So I had a very interesting experience with this game. I sort of went in expecting to dislike Limbo, because I feel like video game critics tend to over exaggerate a lot when it comes to indie games, and Limbo is like, one of the very first "big" indie games to drop with universally smashing reviews (other than maybe
Braid...). People were giving this thing GOTY for 2010 and I was a bit sceptical considering that it was the same year that Nintendo had dropped a bombshell of platformers onto the world like
Super Mario Galaxy 2,
Donkey Kong Country Returns, and
Kirby's Epic Yarn! :O How could a small indie game like Limbo get so much good press??? Now that I've finally played the game I kinda get it now... Limbo is an incredibly unique experience even if it isn't the most grandiose by platforming standards.
To be a bit more accurate here Limbo is a puzzle-platformer, you essentially wake up in a forest as a nameless little boy, with this beautiful black and white art style, with no sense of direction or story. Your only objective appears to be just: GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!! Along your short journey you encounter and giant hostile spider that you must deal with multiple times until you finally defeat it in a very brutal and satisfying way. There are other children who aren't so happy to see you; launching booby traps and blow darts at you. And then there're countless saws, gears, and electrical hazards in the game's industrial area. Mechanically this game is pretty simple, your boy can pretty much only jump, flip switches, and move stuff around (he can't even swim...), but I liked how it makes your little boy feel more vulnerable and it made me feel more like s*** when I'd screw up and get him killed!
The game really banks on shock value here, because the death cinematics are quite gruesome especially considering that it's a little child being decapitated, impaled by spikes, and crushed by giant steel blocks! You'll stumble upon dead bodies of other children, and the world is just full of so much misery and desolation visually. I think the audio in this game is absolutely brilliant and immersive, the ambient drones and sound effects in this game really set up a sense of tension and even fear, I would legitimately get startled when I'd screw up and set off a loud death trap! I highly recommend playing this game with the volume maxed out!
Let's talk about the puzzles. Limbo has some of the most impressive and head scratching puzzles I've faced in a 2D platformer. What makes many of these puzzles so smart are there use of physics, like momentum, magnetic fields, and weight. It's a pretty cognitive game and requires some trial and error, but no matter how ambiguous this puzzles seemed I was always able to find the solution on my own. And solving some of these devious puzzles, especially the really challenging ones later in the game gave me a huge sense of gratification! One complaint people have with this game is it's dramatic shift from the first half being very cinematic and horror driven to the second half being very puzzle driven. This didn't really bother me because the puzzles were so great and there were those nerve racking sections where the whole world would start rotating! :S
The game is pretty short, clocking in at about 2-3 hours if you're seasoned at platformers. That doesn't seem like much, but I won't complain too much because I only paid 10 bucks for this and I do like to factor in price proposition for my game ratings. Besides, the bite sized nature of this game actually compels me to go back and replay it often. The game's story and ending is fairly ambiguous and leaves it up to your own imagination. Who is this boy? Who's the little girl? Are you dead? How did you die? It's literally all up to you! Limbo is a great game, I'd say that the critic circle jerking was warranted for this game even if it's clearly not the most innovative or impressive platform game ever made. It has enough personality and uniqueness to be outstanding in it's own right.
Also the parts near the end with the gravity flipping just had me wishing I was playing VVVVVV, a far better game lol.
...entertaining enough to play