What is Limbo?
Limbo is a 2D puzzle platformer that continues terrify the player by taking advantage of their senses. You start out by waking up in control of a young boy in the middle of a forest. That's about it. If you read the description on the Xbox Live Marketplace, you'll learn that you're in limbo trying to figure out where his sister is and what our fate entails. After waking up you can't really do much but move forward, so that's what you do, perhaps hoping to escape this creepy area you've just embarked into. I sure know if I woke up in the middle of a forest with no idea why I was there, I'd be terrified. As you begin to move endlessly from area to area you realize there are tons of obstacles and traps awaiting to kill you. If you manage to get through Limbo without dying at least once I will surprised. Scratch that, at least 50 times, chances are you may rage quit.
Tough or Easy?
Tough or easy is a heck of a question for this one. It didn't take me long to go with tough. Difficulty is expected from a puzzler although it's not impossible as some are. There were a few puzzles I died consistently at before realizing I was going about it entirely wrong. But soon enough you will realize your error and figure out what you need to do to advance. Limbo easily requires you to think outside of the box in order to get past certain obstacles. There may be a few moments where you need to hit up some guides surprisingly. Another major point to be made is that it requires you to act fast at times. Most of the time you'll encounter a puzzle where you can think and figure it all out before everything goes down, but other times definitely not. Often you'll find yourself sliding down a hill into water, a saw, or basically anything you don't want to fall into. Among other obstacles you have to think quick and act or else you'll die. Which is often how you figure out how to conquer certain areas. Limbo teaches you that everything can be a trap and makes sure you're aware at all times of everything. There were times where I thought parts of the background or just the floor were waiting to get me. In other words, you will become paranoid.
Limbo is basically out to kill you and lets just say they're pretty good at it. Playdead brings tons of obstacles that will somehow get you soon or later. It may be a simple bear trap and you might see it, but it still may even get you. Other times they'll be cleverly hidden with the background or the floor. Sometimes it might come swinging full force at you. Then there are pressure plates and levers just waiting to be used revealing a deadly experience. Occasionally you'll have to use these in order to destroy other obstacles or enemies in your way. Then there's the terrifying spider that follows you for a while, regardless of how many times you escape it. I'd have to admit it doesn't want to hug you and be friends. What sort of horror game would this be otherwise. I died several times to the spider and when it made me into practically a mummy I was terrified I just lost. Even better, there are the worms that take over your brain and force you to move in one direction where all you can do is slow down, speed up, and jump. In which case, the question is sometimes do I want to speed up to my death or slow down even though I'm still going to die. The brain worms definitely have their moments of annoyance.
Limbo is a tough game, but it's not a game that requires mainly skill in order to beat. Limbo requires you to be a creative thinker to understand how to get past most scenarios. While certain areas as I mentioned previously require you to think quick and act on your feet, it doesn't mean dying means you have to restart the entire game. Fortunately it's not one of those SNES games that make you rage quit after having to start completely over. Something I will definitely give Limbo credit for is their checkpoints. After you conquer a puzzle or small area they make a check point, especially before a spot where they're certain you're going to die. So when it comes to those areas that require you act quickly, it's like there's a checkpoint right before it. In Limbo if you really struggle, you can look at a walkthrough, and then easily be able to pass any difficult areas. That might take the fun out of it if you use it too frequently, but we all understand.
The Art and Audio, Wow.
The time and effort put into all the art in Limbo is beyond incredible. People who haven't played the game or seen videos may not understand where I'm coming from, but if you play it you'll become attached to it. You may see that it's just black and white and automatically pass it by, but the fact that it's black and white adds a whole new reality to it. The black and white concept makes it darker and only adds to the horrors that it's emotional grasp has on you. The background is kind of faded out and certain areas are just given so much detail. Like the small details of bugs flying around, an innocent butterfly, or just all the different shades of darkness through the game. And who knew black and white could be so gory in a game like this. Even if you are a professional at this sort of game, let yourself die every once and a while. Or go back and get killed several times. When that buzz saw hits you, your limbs just go flying everywhere.
Then there's the eerie sounds that Limbo brings to you. Relatively often you'll barely even realize there is a soundtrack following your adventure because it tends to blend in so well. It often consists of sounds of the forest or just pure ambience. It's tough to describe how great the soundtrack really is, it's almost hard to tell sometimes. With the art and music together, Playdead creates a game you'll never forget. It creates a depressingly scary setting and you'll definitely feel it soon or later. Just listen to the song, "Alone" below and try to tell me you didn't feel anything.
Replay Value
The one area I feel Limbo lacks is in it's replay value. It's a puzzler that you'll play once and then be done with. Many people have said the game is too short, although I found that I was able to pick it up, play for an hour, and then come back it tomorrow. Certain people will love the game so much and beat it in one sitting, while others can beat it over a short period. Limbo features achievements on both platforms where you can search for a little white ball of some sort that is a collectible. It seems like it may be alive, but when you collect it, it'll make a quiet screech sound. Other than this, there's not a major reason for me to come back and play Limbo. Maybe in a few years, I'll just be like, "Oh yeah, I remember this game," and play through it again. But not any time soon.
Overall 5/5
Overall, Playdead brings an experience you'll never forget with their game Limbo. While it may of been short, it caught me emotionally every second. If the character's sister had appeared more often, I think it could of had me going a bit more, although the occasional appearances definitely got me happy and then let me down. The art, audio, and then a giant spider that wanted to kill me, basically set me up for being terrified of this game. For an indie game and a puzzle platformer, I feel this game should attract all crowds, even people who aren't big on platformers. I'll admit, I died a lot in this game, but the close checkpoints kept me going and made me determined to figure out how to conquer each puzzle. The puzzles were extremely unique, not occurring repeatedly. Except for the constant hill slide into water where I got to the point I always knew to jump. The ending was incredible, when I breached the glass, I was glued to the screen watching and waiting to see what was going to happen. I can't wait for the second. The cliff hanger annoyed me, but otherwise a great game I can't complain.
Would I recommend you get Limbo? Easily. You can buy Limbo on Steam for a low price of $9.99, Xbox for 1200 Microsoft Points, and I believe on the PSN.
Watched InTheLittleWood play it - Loved the game. ^_^ Would seriously recommend it to everyone. (And I would buy it if my Steam wasn't acting up. :P)
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