Joe Gamer

…a boy enters Limbo.

So goes the only story you get in the new Xbox Live Arcade game Limbo.  Released July 21, 2010, Limbo is a minimalistic puzzle platformer that is a dark, often violent take on the theological idea of “Purgatory,” or “Limbo,” as well as a boy’s love for his sister.  I am not kidding when I say Limbo is one of the best games I’ve played in the past couple of months.  Its dark, silhouette-heavy art style and pared down control scheme make this little game from Playdead Studios as much of an experience as a game.

As the game begins, our young hero’s white eyes flicker as he lay in a dreary forest.  He stands and the player urges him forward.  There is no fanfare, no opening scene.  Just the overwhelming sense of “wrongness” as you guide the child through the empty woods toward an unknown and likely violent fate.  The statement above (“Uncertain of his Sister’s Fate a Boy enters Limbo”) is taken from the download screen, not mentioned in the game at all.  The lack of story is one of the huge draws for the game which is odd since I play games almost specifically for the story.  Just knowing the bit about the sister intrigued me and made me want to see the boy’s journey through desolation.

The art of the game is beautiful, every scene like a black and white painting.  The screen darkens here and there depending on the mood of the particular area (the moods being: dark and darker) giving Limbo a claustrophobic feel as you, the player, wonder what horrifying fate hides in the shadows for the boy.  Locales change once in a while, starting in the forest the boy wakes in on to what seems to be a city and then to a factory setting.  There is no other form of life except that which desires the boy’s death.  From silhouetted children that try to kill you with cleverly placed traps to the scariest spider I have ever encountered in a game, the denizens of Limbo are lethal and uncaring, paralleling the nature of the world in general.

Limbo’s gameplay is part puzzler, part platformer.  No jumping on monster’s heads or shooting lasers, the boy simply has to figure out how to get from point A to point B.  This is accomplished with the simple use of the “A” button to jump and the “B” button as a universal “action” button for hitting switches and pulling levers.  Limbo definitely has a difficulty curve, with few stumpers at the beginning.  However, as I entered the last portion of the game I had to pull out the walkthroughs to try and make sure I could make it through.  The brilliance of the game is that I’m sure someone cleverer than me would have made it fine.  Several of the more hair-pulling puzzles were solved by standing on the other side of the object I was using, or trying that one thing I hadn’t tried yet.

The payoff, the climax is brilliant.  Without spoiling the ending, the event after the final chapter is a watershed moment, simple enough to give you a feeling of completion, but the event itself is enough to spark (and has sparked) a multitude of internet debates on what the heck just happened.  Watch after the credits.  The background moved me in a way that was not entirely pleasant, though I admit feeling torn like that from a video game does much for the industry’s desire to be art.  This game is art, no questions asked.

In conclusion, Limbo is absolutely worth it.  The price is a little steep (1200 Microsoft points) but the experience of having played it was well worth the asking price.  Will I play it again?  Probably, for completion’s sake (there’s an achievement for dying 5 times or less.  It’ll be tough), and the game’s 5 to 6 hour play time makes an additional play through entirely possible.  Lately I have been wanting shorter games that provide a complete experience and Limbo definitely delivers.

TinyRating: 9 (9 is an excellent game that has at most one or two minor flaws that prevent it from being “perfect”)

© 2010 – 2011, Jeff Hollingsworth. All rights reserved.