Limbo Review

I love it when games use a strong artistic presence as part of their appeal. Limbo does this with it’s black and white world, but is that enough to make you want to part with $15 dollars just to play it?

Gameplay

You wake up, alone, in a mysterious world with only one option. To explore and find your sister. The game’s story is about a boy who is uncertain of his sisters fate, so he decides to enter Limbo. On your exploration of the unknown, the little boy you’re leading around will encounter various puzzles and mysterious inhabitants. It’s up to you to figure out how to progress. The control scheme is extremely simple. “A” jumps, and “X” grabs. It seems almost too simple until you get into the more complex puzzles at the end of the game, or until you encounter that one puzzle that will kill you again and again as you try to figure out how to progress. You’ll die frequently, not because the controls are difficult, but because the world has presented you with a new challenge to overcome.

Graphics

The entire game is based off of illustrations, and a concept animation created by Arnt Jensen. His vision inspired other producers and designers to come together, create Play Dead Studio and make Arnt’s vision come to life. I’d like to think that when you play Limbo, you’re playing a piece of art. At any moment you could pause the game and be looking at artwork on your television. As you can tell they intentionally used a lack of color when making the world and instead created a colorless world using light, and shadow to convey the puzzles and atmosphere. For me the art direction alone helps Limbo succeed where other games have failed. I’ve held my breath as I escaped shadowy monsters, cringed at the death sequences, and felt relief when it seemed like the boy would be okay. The fact that they could make me feel such a wide array of emotions with this artistic direction should be considered a triumph for the developers.

Difficulty

The controls aren’t difficult to pick up, but you will be challenged by the puzzles the environment presents. Through some trial and error that may involve many deaths you should be able to figure out how to proceed. When I would get stuck I’d sometimes put down the controller for a few minutes, think about how to approach the situation, and then come back to the game. The game is pretty easy and never left me frustrated.

Sound

Rarely will you be greeted with music, or loud sound effects, but what that does in increase the uncertainty and isolation you’ll feel. When you do hear something its very apparent that you need to either avoid, fear, or figure out a way to kill what you’ve encountered. The atmospheric vibe you get as you walk alone is expressed using little things like metal sounds as you run on pipes, or loud buzz-saws that are pressuring you to figure out the puzzles before you’re killed. There’s even moments where something like rain will dampen all noise around you and completely change the mood of the area. Limbo’s sound design is a great example of less being more.

Replayability

My first play through of the game probably took a total of about 3 or 4 hours. Unless you want to try and figure out how to get all the achievements, there’s not much of a reason to come back. However, the achievements encourage you to explore the world more than you already have. Some, like the “No point in dying achievement,” encourage you to perfect your skills by completing the game with 5 deaths or less in a single sitting. If you really like that type of challenge then you will get many more than the initial 4 hours out of the game. Personally I’ve attempted to get the 5 death achievement multiple times and can now get through the game in about an hour and 30 minutes. But, I find myself coming back over and over, trying to perfect my run through. I seriously haven’t been able to put it down since I got it.

I only have 2 issues with the game. The price, and the length. If you’re willing to part with $15 dollars to get this artistic adventure then buy it. You can do so knowing you’ve contributed to the independent gaming market and hopefully a future filled with more games like this. Games that are willing to explore a concept that so many people believed in that they made a game out of it.

Verdict: BUY IT!
Source: ScrewAttack

Posted by: Destin

Posted on: July 19, 2010

Destin has a penchant for video games and sarcasm. He's written for ScrewAttack, Destructoid, and GoNintendo, but has also produced episodes of the Video Game Vault series for Gametrailers, and created, produced, and edited every episode of The Armory on IGN. To put it mildly, he knows his shit.