Revisiting Limbo

While looking for a break from the current games on my plate, I remembered how much I enjoyed playing Limbo. Limbo is probably one of the most fantastic titles that I have ever come across due to a sale on Steam. Of course I grew up on side scrolling platformers, so it already had that going for it when I saw the short trailer. Even if it wasn’t on sale, this game would have been the best impulsive purchase I have ever made.

There is no real story given when you begin. Your shadow of a character simply wakes up in a forest, gets to his feet, and begins exploring. So don’t go looking for any kind of driving plot. However, the story hinted at by the strange and often macabre scenarios you encounter along the way (completely open to interpretation of course) can be quite chilling and disturbing. This is only further intensified by the eerie soundtrack gently caressing your ears and brain with a faint sense of impending doom and quiet terror. While not a horror game, there’s that sort of primal fear of dark places being evoked constantly. Aesthetics and sound are masterfully woven together in a way that can only be described as art.

The thing that really got me to put some cash down was the artistic style.  The simple black and white art with all of its interplay of light and shadow is quite simply stunning. Add to that a grainy quality and blurred edges as if peered at through groggy squinting eyes. The feeling is that of being horribly trapped in a dream with a dire need to get to the end and wake up. Like that one where you’re running down a hallway being chased by a turtle in a top hat that keeps trying to sell you property in Montana. Just like that, but with more suspense and enjoyable. The lack of color helps seamlessly blend disparate environments together to the point that transitioning from forest to industrial backgrounds feels completely organic and natural.

Failing is just part of the experience.

As puzzle games go, this isn’t really a particularly challenging title. The puzzles are pretty straightforward and rely mostly on timing instead of complex problem solving. Of course, the real trick is that you will only learn by failing. It’s likely to happen a lot. There’s even an achievement for getting through the game in one sitting with 5 or fewer deaths. It also happens to be the least achieved of the achievements. Being set up to fail from the start makes it that much more satisfying when you do succeed and move on to the next challenge.

For as much as I hate to read reviews where writers use overly colorful language just to get quoted on game packaging, I’m still going to say that this game is breathtaking. Limbo is an experience that should not be missed. I’ll even go so far as to say that it’s exhilarating. I’m sure my colleagues that have played it will agree me when I say that the first half of Limbo is a masterpiece and the rest of the game is superb. If it isn’t in your game library already, I recommend that it find its way there soon. If it is, perhaps you should do as I have and pick it up again.