LIMBO...

There are few video games that I had been anticipating as much as this XBox live Arcade game, which finally hit the marketplace on Wednesday of this week. I had seen the trailers, read the prerelease review, and essentially bought utterly and completely into the hype. And I must say, I am very glad I did.

For a game that appears so simplistic it actually managed to go above and beyond what I had expected it to be. But before I get too far ahead of myself, for those of you who don't particularly follow video games allow me to post the trailer...



As you can see, LIMBO is a 2D platforming game (meaning you have to maneuver your way through the world amidst various obstacles i.e. platforms in order to arrive at your destination) with heavy puzzle elements. The main protagonist is a young boy who is searching for his sister, because he fears for her safety. And that's the story. Really, that is all you get as far as story goes. There is no dialogue in the game, nor text cutscenes in order to get more of a narrative. From the moment you awaken as the boy, lying on the darklit forest floor, until the moment you complete the game the narrative is only that which you can see and hear all around you. And that is one of the things that makes LIMBO so impressive.

It truly shows how video games are an art form all their own despite what some douchebags critics may say. (I'm looking at you Roger Ebert.) The presentation of the game is very minimalist. The color scheme is entirely noir, with black, white, and shades of gray the only color tones ever used. But the level of detail and complexity displayed here are astounding. The game is fluid, crisp, and really instills in you a sense of melancholy and loneliness the further you proceed into the world.

The music also takes a similar, minimalist approach. Aside from occasional music tracks (which always build in intensity corresponding to key events) all you will ever hear in the game are ambient noises of the environment around you. Birds chirp, water gushes from broken pipes, steam hisses in barren industrial facilities, and the boy pants, grunts, and yelps as a bear trap severs his head from his body.

Wait...did I type that correctly? Yes, actually I did. Despite the seemingly simple narrative and child protagonist this game is filled with gory deaths. Essentially all the puzzles you encounter will consist of you dieing (repeatedly I may add) in an attempt to figure out how to circumvent the trap in order to progress to the next, more challenging, obstacle.

Bear traps, buzz saws, rooms filling with water, a giant spider (that is sure to invoke nightmares in all but the most grizzled or jaded) and many more instruments of death fill this colorless, lonely landscape. And there in lies the absolute appeal of this game. Despite the difficulty being at times excruciatingly frustrating, once you figure out how to solve a particular puzzle the satisfaction is immense and supremely rewarding...that is until a few steps later you get squashed by randomly changing gravity and a giant metal block.

In all, I say LIMBO is a fantastic addition to anyone's Xbox library. It's minimalist, haunting, and gorgeous presentation, accompanied by tight controls, clever puzzles, and one of the most esoteric endings of any game in recent history will definitely keep you entertained for a few hours. And even after you complete the game (as I'll tell you now it is quite short...once you figure out all the puzzles a run through may take you a little over an hour if you pull all the traps off perfectly) you can replay specific chapters in order to find all the hidden achievements the game has to offer.

So for fifteen dollars (or 1200 microsoft points if you would rather) you will certainly find something to love with this game if you are a fan of anything I've mentioned up to this point. (Including violent, gruesome deaths for all of you sadists out there.)

I give it a 4.9 out of 5. (It is REALLY short on subsequent playthroughs, and the ending still kind of has me upset...but I'm just nitpicking.)