THERE ARE PROBABLY SPOILERS SO YEAH, OK.
It has taken me several hours to come to terms with Limbo and what that game is.
Sadly, it will take me much longer to come to terms with the fact that GiantBomb calls this game Limbo while Microsoft calls it LIMBO.
In the meantime though, let's talk about the game.
Let me say up front, Limbo is fucking awesome. If you hate Limbo then you are a jack ass and a crook and I dislike you. That being said, Limbo is not perfect. I really wanted it to be perfect, but the simple truth is that it is not.
We begin to see the problem very quickly, in fact you may even notice it as soon as you boot up the game. That problem, ladies and gentlemen, is that the first few sections of this game are FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC. "How is this a problem?" You may ask. "I thought being fan-fucking-tastic was normally considered, well, a good thing?" Well, while that may be, the problem lies in the fact that Limbo runs out of creepy forest steam pretty quickly. Hidden bear traps are giant spiders are quickly replaced with electricity and machinery, and the one vibrantly creepy dreamscapes are forgone in exchange for stark, bare factory floors.
Here is a test I would like those of you who have beaten the game to try. First, choose "Play."
Very good. Now, choose "Load Chapter."
I would now like you to gentle move your left analog stick from it's neutral standing position to the right. Watch as a the vibrant landscapes of visual interest slowly fade into generic platforms and sometimes circular saws. This is what I am talking about. Are there a few points in which it picks up a bit? Yes. Particularly the sequence with the HOTEL sign, but for the most part this is some pretty bland shit.
There was just so much they did right. Mysterious villagers, giant spiders you can barely make the details out on, dangerous traps hidden in the natural surroundings, giant spiders, that great scene at the beginning with the boat, giant spiders. The way I see it, it seems as though that the puzzles eventually took over the project and that all the cool atmospheric stuff kind of just got brushed off to the side. It's almost as if the ever more challenging cerebral aspects started to suck the creativity out of the world as the game progressed,
And then of course there is the ending. GOD DAMN THAT ENDING. It's just so sudden and, well, boring. I actually just thought it was a cool transition at first, I really didn't find the last gravity puzzle to be that big of a deal compared to the rest of the game.
Apparently it was.
A audible "Fuck you." left my lips as the scene faded to black. It was just so, unprecedented. After all the mind fucking shit you put me through the last puzzle is going timing my jumps correctly? Really? Really game? Is that okay? Because I don't think it's okay. Then of course was the ending itself which was just, bleh. I mean, they said so much with the simple imagery of those first few scenes. It was so awe inspiring, so fucking enthralling. Then they completely drop the ball with the "Hey I haven't seen this family member in a long time I'm going to sneak up behind them but then they are going to notice someone is behind them and perk up and then we are going to share a super emotional look before running into each others arms and embracing one another for no less then 15 minutes" except without that last part exactly. The huggles apparently lasted far longer than 15 minutes, as by the end of the credits all we are left with are two dead bodies and a shit load of flies.
I guess that is supposed to be edgy.
OK. Well, with all that being said, let's get to:
WAYS IN WHICH THE GAME WASN'T SHIT, NO I MEAN REALLY GUYS LISTEN FOR A MINUTE I ACTUALLY THINK IT WAS GOOD, NO WAIT DON'T LEAVE OH SHIT WELL I GUESS I'LL JUST TYPE THIS PART OUT ANYWAY.
As I said before, I think the opening act of this game is absolutely bangin'. While it may not hold that ferocity throughout it's full length, I still felt that the unique visual style lent itself to some very verbose visuals when compared to the slim pickin's one finds on the digital shelves these days. For some reason I keep coming back to World of Goo when I attempt to describe the atmosphere in readable language.
That's right. World of Goo. Not Braid.
I really don't get the Braid comparison. I mean yeah it's a puzzle platformer, but I found the content of the game to be so wildly different from the aforementioned time bender that to compare the two almost feels, well, stupid. World of Goo also provided that same sense of isolation and the somewhat simplistic, stylized visuals. I also felt that they had a similar story to tell, though as of yet I'm still not exactly sure what Limbo was trying to tell me, if it indeed was trying to tell me anything at all.
Let's get to the point. Limbo excels where it counts, as a game. In this department it is a shining bastion of perfection. The movement has a controlled looseness to it that demands one plays it to fully experience it. I can't even begin to describe what a joy it is to just play this game. I subscribe to the school of thought which states that platforming is the purest form of gaming. You move, you jump, and you are one. If that holds theory holds true in your mind, then let me be the first to inform you that the prophet has cometh and his name is Limbo.
I suppose there is also a context sensitive Action button, but let's just ignore that so I can say the controls are good and move on.
To call Limbo a straight puzzler is somewhat rahs. It really feels more like an adventure game, though that aspect too begins to fade as the game goes on. Okay, I'm sorry to go back into bitchy l need to for a second. Remember all those awesome moments with the Spider, or when you kill those tribesmen? Yeah, that doesn't happen again. For some reason the developers decided to scrap all the cool parts where you interact with the living world around you in favor to buttons. I still can't figure out what it was all for, it's really kind of baffling.
Let it be known though that if you want challenge and variety then it is here. Take all the visuals and eerie sounds away and there is still a very solid product here, perhaps one that was a bit hampered by it's own visual design.
Okay, you know what? I'm going to say it. They just gave up. Half way through the game they just game up on trying this creepy black and white dreamscape they had going and just focused on the puzzles. I mean, I would rather have the puzzles to begin with, but if you are going to start this shit at least finish it. I just have this feeling that the whole product is weaker due to the ever blander aesthetic design. I mean it goes from weird creepy tribe village to fucking generic platforms and sometimes saws.
GENERIC PLATFORMS AND SOMETIMES SAWS.
In all honesty this is would be a 4 or maybe even 5 star grade game if I had to give it one, but I suppose I'm just really de[ressed at the fact that all that potential that was visibly there was all but lost by the final act. The visual experience just kept declining as the game got harder, and while I relished the puzzles I had to, at the same time, wonder why the great setting that had been present before was slowly being peeled away.
Maybe this blog post was a bit disjointed, but really it's hard to articulate how much I love this game when there is so much I really think is wrong with it. Perhaps it is even that I like it so much that I wish it was perfect, and it really isn't. The world may never know.
I don't really have a good way to end this, so here is a picture of stuff.
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