Beautiful and haunting
Can I talk about Limbo without talking about Braid? An interesting question to pose myself, mostly because Braid is one of my all time favourite games. In fact, just by starting the review of the game this way, it's quite obvious that I can't. Don't get me wrong, both games are very different in their mechanics but they are both arty puzzle platform games that have an amazing amount of resonance. In a way though, Limbo is the antithesis of Braid. Where Braid offers complexity through text, colour and music, Limbo strips those elements away. The result is a haunting experience that without the explicit story leaves itself open to interpretation.
A small part of me wishes that nothing had been written about this game in regards to the plot. Knowing that you are searching for someone takes away from the original experience of the game. The question of why. The environments offer a lot of visual information to process and later stages hint at the creation of the earlier stages of the game. Clarity from the experience though isn't something you are likely to immediately get.
The game is short but it works. Like Braid, should you manage to complete the puzzles without the help of hints you will feel a real sense of accomplishment. The only things I needed help for was a couple of the eggs but they are a little more difficult to find than the solving of the puzzles. They aren't quite the stars in Braid but many require a strong thinking outside the box mindset.
Limbo is a powerful game. It is not for everyone, the game is short and some who just want to play through it may question the big deal (in a similar way to Braid). If however, you immerse yourself in the game and allow the its environments and excellent sound choices to draw you in I think you will find a beautiful and haunting game. The power of the game is in its silence.
