Full Review: Limbo

Full Review:

Limbo

Developed by PlayDead Studios

Published by Microsoft Game Studios

for the Xbox Live Arcade

Released July 21st, 2010

A fantastically eerie journey:

First and foremost, I have to say that no other game has ever given me such an eerie feeling as Limbo has given me. The game is set in black and white with no music. The only story you are given is that of a young boy searching for his sister in a surreal forest home to savage and blood thirsty children. Throughout your entire journey you never learn why or how you got there. In fact, the further you venture into the game the more unanswered questions pop up which are ultimately left to the player’s own interpretation.

Underneath the cosmetics is a finely tuned side-scrolling puzzle/platformer. There’s no exploration of this eerie world, just a bombardment of fatal puzzles that will range from simple to challenging. Throughout Limbo I found myself able to see how to pass most of the obstacles right away while there were a few that left me stumped. The puzzles will come at you one after another. You won’t have much time for celebration before you run into another one that’s even more difficult. I found the pace just right. There were no cutscenes, no story or character development; just pure puzzle solving and linear platforming throughout the entire game.

I found the consequences of failing a puzzle rather unsettling. Most of the puzzles, if not solved in time or done right, will result in the poor boy brutally and gruesomely killed by that obstacle. One of the first obstacles consists of you jumping on rocks high above a pit of thorns. If you fall, you will ultimately be impaled. However, what caught me off guard was that one of the rocks would topple over making you use the momentum of the fall to jump onto the next rock. However, I failed to do so and I found myself impaled head first through a thorn sticking out of the side of a cliff. Limbo is full of decapitations and disembowelments. Be prepared to see the boy's body ripped to shreds at various points in the game.

The graphics are fantastic. Although it is a 2D side-scroller in black and white there is depth to it. As you run through the course of the game you can see objects in both the back and foregrounds. Whatever is in the playable ground is will

appear as either solid black or pure white. While the objects that cannot be accessed in the back and foregrounds appear hazy and shaded in gray. The environments are visually eerie as are the character models however some of the animations of the boy made it seem as if he was a ragdoll. At times it made me laugh but overall I felt it gave the boy a feel that he is indeed emotionless.

As stated before there is no music. However, the sound effects are amplified. From the moment I started running along the wet grass and heard the rustling I felt chills. The sudden crash of a falling neon sign will definitely make you jump in your seat. Of course, there is no voice acting either which only adds to the character’s overall creepiness.

The controls in Limbo are simple. Run, jump and interact. The only problem I had was jumping onto vines or ropes. If you’re in a hurry, as I was at times, you won’t let go of the joystick in the direction you are moving. This will cause you to make another swift jump instead of staying on the same vine and swinging. I died plenty of times because of this. But this is far from intolerable and the core gameplay flows well as a platformer should.

Another problem I had with Limbo was its length. It was too short and ended abruptly. I felt there should have been a few more puzzles and maybe a little more closure to the game or at least somewhat of a segway to the final scene. But then again, the beauty of it is how you fill in the blanks that the developers leave.

If you feel like a good puzzle game and one that will simply freak you right out, Limbo is for you. The gameplay is simple enough for you to get the hang of quickly so you can go right into the core of it all sooner. I enjoyed the overall atmosphere. You’ll never know whether a giant spider or killer children will be waiting for you around the corner.

Details -

Genre: Side-Scroller, Puzzle, Survival Horror

ESRB Rating: T for Teen (Animated Blood, Mild Violence)

Player Options: 1-Player

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Curve: Pick-Up-And-Go

Stats -

Graphics: 4/5

Sound: 4/5

Controls: 5/5

Lasting Appeal: 3/5

Fun: 4/5

30 Hit-Combo!!

Superb!

Review Descriptions