Game Review: Limbo

From the very first bear trap, to the spider who just won’t quit, through mechanical instruments of death and the gravity defying conclusion, one thing is always apparent; you are alone and the world is out to kill you, welcome to LIMBO.

Title : Limbo

Genre : Platformer, Puzzle

Developers : Playdead

Consoles : PS3, Xbox 360, Windows PC

Rating : T for Teen

The first thing that everyone will notice when approaching LIMBO are the unusual visuals; the style is very art house, with a classic diorama feel that will no doubt attract as many as it puts off. The removal of colour creates not only a distinct appearance but also acts as a gameplay mechanic; the high contrast shapes make puzzles easier to read, you’ll never feel cheated by a wonky camera or bad textures.  Naturally without colour the gore becomes far less impacting, which in turn desensitizes the viewer to death, this is probably a good thing, as you will die a LOT!

There is a very dark and sinister tone that if you take a moment to think about (as another circular saw rips the boy to pieces) it can seem quite galling.

2D perspectives are fairly standard for downloadable titles but rarely do you find a game where it might just be the finest design decision; it enables LIMBO to create a set of unbreakable rules – only the edges you see exist, obstacles cannot be sidestepped etc.

The sound design is subtle and unobtrusive; gusts of wind, the sizzle of electricity and the constant patter of the boy’s footsteps alerting you to your movements are only offset by tension building thrums at key moments.

From an aesthetic standpoint it does exactly what a downloadable game should; eschews the mainstream appeal to create a more intimate and rewarding experience.

This is a game that encourages patience, if you have a short attention span or are easily frustrated walk away now, the difficulty curve is steady but steep and while logic & perseverance will always win through, the potential for frustration is always looming.

However this is exactly what makes LIMBO such a successful experience; this is not a game where puzzles are a time wasting exercise obscuring the way to the next big shootout, here the puzzles are the shootout.

So what of these puzzles? They are largely physics based with blocks ropes and levers, each chapter contains a theme which might involve an additional element like water needing funneling or magnets granting control over large metal crates, every material responds as you would expect.

There are the occasional moments where nature joins the fray; catching a leg of a giant fly to gain access to a higher level for instance, these moments are too few in my opinion as they added a nice change of outlook from the multitude of box pushing sections.

Puzzles are rarely as they first seem; some don’t even become apparent until you’ve whizzed past them to your doom, it is always beneficial to explore the area before committing to a plan as you may traverse a difficult section only to die because you chose not to move a box slightly earlier, this could no doubt prove irritating to casual players but for lovers of puzzle games this is like sweet manna from heaven.

Checkpoints rarely deserve credit for a games success but they do here as they are timed to perfection, breaking the game down into more manageable chucks I often found myself praising it for not sending me too far back.  A side effect of this is you know with certainty that any item before the previous checkpoint will not aid you in getting to the next, in such a brutally unforgiving game the reassurance that every death will not result in large portions of re-playing gives the user the freedom to experiment.

A lot of credit should be given to the design team for coming up with such a simple protagonist bursting with personality, much like how characters in South Park can be vastly expressive with limited features, the glowing eyes of LIMBO‘s ‘boy’ speak to you more than Marcus Fenix ever has.  Limiting the boy to simple jump/grab skills lets the puzzles shine in uncomplicated brilliance; there is no character leveling or progression of skills, just more challenging obstacles to traverse.  One thing that stopped me fully relating to the character is that almost every animal you meet you kill or de-limb which makes me dislike the boy slightly, because my natural reaction is only to kill the creature in self preservation, it would have been nice to make that particular element optional though I can understand how it fits with the overall tone.

Each chapter appears to have a theme with the earlier sections being more rural, containing crude traps fashioned by the locals who resemble small boys themselves giving it a very ‘Lord of the flies’ influence. The human interaction is limited to a few junctures usually in which your character is forced to flee or be maimed by those tribal boys (again the black and white does a good job of creating anonymity yet filled with character).

The opening sections contain more intrigue than the game ever delivers on, the giant spider that plagues your journey poses a very relateble threat to your characters’ existence, an element that becomes lost amidst all the gravity switches and electrified walls of later chapters. The beginning has that raw element of survival, the fear of the unknown and the fear of the all too known giant spider. If I have a major criticism of the design it is that the second half of the game feels so safe, just you and the contraptions, more animal threats would have taken me out of my comfort zone and kept me in a state of apprehension.

About 4 chapters in you stumble upon a malfunctioning hotel sign, which creates a nice jumping section but also raises many story questions, what sort of macabre society lived in this place of death? What happened to them? It also was the catalyst for me realizing I was actually traversing the rooftops of a cityscape, though what city requires huge circular blades I just don’t know… perhaps that’s why there are no inhabitants.

The game then takes a journey though more industrial and mechanical sections from here onwards, accentuating the feeling of being trapped; I felt a growing sense of longing for the outside when I was surrounded by moving cogs and electrified panels, a death bringing spider from chapter one seemed worlds away & was almost remembered with fondness.

there is a distinct lack of narrative throughout; this boy wakes in long grass, then traverses many puzzles before the game ends thankfully without a tacked on final boss, any story elements that you gather along the way are largely assumptions or guesses made by the player, often creating more questions than answers.

So of that ending, without spoiling anything I can say that it was satisfying in a way that many games fail to recognize; Bioshock was one of the finest games this generation has seen, yet even that lacked the guts to end without a boss fight. As games become more about narrative, forcing the player to fight a final big battle is becoming redundant, it seems almost ironic that a game with such little narrative structure is showing the way forward.

LIMBO is consistently strong in design and execution, it punishes you & makes you question your intellect but never feels unfair, the tone is bleak without being depressing and the art style is unique yet manages to seem appropriate throughout. If this is the new standard that future downloadable games should be measured against, I wish them all good luck.

9/10