 Limbo
(Xbox Live Arcade)
The Xbox Live Arcade title 'Limbo' will leave a permanent impression on your mind.
By ONOE
You begin your adventure in the game Limbo as a young boy in a dark forest. Like you, the boy does not know why he is here or exactly where 'here' is. The world around you is dark and forbidding forest filled with traps and enemies. There is no story or plot to drive you and there are no friendly characters to provide you with hints or information concerning your current predicament. Instead you are only concerned with surviving the hazards and progressing from one screen to another without dying horrifically gruesome deaths.
The world around you is desolate and eerie in part credited to the confined visual styles. The dirty and barren world is represented in shades of black and white with film-grain, with the main character as little more than a shadow himself. In the world of shadows there exists forests, deserted towns and abandoned factories. In the beginning of Limbo you encounter other shades who, also appearing to be children, attack you with little provocation, while deeper into your journey signs of life fade until you are completely alone in the world of Limbo.
For the majority of your journey there is little to listen to outside of ambient noises such as the falling rain, or wind through the trees, or the chirping of crickets. There is very little in terms of an in game soundtrack which heightens the empty atmosphere. The music cues that do occur are often deep bass pieces that tie in directly with your onscreen actions and heighten a horrific scene.
Controlling your character is severely limited to jumping, climbing and pushing objects to solve increasingly complex puzzles that towards the end of your journey will require extreme precision in your jumps and movement. Limbo is not as frustrating as one may expect because there are numerous clues as how to complete a puzzle and move forward but they do require some thought and patience. Although the puzzles in Limbo are not difficult to complete they will require forethought as completing some puzzles can potentially result in an instant death for the boy. There is no life bar and if you succumb to one of the traps or hazards of the world of Limbo you die a gruesome death. Luckily the checkpoint system in Limbo makes Limbo much more forgiving, as the boy will often reappear within the vicinity of his death to reattempt overcoming a hazard.
Limbo is violent but nothing overly graphic. In a world of shadows and shapes there is no red blood to turn off parents. However the violence is still strong in Limbo. How often in video games does a boy get decapitated by a bear trap or impaled by a giant spider? Death is often shocking to behold because, while in other video games death is glorified by a game over screen, the world of Limbo feels almost indifferent to your numerous demises. Because the world is back and white and grainy, you are left to fill in some of the blanks, and each depiction of death is only amplified by your own imagination.
Like the hit Xbox Arcade game, Braid, Limbo also focuses more on the journey than the final outcome. It is the experience and connection between the gamer and the boy depicted on the screen that is its greatest asset rather than a finite ending. A gamer can find personal meaning and ponder life and death in Limbo but may not find concrete answers. Limbo is short, spanning only 5-6 hours in length but once you begin playing you will be immersed from beginning to end. The ending itself is abrupt and shocking to say the very least, and it will leave a gamer pondering the revelation for days upon end.
OVERALL
Limbo is a memorable game that while light on plot or character development offers hours of entertainment but, more importantly, will leave a permanent impression upon your mind.
Graphics |
8.0
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Although the graphics are simple they effectively convey a sense of lonliness, danger and dread.
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Sound |
8.0 |
Sometimes no sound is the appropriate sound. There is very little music but the sound effects create a frightening atmosphere. |
Gameplay |
6.0 |
Although the deathtraps in Limbo are unforgiving the game is well balanced with minimal backtracking. The puzzles are simple but they do require some aforethought.
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Story |
4.0 |
There is little exposition in terms of an actual story. I would have given a lower score for Limbo's lack of a story except that the ending will haunt you for hours after you are finished playing. |
Replay Value |
3.0 |
There is probably little reason to revisit Limbo after you finish the game the first time through because you will know the puzzles and the outcome of the story.
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Multiplayer |
n/a |
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OVERALL |
7.0 |
Limbo is a beautiful game but it is also very simple and it lacks a story and replayability. Regardless, for an Xbox Live Arcade game Limbo is a must have.
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