White Shadows Critic Reviews

White Shadows is a unique title that is a strong argument for the notion of games being art. Not only does it find its individuality with its creative design, but it also has a clear message about societal issues. While some may find sections quite distressing, Monokel’s commitment to tackling sensitive topics is commendable. With this daring release being their debut title, I’m excited to see what the future holds for this talented team. Despite its short runtime, fans of narrative-focused puzzle platformers will adore this insatiable title.

If you were ever put through the wringer by Inside or Limbo, and fancy climbing through again, then White Shadows will duly oblige. It’s a magnificent lightshow.

With a very limited longevity, White Shadows offers an engaging aesthetic experience, but without forgetting the playful aspect. Although not predominant, the latter reaches its peaks in platform sequences with a strong scenic impact and in simple puzzle phases, but functional to the narrative. The whole is finished by an excellent sound sector, closely linked to great pieces of classical music.

White Shadows might have a short run time and be fairly by the numbers as a platformer, but it packs a lot in for you to experience. If you enjoy your dystopian fiction then you will find a game that sets up a world which raises questions, though the the Animal Farm influence is clear to see. White Shadows hits on a lot of dark themes, but does so in such a way that is not overwhelming.

White Shadows is a cinematic platformer with a truly captivating style, which is not afraid to tackle important issues such as discrimination, slavery or suicide. The surreal and macabre world that the young protagonist crow has to face is really nice and distressing, but unfortunately the gameplay and the technical side are not always in step with the beautiful environments. Nevertheless, It's recommended to all fans of the genre, especially for the topics covered.

Overall, if you like dark, dystopian and gritty gameplay experiences, platforming that comes with a difficulty curve that takes some learning, and controls that are simple enough for even gaming casuals to pick up and want something short enough that you can sit through in an evening or two, then White Shadows may be the next game to add to your list. It’s not revolutionary, and there may be better out there, but it’s a good first effort from Monkel.

White Shadows does nothing to hide his sources of inspiration: Limbo and Inside. A dark and obscure location is the right place to set a dystopian, anthropomorphic future story which can be read as a hermetic social metaphor. Though fascinating, White Shadows does too little to explain to the players where they are or what exactly it is that they’re doing, and its very simple mechanics don’t help. At the same time though, you often feel like you just can’t leave, like when watching a Lynch movie.

White Shadows is a dark and gritty Orwell-inspired puzzle platformer. You must explore a grim industrial dystopia that will send chills down your spine. It comprises excellent ideas but it fails to evolve in the latter stages.

White Shadows contains a seductive architecture and a perfectly disturbing atmosphere which owes a lot to its sound design. But the trip is not contemplative enough to overcome the lack of energy from which the level design suffers. The game draws on inspirations already very often exploited without managing to stand out during its journey of only 2.5 hours.

The best way to describe White Shadows is that it feels like playing through the winner of the Best Animated Short Film at the Academy Awards. The visuals are incredible and the world is bristling with life and imagination. It's a shame that there's so little gameplay on offer, and what is there is hamstrung by poor controls and glitches. White Shadows might have been better suited as a short film, but as it stands it's a middling video game that drags down an exceptional presentation.