"

Take Brad's for example. His review was extremely well written, and he gave a perfect score. Now hold up: he gave this game 5/5 stars, like up there with mario galaxy 2 and SSFIV. The price alone should bring that score down, as most people report beating the game in 2 - 3 hours, and it costs 15 dollars.
 

" @EveretteScott:   It's called a sense of humor.  Perhaps you should locate one for yourself. "

" @Hailinel said:

" @EveretteScott:   It's called a sense of humor.  Perhaps you should locate one for yourself. "

I don't need to listen to you young-ans! "

"

No one really pays attention to user reviews, and this isn't technically a review. 
 
Anyways, Limbo has been getting amazing scores. I have played through a lot of the game and its fucking hard. I read some reviews of it before I got it though, and a lot of them are severly mistaken. 
 
Take Brad's for example. His review was extremely well written, and he gave a perfect score. Now hold up: he gave this game 5/5 stars, like up there with mario galaxy 2 and SSFIV. The price alone should bring that score down, as most people report beating the game in 2 - 3 hours, and it costs 15 dollars. Also, Brad and IGN's review rave about how good the artstyle and atmosphere are, but to me they just seem lazy as shit.  
 
No music is somehow "artsy" and having a weak low function character is "original." I forgot who said it but trying to be original has now become unoriginal, and by that I mean leaving the whole game to black and white with very little rendering is bullshit; sure it looks nice, but it isn't affective. It just comes across as lazy, and it stays in the front of my mind, while looking "nice" goes to the back. 
 
More original, independent, and artsy games seem to come when they aren't trying to make these mega profits, and aren't lazy. Only 2 forms of jumping, no music, very little sound effects, and no use of color or HD and a game that lasts 3 hours with no narrative. Cheap, lazy and overrated. Don't get me wrong, this is a good game, its just dangerously overrated and most of the reviews did not catch it. Although gametrailers did, and i bet some others did too.     

"

" @JSUMAN:  Uh, no. The analogy is fine. It's a mistake to reduce games to gameplay. Games are much more than that. They have art and music and narrative. Video games are multimedia, that is, they are inherently combinations of multiple kinds of artistic expression. To decide not to use one of those multiple kinds of expression lessens the artistic merit of the work. Limbo is blank on a musical level, very nearly blank on the narrative level, and monochromatic on the artistic level. The best games utilize every available medium. Limbo deliberately doesn't take advantage of all available mediums. Thus, because the developers didn't even try, they made a game that's just okay. Not bad. Not great. "

 
On topic, I can't believe how many people are letting slip by the comment of the art style being easy and/or lazy. I'm not an artist, but I know it's not easy to get all the right shades of gray to work the way you want them to, and it's remarkable that they made it work so nicely in this instance. Just look at this one image.  

It's not just simple black and white. There's many, many inbetweens going on in this picture, even only on the topmost layer. There are at least 5-6 layers of this complexity with filters going on to affect the lighting elements, background animations, and whatever else needed to be added. The only thing in this shot that is pure black and white is the boy, and that's just to make him stand out in most of the game.  
 
The style certainly is an artistic choice, but it strongly affects the gameplay as well. Based upon the limitations, that created certain advantages and obstacle to overcome in order to create certain puzzles. For instance, take this puzzle 
  

  If you notice carefully within the first second, what is on those ropes before they drop is not terribly discernible because they blend in with the platforms. This is why most people die the first time they encounter this puzzle. Would this puzzle be nearly as difficult if the bear traps and the platforms weren't the same color? No.If this game was in color instead, it would've been much easier to make certain elements stand out just by coloring them differently and would've eliminated the effectiveness of certain puzzles, making the outcome of the current Limbo experience impossible. To ask that it be something other than that is to ask it to be a different game entirely, and such a request is unreasonable. "

" THANK YOU!  you speak the truth, a bunch of idiots that want to feel intelligent play through this game and feel "artsy".  thats why they like to hump this game, although deep down everyone knows it is actually mediocre. "

" @AjayRaz said:

" @DrPockets000 said:

  Price does not determine quality.

"

Yeah, but that doesn't mean you have to overprice it. Would you buy braid for 25 dollars? "

I guess this pretentious thread seals the deal. 2010's Braid confirmed.

