LIMBO
Producer: PlayDead Studios
Release Date: July 21, 2010
Platform: Xbox 360 DLC
Rating: Everyone
Genre: 2D Platformer
Simplicity Isn’t Always Simple
Written by Mike Lowther
Back at E3 2010, I had a chance to play the impressive LIMBO, an innovative side-scrolling platformer in the vein of Braid and a bad dream. Few games have the innovative direction to engulf the player to actually induce completion, but LIMBO compliments every smirk you make throughout the levels. This simple, yet complicated, title captures your mind and soul, and evokes your curiosity to find out what will happen next. Take control of a young boy and progress through his nightmare on a search to find his sister.
The eerie world of LIMBO throws you deep in a child’s nightmare. Wait, what kid has dreams like this? Bear traps, giant spiders, and brain-munching slugs happen to all be part of the routine. Throughout the progression of the game, you need to use your head to advance. Measuring large vats of water accordingly, and changing gravity are methods you will use to move on. Use the level and the world around you to escape enemy clutches, or bring death upon them.
I wish there was another expression for the phrase, “think outside the box.” Throughout the course of the game, you’re constantly digging yourself out of a hole to just land in another. Not that this is a bad thing, I feel smarter after each passage, yet feel slower because I didn’t think of the solution earlier. The level structure is somewhat genius; there’s never a title screen that tells you when you’ve completed a level, or any bonus rounds. This promotes entertaining advancement and hinders breaks between gameplay. This is witty because the game’s only downfall is it’s length. LIMBO is short and sweet, and replay value is quite evident. I’ve replayed certain passes simply to relive my experience of not figuring out what to do my first, or eleventh time around.
LIMBO is a prime example of ingenuity in it’s genre. Something different, with a visual style to lure people in and open up their minds. With it’s ominous, grainy dreamscape and mind bending stages, LIMBO succeeds in creating an atmosphere unlike any other, while preserving the nature of the genre. It’s short, sweet, and simple, and for a measly fifteen bucks, I highly recommend this to anyone looking to get their brains wet.