Limbo is a game that a lot of people have been talking about for a long time. About a year ago, I saw the above screenshot, and was instantly intrigued. And let me tell you, the full game is one of the most beautiful games I have played in years. Limbo is also a great many other things which I will get into further detail about momentarily. But I know the real question that’s burning in your minds…..Is this game worth 15 of your hard-earned dollars?

Well, that’s a question that is very difficult to answer. I have to be honest and say that I loved every minute of Limbo. But the thing that might keep you from picking it up is the fact that there are probably only 120 minutes in this game. That’s about how long it took me to beat it. It may take some of you more time, if you go about searching for all the hidden achievements on your first go-round. But on the subject of game length and how it corresponds to game price, consider this: how much money did you spend on God of War III? Or Heavy Rain? Or Alan Wake? 40, 50, maybe a full 60 dollars? And how many hours did you invest into those games? Maybe 6 or 8 hours, right? If you actually think about it, Limbo is about the price equivalent of huge titles like those. So quit sassing about the price, alright?

Limbo is one of the finest downloadable titles I have ever played. It has incredible visuals, eerily perfect sound design, and beautifully simple gameplay. Some of the puzzles in this game are mind-bendingly difficult, but none of them were frustrating. The game does a great job of easing the player into harder puzzles with visual and audial clues. And if you do die in a trap or get stabbed by a spider, have no fear. The game always saves right before any of its hundreds of chance encounters. The somewhat-gruesome deaths of the main character were almost always shocking, and for that reason I would say that this game is not necessarily for the young ones. Seeing a young child get impaled on a giant spider’s leg would’ve traumatized me for sure. And that will happen a lot. You will die at least 250 times while playing this game. Unless you’re some gaming prodigy. Which you’re not I just know it. So seriously, 250 deaths. I’d even go so far as to say 300. But these deaths are so silly and quick-to-be-over, I never found myself getting angry or wanting to stop playing. I truly could not put the controller down once I started Limbo.

The only thing that Limbo could be considered to be lacking in is a story. This game has no dialogue to speak of (haha, get it?) and no character explanations whatsoever. I didn’t even know what my character was supposed to be doing (looking for his lost sister) until I read the game’s description on XBLA. This can be both a pro and a con for Limbo. At points, the lack of traditional narrative is a blessing, leaving interpretations of character interactions and certain horrific experiences up to the player. But, on the other hand, I found myself struggling to find any cohesion in the game. Without a narrative thread to tie the whole game together, I kept finding myself yearning for any explanation that the game could give me. And therein lies my only major complaint with the game: the ending.

(Note: this next paragraph will continue to be SPOILER FREE, so read on, you purists, you!) The ending of Limbo felt extremely anticlimactic and muddled to me. Because I really had no background with these characters and knew nothing of the story, the “mindblowing” ending that I’ve heard some people call it was utterly baffling to me. I didn’t even know that the game was over until the credits started to roll. I felt no real sense of completion or relief. Sometimes, ambiguous endings can be a good thing, wherein the player can insert their own interpretations and their own experiences into the resolution. But I had no stake in this story. I didn’t even know the character’s names. I didn’t even know if the boy liked his sister. I was lost.

And a day later, I still am. I really don’t know what happened in Limbo. But that’s not gonna stop me from playing it again and again. Being so short, it’s a great game to just pick up and play every once in a while. Limbo is a great mix of many different games and genres. The two games that I can most compare it to are also XBLA titles: N+ and Braid. It has the gruesome deaths and creative platforming of N+, and the beautiful style and out of this world puzzles of Braid. If you are considering not downloading this game because of the “steep” price point, please reconsider. Limbo is one of the most unique titles you will play all year.

MidwestGamer, aka AbsentAmpersand

P.S. Here’s a lil present just for you guys and gals: