NEWS FROM WORLD: Review - Limbo (Xbox 360)

By Jay

Genre: 2D Puzzle Platformer
UK Release: 21st July 2010
Developer: Playdead Games
Publisher: MGS
Price: 1200 Microsoft Points
Other Formats: None

Limbo kick starts Microsoft's 3rd annual 'Summer of Arcade' promotion on Xbox Live. It's a very tidy 2D puzzle-based platformer and it's unlike any game you've played before. Both the plot and story are kept simple. The blurb for the game reads "Uncertain of his Sister’s Fate, a Boy enters LIMBO…" That's all we're told. No really, that's it! As the game starts you wake on a forest floor and off you go. Left stick moves the boy left and right. 'A' jumps whilst 'B' is used for actions (such as pulling or pushing an object). That's your lot.

It's not the controls or story of Limbo that instantly grab your attention though. It's the wonderful graphical and audio style that Playdead have so masterfully crafted. The game is essentially black and white with every shade of grey imaginable in between! Shadows and silhouettes unsettle and confuse in equal measures. Effects such as film grain and focusing are played out over a film noir style setting. It's very difficult to describe how effective it is without having a look yourself. Why not visit the official website where you can watch videos and view pictures of the game.

The gameplay has you navigating your way through a world fraught with danger in search of your lost sibling. Releasing platforms and pulling switches is only the half of it. The number of ways the boy can die is quite disturbing. Giant spiders, rotating saws and pits full of spikes all hinder your progress through a heaven/hell paradox. You'll lose limbs. You'll be decapitated. Having said that though the difficulty level is never in question, increasing throughout as you better understand and appreciate the world around you. You'll scratch your head over a problem for 5-10 minutes but then suddenly the solution dawns on you and you're making progress again.

Whilst true that Limbo is unlike any game you've played before some comparisons will inevitably be made to fellow Xbox Live Arcade title Braid (released August 2008). Interestingly both games contain a similarly hellish achievement. Limbo requires you to beat the game in one sitting with 5 or less deaths where as Braid calls for a sub 45 minute speed run. Braid is a great game but was very stop-start. With Limbo there are 24 main puzzles but this is never made obvious to the player as the experience is played out as one seamless sequence of events. Only from the main menu can you select the 24 different chapters.

This may sound like a lot but make no mistake that Limbo is a fairly short game. You'll be done in 4-6 hours. There are hidden eggs to find with many linked to the games achievements but beyond that you're done. Based on this I offer one piece of advice: never Google the solution to a puzzle. I'm not the sharpest knife in the draw and I managed to complete the game without cheating once. To do so would only be cheating yourself out of this fantastic experience.

Limbo isn't for everyone. It's a unique and rare title but one that is over far to soon, raising question marks over the price point that Microsoft has placed on the entire Summer Of Arcade line-up. However it is the type of rare gem that further provokes the argument that video games can be art. If you enjoyed Braid you'll love this even more. Give it a try and see if like me you get lost in Limbo.