// LIMBO

Ah LIMBO.

I followed the development of this intriguing title through various magazines and internet articles for months prior to its release in July 2010. Denmark based developer Playdead really excelled when they designed this very special and striking IP. Now, having sold over 1 million copies across various platforms, LIMBO is heralded as one of the all-time great downloadable titles. A hefty feat considering this was the independent studio's  first effort.

LIMBO plays like a puzzle game crossbred with a platformer. Playing as an enigmatic glowing eyed boy, you move from ‘room to room’ encountering increasingly difficult and convoluted logic puzzles with a bit of magnetism, physics and gravity thrown in for good measure. Overall, it’s an addictive and rewarding lateral thinking experience, akin to games like Braid and Portal in some respects...

Yet at the time of its release the overwhelming reaction of punters seemed to be a bit “is that it?”. Costing around £10 for only 4-5 hours gameplay (only 45 minutes from beginning to end once you’ve cracked it) and having no DLC or multiplayer support, LIMBO was often criticised as not having enough bang for your pounds (or bucks, depending upon where you’re from).

This spider is definitely your friend

Nowadays in these enlightened times we can appreciate that LIMBO is, of course, the correct length. It does exactly what it has to do with no excess chaff, and this is particularly evident in it's presentation style.

Cleverly using a wide array of colours such as black, white and… well that’s it actually, Playdead succeeded in crafting an instant and beautiful cult classic. There are no lush green woodlands or fiery orange sunsets in LIMBO, but yet it is beautiful. It’s not the colourful beauty of spring’s vibrant blooming, but the cold and haunting beauty of a foggy autumn dawn. The silhouetted scenery is emotive and sad, though lined here and there with hopeful beams of struggling sunshine.

Its monochromatically morbid visual style is more than just an eye catching gimmick; it embodies everything that LIMBO is - minimalistic and concise. I remember reading a story about Playdead wanting to make the achievements impossibly hard to obtain so that the intrusive green and grey notifications would not ruin the atmosphere… As my old man always used to say; “why use 16.7 million colours when you can do it in 2”.

Even the music is low key. And by low key I mean absent. Rather than having a rich and complex orchestral score, like many would-be-art-games, LIMBO opts for setting the scene with eerie sound effects and ambient background noise. Be it the dry creaking of wooden planks underfoot or the oppressively piercing shriek of a circular saw blade, the audio always perfectly suits the situation at hand.

It's a cheery sort of game

As well as with LIMBO’s sensory aspects, this stark design philosophy is reflected in it’s storyline and gameplay too. Starting you out lying on the grass in a dark mysterious forest infested with flies and bear traps, the aim of the game is to move right until you win, tying in nicely with the non-existent narrative… Somewhere in the game’s description on the Xbox Live Marketplace is the hidden story ‘Uncertain of his Sister’s Fate, a Boy enters LIMBO…’ but there are next to no clues of this as you play. No dialog, no wordy descriptions and no scrolling backstory; you must simply press on to your unknown fate.

Enjoy having all your limbs while it lasts

All of LIMBO’s elements combine seamlessly and intelligently to create a feeling. You’re never told why you should empathise with the small boy, you just do. LIMBO is psychological, drawing on childhood fear of the dark, mute helplessness, monsters and menace. If you’ve ever had a nightmare in which you’re running away from something unseen and evil, or one wherein you’re unable to move and can’t control your actions, then you know how LIMBO can make you feel.

And it’s hard.

The challenging gameplay absorbs you, and the perpetual lemmings-like bloody, gory, gruesome deaths set your nerves on edge. If you want to finish in <5 lives you’re in for a tough ride. Every twig on the ground seems rigged to spring up and impale your small body and every bump on the ceiling is a loose boulder waiting to crush the light from your eyes. Paranoia and distrust set in fast and can even overwhelm you. Don’t play your first run-though in the dark.

Oops... Timing is key...

But is it art?

LIMBO sticks to it's guns, with its bare visuals and rudimentary audio defying the conventions of modern gaming. Analyse its meaning or accept it as it is, LIMBO leaves the player alone to their own imagination, and that for me is exceptional.

The grim, desolate and frankly terrifying world of LIMBO will have you pause in your tracks to stare awestruck and confused at the genius puzzle design, only to be chopped in two by clipper saw. The graphical details seen consistently throughout the game are astonishing, particularly the small touches like the way the dead grass sways as you pass by.

It’s highly polished, challenging, fun, oppressive, depressing, exhilarating, perplexing and oddly funny too. Once you have completed the game and seen it's conclusion you can even add deep and provocative to that list.

Verdict = ART

Thanks to Andy for his input on this one xxx