Limbo, good or fashionable?

Just a short blog I expect here.  Reading the review of Limbo here on IGN, after having completed it myself, I then read a few of the comments.  Such an activity is fraught with peril, consisting as they do mainly of either adverts for trainers, or badly spelled mud flinging regarding other commentor’s sexual orientation.  However, reading a half dozen, I noticed people dismissing Limbo entirely, and this is something I wanted to address.

The consensus running through these few comments I touched upon, was that limbo was not in fact a good game.  They maintained that people only claimed to like it because it was dark and gritty and black and white.  A game for snobs, and not for gamers, was the cry.

80′s clothes, good, or fashionable?

I completed Limbo, and loved every second of it.  I was utterly hooked from the demo, and purchased the full game at the earliest opportunity.  The graphics are absolutely beautiful, the simplicity belies an emotional pull and depth that few other games match.  The very simplicity of it is what creates such a stark and alluring aesthetic experience.  It is not just different in order to grab snob gamers, not a gimmick, the visual aspects are as integral to the game as the puzzles.

silent, desolate, awe inspiring

The bare sound effects further increased the pull.  The lack of musical score heightened the ambience and the emotion, every sound seemed to leap from the screen, from the soft splashing of water, to the snap of a man trap.  Such sounds would otherwise be lost behind a musical score, and would go largely unnoticed.

nowhere to be seen

Furthermore, the basic gameplay contributed too.  It is rare to find a game where the controls add to the overall tone.  In most games, aspects of the experience, such as the music and the graphics, go around the game play, giving it something in which to occur.  In Limbo however, the gameplay is as much a part of the setting, as the other way around.  The basic two button system perfectly compliments the austere graphics and sound effects.  All the individual components go hand in hand to create an utterly immersive experience.
Personally I also found that the simplicity of both the graphics and the controls put me in mind of playing platform games as a child, even the black and white nature of the screen induced a certain nostalgia for childhood innocence, the two buttons harking back to NES gaming, and Mario.  This made the sudden and brutal death of the protagonist all the more profound.  Throughout the game, even knowing how grim the setting was, it was a constant surprise as new traps and scenarios were encountered.  Surely not, I would think to myself, spying corpses and obstacles to introduce to one another.  Yet despite all that, the game was not about violence, over the top gore, sadism, or anything else.  It had a stark practicality that in my mind made it all the more compelling.  Here we were presented with a dark and dangerous place, and you did what you had to do to survive it.

it is you or them

On top of that, the puzzles were fiendish and addictive, I had to keep having one more go, just this puzzle, then I would definitely stop playing, absolutely…

Which is worse, designing such a puzzle, or that you work it out?

It is a beautiful blend of platforming and physics puzzler.  The spider adds a lot of tension to the early stages, pushing you on, creating a sense of desperation that few games ever achieve.  It is rare for me to find a game that has that effect, inducing a sense of panic and adrenaline as you flee.  Call of Chthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth managed it when you had to flee the hotel, bolting and barricading doors, fleeing along rooftops, but very few others.
For me, this game feels very much like Portal.  Both are very short, and both are expertly crafted start to finish.  Neither one is an entirely new concept, but they have such a polish to them as can rarely be found.  I very much doubt that this game will be forgotten in a few years time as others have claimed, and I challenge people to play it and not be moved in some way.  It is short, and it is stark, yet deeply compelling and emotional.  If I had to find a criticism, and I do, I think it is too short for 1200 Microsoft points.  The game in itself is perhaps an ideal length, but 800 points would have been more realistic.  Also, I felt that whilst the spider forcing you onward through the game added desperation, the forced movement of the mind worms for me ruined the pace, driving you through areas that would have been more interesting to walk through at your own speed.  It felt hurried and a little irritating.
All in all however, I believe it is a little piece of pure gold, and I hope everyone gives it a go.  It is not just a piece of snobbish fashion, people do not just like it because it is dark and unusual, give it a chance to win you over, and venture into Limbo, it is beautiful, it is astonishing, and it is incredible.