9.5
Limbo Review (Xbox 360)
Limbo – possibly one of the weirdest most fucked up games I’ve ever played.
Limbo, as a game, is pretty much impossible to describe with words, yet I’ll have to do my best. – You play as what appears to be a young boy, – or rather, a silhouette of what appears to young boy, as you never actually get to see his face, just his eyes which glow in the dark. This is one thing I was torn against in the game, whereas on one hand you have this mysterious boy, of which we know absolutely nothing about, which adds a sense of interest and desire to the story – but on the other hand we have a bland character whom is uninteresting as we know nothing of him, and who we cant relate to in any way shape or form.
The only shimmer of a storyline was actually given on the games description on Xbox live & xbox.com, – there’s no sign of it on the game itself, which personally I found rather odd, that the only description as to what the storyline is about – isn’t even in the game. The only glimpse of a storyline throughout the game is the ending – and don’t worry – I wont spoil it for you. However, that’s the beauty of this game – it’s a gem in its own right, no storyline is needed as it’s simply a great ride the whole way through.
We don’t know what he’s doing, what his purpose is, his mission or any slightest detail about him, apart from the fact that he may be a young boy. – Personally however, I actually appreciated this aspect of the game, it’s quick and easy to get into without a dreary storyline or characters being introduced here and there, so in that respect, I thought it succeeded, though I do understand how players may want more from the main character – They may want to see a personality, instead a lacklustre, uninspiring boy.
In terms of game play however, this is where the game gets interesting – at first this game may seem like an innocent little platformer, but if these were your first impressions – you’d be in for a big surprise. – Though it may seem that nothing could happen to a small boy in this day and age when it comes to video games, you’d be severely mistaken – in this video game, your character faces peril from spikes, giant fuck-off spiders, being crushed, torn apart, stabbed, shot or simply from falling to ones death. How to survive? – Simple, get through the puzzles ahead, and continue on to the next area while keeping a good eye out for anything that can kill you. – Which unfortunately for you, is most things.
In fact, the “area’s” in this game are actually of particular interest, as the game doesn’t actually contain separate levels, in reality, the whole game is one whole giant single level which doesn’t end, which I thought was really cleverly done, as it never seems to end, giving you a sense of hopelessness and helping you indulge yourself all that little more in the game. – That’s not to say you can’t return to certain points of course, the game has a nifty little ‘chapter’ system, which if you’re a fan of achievements, its not that hard to go back and get the ones you missed.
One thing this game really seems to pride itself on is its art style. – And to be perfectly honest, they’ve earnt the right to pride themselves on it, as the art style is simply fantastic. – It looks like something out of a Film Noir detective film, its all in black and white, the screen is gritty, dank and looks overly miserable, which works really effectively, giving the audience a sense of despair and desolation, making you feel all the more hopeless as you come across dead bodies, dead ends, and of course, a killer tree which has no problem with draining you of life.
Overall, Limbo is a great little awesome looking game with challenging (and occasionally frustrating) puzzles, but at the end of the day, that’s all it is – a little game. It’s a very simplistic side scroller with puzzles, with only around 5 hours per playthrough. having said that, I do believe they are asking too much for this game with the asking price of 1200 Microsoft Points. A game of this demeanour has so much potential, and though it is without a doubt a gem, – they are simply asking a little too much for it, which is a shame really, as I believe more people should play this cracking game. And for those reasons, I give this game a worthy 4 out of 5 stars.
Thanks to PlayDead for supplying us with review copy of Limbo
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