Limbo Review

For a game that doesn’t have a story, Limbo grabbed me from the beginning and I just wanted to know what was around the next corner.  Limbo is a platform puzzler with a very unique and stunning art style.  Essentially the game is all in black and white and contains no color at all, not in the menus, not in any of the puzzles, character art, nothing.  Playdead Studios chose to use only black, white and many shads of gray. 

Limbo takes place, well, in Limbo.  The game starts with our un-named protagonist lying on the ground unconscious.  When I first started I sat and waited for something to happen and nothing did happen.  It wasn’t until I pushed a button a few minutes later that I saw two bright white eyes open and my character then stood up.  At first the art style is so cute and unique.  It doesn’t take long to realize that Limbo is one F*cked up place.  The game has some of the most disturbing images like the picture above, which appears to be a child hanging themselves.

SOUND

Limbo has no music, none.  The game is full of industrial sounds and the sound of footsteps.  Most of the time when I want to blast the speakers when playing a game, the game is a shooter or has a high cinema presentation.  Limbo is neither but I had this game turned up so loud for the simple fact that I wanted to be engrossed in the world.

STORY

There really isn’t a story to speak of.  The Xbox Live description says, “Uncertain of his sister's fate, a boy enters LIMBO.”  That’s all we get.  There is an ending but I will net spoil it for you.

GRAPHICS

As I stated earlier, the graphics are stunning.  This is one of the only games that if the only TV you had was an old B&W set, then it wouldn’t matter so much.  The HD is crystal clear and the animations are super fluid. 

GAMEPLAY

The game’s controls consist of 3 things; movement, jump and action.  There are switches and things that can be grabbed and dragged to solve each puzzle.  A lot of people have instantly associated this game with Braid.  While Braid is a great game, Limbo is much more enjoyable in my opinion.  Each of the puzzles utilize a new but similar way to solve it.  Some of the puzzles are time based while some have all the time in the world to figure out and solve. 

FINAL WORDS

Limbo is a great debut by developer Playdead Studios and given the critical acclaim I would hope that we see much more from them.  Even though the game can be finished in roughly 3-5 hours, this game is a must.  The experience was one of the best of the year so far.

FINAL SCORE – 10 / 10