" @demontium said:

" @AjayRaz said:

" @DrPockets000 said:

  Price does not determine quality.

"

Yeah, but that doesn't mean you have to overprice it. Would you buy braid for 25 dollars? "

I would pay $60 for Braid.  I wouldn't take Modern Warfare 2 for $5.  I enjoyed every second of Limbo, and feel I got more than my money's worth.  I wish there were more games like Limbo, or that it was longer; but I feel my sentiment simply speaks to the strength (or rather my enjoyment) of the game.  As another user wisely said, "different strokes for different folks." "

As someone who disliked Braid's general pretentiousness, I find Limbo's incredibly morbid tone and minimalist style to be incredibly appealing. Will I pay $15 for it, knowing fully well that it's like 4 hours long? Of course not. That's what friends are for.

" @President_Evil said:

" @demontium said:

" @AjayRaz said:

" @DrPockets000 said:

  Price does not determine quality.

"

Yeah, but that doesn't mean you have to overprice it. Would you buy braid for 25 dollars? "

I would pay $60 for Braid.  I wouldn't take Modern Warfare 2 for $5.  I enjoyed every second of Limbo, and feel I got more than my money's worth.  I wish there were more games like Limbo, or that it was longer; but I feel my sentiment simply speaks to the strength (or rather my enjoyment) of the game.  As another user wisely said, "different strokes for different folks." "

Okay, for those people crazy enough to slap down 60 bucks for a game that can be beaten in 45 minutes, lets put that arguement to rest and focus on the one no one has really argued: the design is lazy. "

I think every point that really needs to be made has been made, so I'll merely say this: if you think crafting a piece of visual imagery (be it a film, painting, visuals in a video game, or any of the myriad other forms it can take) is easier solely because you're doing it in with a monochromatic color palate, you are sadly mistaken.

I don't think you deserve to play video games with that attitude.
 go back to books >=O

" I don't think you deserve to play video games with that attitude.  go back to books >=O "

" @bonbolapti said:

" I don't think you deserve to play video games with that attitude.  go back to books >=O "

is that a negative attitude towards books i sense, bon?
 
*cracks fists*  "

" @President_Evil said:

" @demontium said:

" @AjayRaz said:

" @DrPockets000 said:

  Price does not determine quality.

"

Yeah, but that doesn't mean you have to overprice it. Would you buy braid for 25 dollars? "

I would pay $60 for Braid.  I wouldn't take Modern Warfare 2 for $5.  I enjoyed every second of Limbo, and feel I got more than my money's worth.  I wish there were more games like Limbo, or that it was longer; but I feel my sentiment simply speaks to the strength (or rather my enjoyment) of the game.  As another user wisely said, "different strokes for different folks." "

Okay, for those people crazy enough to slap down 60 bucks for a game that can be beaten in 45 minutes, lets put that arguement to rest and focus on the one no one has really argued: the design is lazy. "

Fuck. You guys made me wanna play Limbo now, going to try and get the No Point in Dying achievement.

" @Hailinel said:

" @emkeighcameron said:

" @OllyOxenFree said:

"

"

I don't know why, but I cannot stop laughing at this picture. "

It looks like the lawn gnome from Half-Life 2.  Now that was a badass lawn gnome. "

Just to set the record straight, that's David the Gnome from David the Gnome. Google that shit because he's got some interesting pictures. 

I'm a little confused why you thought it was lazy to have a black and gray color palate. The depth of field is amazing in this game, and the characters are able to stand out with personality even with the color scheme.
I'm just saying I think the art style was far beyond what you seem to give them credit for.

so its why you dont like the game, not why its overated...because not a single thing you posted proves its overated because every thing you posted is opinion.

