherwise dark and muted tones, highlighting the fact that they’re special. In one level there’s a bright screen displaying an EKG readout. In another level you can see the x-ray of a lung. These elements, which stand out in the dying man’s mind as particularly vivid memories, aren’t there to break up the monotony of the level design – rather, they’re there to shed more light on important milestones in the man’s life. For example, there’s one scene from the man’s childhood where he gets a dog for his birthday. Another one shows him reading under a tree while leaves fall to the ground one by one. And there’s the one where he recollects the first kiss he ever shared with his wife – a very touching scene. Watching all this really gives you a sense of empathy for the poor man facing these dismal circumstances.

The particular emotional experience that In Between manages to create is also due in part to the off-screen narrator, who is able to convey the thoughts and feelings of a dying man in a way that is easy to understand and sympathize with as he struggles to come to terms with his inevitable fate, often confronting players with difficult questions they might have never asked themselves. The music also plays a significant part in bringing the game’s extraordinary premise to life, underscoring the individual stops along the protagonist’s odyssey of the mind in a dynamic and powerful fashion. 


Summary

In Between is one of those games that shows how video games can successfully be used as a medium for dealing with serious and difficult subject matter. This first title from Gentlymad uses visual metaphors to create an emotionally charged experience that draws players in without the need for elaborately rendered cut scenes or long-winded explanations. They manage to create a unique atmosphere with the game’s highly original visual style and the judicious use of eye-catching elements illustrating important milestones in the dying man’s life. The rooms/levels are all filled with creative ideas, each one offering something different from the others.

If you’re thinking about purchasing In Between, however, just be aware that the whole game deals with the theme of death, often in uncomfortable ways. So if you’re the kind of person who plays games just for fun, you might find In Between to be a bit troubling. Also the high level of difficulty means that it will require a tremendous amount of concentration at all times if you want to make any progress. But if none of this bothers you, then you should check out this extraordinary title, which not only features creative and innovative gameplay elements, but also invites players to think about some pretty heavy topics – all for just twelve bucks. (Daniel Kohlstadt; translation by Chase Faucheux)


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2015-09-26 03:24:06... - carlos


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