Submitted for your approval. A man makes a downloadable purchase only to find himself in a dark and twisted state of purgatory where there seems to be no escape. It is an experience so horrific, so bone chillingly terrifying that he has no choice but to dig it out from the buried regions of his subconscious and put it up for review in For What it’s Worth.    

So yeah, this is a review of Limbo, which was created by Danish developer Playdead and can be downloaded on Xbox Live Arcade.

 

Story: You’re a young man who wakes up in Limbo. You don’t know who you are or how you got there. What you do know is that this place is a living nightmare and you got to find your sister and get the Hell out of there. Some might say the lack of a coherent story would take away from the emotional investment the player would put into the game’s character. However, this simply isn’t the case but I’ll get to that later.

I should say that some people are not necessarily going to like how the game ends and I do agree that the timing of the ending is rather awkward but I didn’t really mind what happened. The developers clearly went for a more philosophical root and wanted the player to think about what they saw. It is a well-crafted ending but I can’t help but think that a little more back-story would have given it a bit more meaning.

Graphics & Design: Limbo is a very good example of how video games can go beyond being simply an entertainment medium and can be crafted into a work of art. Limbo’s level design is simply breath taking. The level and character designs are done in the shadow animation style. The decision to make Limbo in black and white was a really good choice on Playdead’s part. Making it a world without color only makes the dark and lonely world of Limbo all the more beautifully bleak. I especially like all of the smaller details added into the levels, like the wind blowing through grass, rain falling heavily from the clouds, the thick fog that comes in sometimes and even the flies buzzing around corpses. These seemingly minor details show that the developers really put in a lot of effort to make the world of Limbo seem as authentic as possible.

Sound: You don’t get much in terms of sound. It’s mostly just the sounds of nature and machinery, with a little bit of music here and there. This is definitely a case of less is more. The lack of music really adds to the frightening atmosphere, as it really leads you to think that any thing can happen at anytime and that within itself can be terrifying.

Gameplay: Limbo is a puzzle platformer with a minimalist control scheme (you can only walk, jump, and push/pull objects). You might be lead to thinking that with fewer buttons to press that this might make the game easier. Well, let me be the first one to tell you that you would be wrong to think that way. Because each puzzle is more deviously difficult than the last and failure will likely result in a horrifyingly gruesome death. And you are going to going to fail. A lot. Playdead like’s to call this a “Trial by death” game, meaning that you are going to die several times while trying to figure out each puzzle before you come up with the proper solution. But don’t worry. You’ll re-spawn in the area just before that particular puzzle started and you are given an unlimited number of lives.

Remember what I said about how the player’s emotional investment comes from the gameplay rather than the story? What I meant was that the deaths in the game (although animated very well) can be pretty graphic (I think it should have been given an M rather than a T rating). Even though they lack blood and the character may appear to be a shadow, the deaths can still be pretty disturbing to watch. I mean this poor kid can be decapitated by a bear trap, impaled by a giant spider, cut to shreds by a buzz saw among other various other means. It is this aspect that keeps the player from acting to hastily and because of this, they will try just a bit harder to solve the puzzles. I know I didn’t want to see him die like that. I think it is definitely an interesting idea to invoke the player’s emotions not by presenting any information about the character they are playing as but rather by toying with the life and mortality of said character.    

Oh and blaming the controls for your failure to solve a puzzle is not possible, as they are very fluent. Actually, every thing in this game is. There are no loading screens or cut scenes to interrupt the gameplay. Besides a quick fade to black after another gruesome death, the gameplay continues without any interruption as you work your way from one area to the next until you have completed the game. In fact, as far as transitions go it is the smoothest game I have seen since the days of the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis.
 

As I said before, with this being a “Trial by death” game, the puzzles can get pretty frustrating but I can appreciate the challenge and I must say that each of them are really creatively designed and layed out. However, it would have been nice if the developers would have put more enemies into the game. We get plenty of them in the wilderness area but they all suddenly vanish in the industrial levels. Don’t get me wrong. The industrial puzzles are can be intimidating and can result in some of the most disturbing and gruesome deaths in the game but adding a few enemies would have been a good way to increase the urgency. But other than that, I don’t have any gripes about the gameplay.        

Extra Features: Other than Online Leadboards, which base scores on completion percentage and the ability to turn off the gore, there are no extra features at this time. Although, you can do some further exploration of each area and look for the hidden Easter egg achievements, which are actually hidden in some really creative places. Achievements can add some extra playtime and fun to a game when done right, like they are in Limbo.  

Replay Value: This is where things get tricky. The game only offers up four maybe six hours tops worth of gameplay depending on how quickly you were able to solve each of the puzzles. However, if you were to play the game again, remembering how to solve each of the puzzles, you could clear the game as quickly as one and half to two hours. Looking for the Easter eggs does provide an extra bit of fun but probably not enough to extend the playtime for too long. This is why I would recommend giving yourself a chance to forget how to solve some of the puzzle solutions before giving Limbo another go. Unless you are the kind of person who likes to do speed runs, then you are bound to still have a decent challenge, considering that avoiding obstacles takes a good sense of timing.

I should say that you don’t too much in terms of length or gameplay options/bonus content but what you do get is fantastic and it is definitely worth spending the few hours to play it. Although I must also say that this game isn't for those who don't like horror games and it definately isn't for younger players. You should download the free demo first if you are still unsure about it.

Over All Value: Download Price- 1,200 MS Points ($15)
                           What it’s Worth-  $15

Limbo can be dark, gruesome, bleak and frightening but it can also be hauntingly beautiful. Does it have its flaws? Absolutely but what game doesn’t? Unfortunately, I have a bit of a hard time saying that is worth the full price because of its short length. However, for its solid gameplay, brilliant art design and its interesting and dare I say philosophical premise, I must give it a full recommendation. I would even go as far to say that it is a work of art. But paying more than the asking price of $15 is out of the question. For what it’s worth.

Until next time: Happy Haunting!

Next on the docket: Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box