I enjoyed Limbo for both its simplicity and complexity and I was sad my experience ended so soon. I would recommend it to others, but with the price better reflecting the experience. The black and white game with it’s layered imaging, pays close attention to detail while removing unnecessary information thus leading your eye to important elements. Completionists will be more than willing to play this game two or three more times to unlock all the achievements (reaching %111) or master the truly tricky puzzles, but it will still fall short in duration.
Finding himself on the edge of hell, a young boy pushes his way through the puzzling perplexities of limbo in a persistent attempt o reunite with his sister. Met with a variety of foes, and imminent, gruesome death, the young boy’s intellect and tenacity is tested throughout his journey into LIMBO.
Limbo, developed by PlayDead and published by Microsoft, caused a real stir this summer among XBL members. The puzzle platform title was released as part of Microsoft’s “Summer of Arcade” campaign and after two years in development by the Copenhagen developers I was anxious to see what all of the buzz was about.
“Limbo (the term) is a concept that arose in the Catholic Church to account for those dead who cannot clearly be assigned to Heaven or Hell according to Catholic doctrine.” Says an article from WiseGeek.com “The idea of limbo is controversial even among Catholics, and most other Christians do not accept it at all. Throughout the history of the Catholic Church, limbo has been much discussed and debated by theologians. Limbo of the Children is both the more controversial branch of limbo and is often described as a permanent state.”
Knowing about the theory behind limbo helps you begin the game as far as a base understanding of some of the foes you will encounter. Limbo, the game, gives you no back story or indication of any kind as to the plight of our young boy. As you start you awaken to find your character, our young boy, in a beautifully monochromatic world of atmospheric perspective. The character and worlds appear simplistic by design. Black and white, our detailed silhouettes are planned perfectly to lead our eye to the necessary clues which will aid us in solving the next part of the puzzle.
The game’s underlying feeling of horror and suspense are emphasized well by this choice of artistic style. Easily one of the best aspects about this game is how it looks.
Continuing on in your journey through the various chapters of Limbo, you will reveal more and more of the story by way of background, creature and enemy encounters, and specific puzzles. Without outwardly saying so the game tells us about the young boy, the circumstances surrounding his predicament, and a little about his own fears and regrets. The game will not tell you why you are pushing your way through Limbo or what you are in search of, but it is widely discussed that our young boy is in search of his sister. Playdead has left many questions about the story unanswered, leaving it open to interpretation.
As minimalist as it is in story, so has the sound and game play been approached. The game utilizes an eerie silence, most often, which furthers the drama when noises become evident as important pieces of the puzzle are solved. The soft footsteps of the young boy, as he leads us from chapter to chapter, can be contrasted by the loud rush of rapidly falling water or the high pitched squeal of a saw blade.
Playing as the young boy in Limbo requires you to use only movement and the use of a jump and action button, each you will utilize extensively. This is Limbo and you will die. And die. And die! Working through the puzzles in this game often require you to use a death or two before the solution to the puzzle becomes evident. You will encounter creatures, life forms, mechanics, lasers, spikes, brain slugs, and all number if impediments in Limbo.
Do not let the beauty of this black and white atmosphere fool you, Limbo can be gory.
The game physics apply to your character as a whole or made up of the sum of his parts. After each gruesome death, the relentless slaughtering of this young boy becomes less and less alarming and you begin to account for a number of deaths before each puzzle is solved. With an auto save approach, the save points become closer together as the game gets more challenging and it comes to its inevitable conclusion.
The major drawback of this otherwise engaging title is length. Limbo is an extremely short game with an approximate 3-6 hrs of game play. Some of the achievements are well hidden and therefore Limbo will have some replay ability…but for 1200 points, that’s a payment of 200 pts per hour, at best.
Overall Limbois an intriguing title which is visually beautiful, a little outside the expected; it created some lip biting and jaw dropping moments for me and I struggled with some puzzled more than others. I loved every minute of it. The reason the young boy and his sister are wandering about in limbo may never be clear to me but the continued dismemberment and bludgeoning death of said boy became a task I welcomed with arms wide open, and so should you. This is Limbo and yes, you will die!
Limbo is available now exclusively on 360 for DL from you XBL marketplace.
