A unique puzzler that I had some fun with. It's not the astounding piece of art I was expecting, but it did give me a whole different experience, and it gives me kinda the same feeling Ico did (probably the puzzle part). For those of you who don't know, Limbo is a downloadable puzzle game. I think the most striking aspect of the game would be how it is presented. It's completely in black and white, which is very rare these days. The visuals gives of a shadow puppet feel, which suits the black and white. These simple visuals let you focus on the puzzles themselves and appreciate them all the more. These puzzles start of very simple, and getting progressively harder. For the bulk of the game, it never gets to the point where it gets too hard. The earlier ones you will breeze through, while the latter ones will need multiple attempts. You will die... a lot in this game. Most of the deaths aren't annoying. The ones that are usually have the puzzle involve some kind of precision or timed controls. They don't necessarily feel cheap, but it can get annoying when you know what you have to do, yet you are failing because the margin of error is small.
The last couple of puzzles really stumped me, as they can be finicky. I would recommend that you go through the game blind first, as it's much more fun and satisfying (that's the nature of puzzle games I guess). There are around forty chapters in total, each chapter corresponding to a major puzzle. Don't be fooled though, as it's a fairly short game. If you're good, you can probably be through in around four to six hours the first time (it will dramatically decrease in your second or third run). You will fly through the first half of the game and only slow down as it comes to an end. The PS3 exclusive level was very annoying. It seemed harder than the rest of the game purely because most of it was in the dark where you can't see anything. I guess you can rely on sound but some parts I got through by sheer luck as it was slowing me down too much for me to do it properly. It was a very long level too, taking around ten minutes on a perfect run (which means it'll take you more the first time through). I don't think I want to go back in there again, the rest of the game is much better though.
There's no music that is playing in the background, but the silence adds to the atmosphere. The only things you'll hear is yourself running, levers operating or seeing other living beings (the world seems desolate and destroyed, like it's abandoned). In terms of story, apparently it's about the boy (the main character you're controlling) trying to find his sister (which, along the way, he'll have to solve puzzles to get over the obstacles). If I didn't read that beforehand, I wouldn't have known. You're thrust right into the game at the start, with no cutscene or anything. You just know you have to go right and begin you're journey. The ending was a bit weird and even then, it didn't answer any questions, just bought along more (which, I guess, was the point of the game). What's impressive is that the main character only has two actions, jump and interact. I like this basic scheme and some of the puzzles are quite clever and fun. It only seems too short because you enjoy it so much (subconsciously finishing one puzzle after another) that you fly through the game.
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