" @litrock said:

" @demontium: They also gave Modern Warfare 2 a 5/5 and you paid 60 dollars for a 6 hours campaign. In that respect, Limbo's like ... twice as good, right?   Dollar value propositions are for fools. Give it up. "

So Limbo has an online that I can rack up weeks of total play time in? Come on, that was just a lazy and stupid. "

 I have all the time in the world for people who don't like Limbo because it is not their sort of game but the majority of the people who have expressed distaste for the game seem to split into two factions. The first is the anti-intellectual anti-art camp who seem to only like games which are "games" and get angry if anyone tries anything off-beat or different.  While it is good to be alert to pretentiousness and psuedery it is wrong just to act like a philistine and damn anything that doesn't fit with the traditional model of a videogame.  
 The second are the people who confuse subtlety for blandness or even more ridiculously "being lazy." The monochrome style of Limbo wasn't chosen through lack of money, time or inspiration it is deliberate and in my opinion very effective. It is obvious from the styling of the opening titles that a 20's silent movie look has been purposely chosen and I think the full-on technicolour world we live in has sadly rendered some unable to see detail or appreciate beauty that doesn't need to shout.  
 The same goes for the soundtrack, all of which is a considered choice, not an easy way to knock out a quick game.  Again I think people have had their senses blunted by bombastic scores and crashing effects and cannot appreciate the eerie water drips, animal noises and ominous clanks of machinery which help create the individual mood of Limbo. It is sad that some people seem to need string stabs in order to be scared or firing rock music to get their adrenaline up for an action scene. 
 For me Limbo is exactly what I want from an £10 Arcade game, an attempt at something a little different. To be honest I wish more people would take these sorts of risks in big budget games but this price point and this format are ideal for innovation. God forbid that all we see are titles like Blackhawk Tango Down or re-releases of old Duke Nukem side scrollers in XBLA. 
 If you don't like the game fair enough - I don't think it's perfect, but please don't accuse it of either trying to be clever or lazy, because it is neither. It is an example of a developer with a vision who has had the strength and perseverance to see it through uncompromised and love it or hate the game this needs to be encouraged in this industry.

Limbo seems like a really nice Box2D technology demo.
 
It has a little bit of parallax scrolling and some depth-of-field boiler plate shader code.  I agree with haggis in that this combination is easy and cheap but a different, more colorful look, would have made the game better.
 
I played through the entire game.  It wasn't particularly difficult.  The puzzles were pretty good and didn't make use of cheap mechanics.  At no point did I feel like I was fighting sloppy physics code or a choppy framerate to finish a puzzle (looking at you Splosion Man and Braid).  Simply put the puzzle-platforming gameplay was excellent.  There just wasn't much else in there and it was too short.
 
I want about 3-5 more chapters with some fairly difficult puzzle sequences.  $15 for this game is just way too much.  I don't hold it against the game at all, but against Microsoft and XBoxLive and their pricing "arrangements".  This game would have been better as a Steam release.

" @Tsukiyomi said:

" @demontium said:

"Now hold up: he gave this game 5/5 stars, like up there with mario galaxy 2."

At the very least Limbo is on par with that rehash. "

Whatever, replace galaxy 2 with a game you believe to be 5 star. I don't think galaxy 2 is even close to a rehash, but thats besides the point. "

I think my true crime here has been saying that the game is "okay" when some people think it's one of their favorite games ever. People overreact when their favorite games are criticized. Just try to criticize Grim Fandango, and you will know my true wrath. ;)  

" @Skitch:  " My chief objection is to those saying it is somehow more "artistic" because they didn't use music and used black and white. That seems silly to me. Limbo's gameplay suffers, in my opinion, from the lack of color and lack of music. It could have been better."

" @Skitch: "The developers decided not to take the risk of creating a well-implemented soundtrack. Even a minimalist soundtrack would have at least been an attempt. They might have had good reasons for it (again, I can't really know). All I know is that they didn't take the risk. Maybe it was funding. Maybe it was laziness. Maybe it was brilliant artistic vision. I tend to think that of those three, laziness is usually the most common among men. "  

" @Skitch:  Some kind of composed soundtrack would have been beneficial, in my opinion. "

you are so fucking stupid, how does price affect the rating of the game? so your saying that if galaxy 2 was $100 that it should be given a 1/5? you are a god damn retard. and also, a game dosent need a narrative, hd, or color to be good, and you say that the art style is lazy, ok ya sure it could be thought of that way but its unique and original. this game is underrated, not overrated, and you seem to think that because its hard its bad, well hard isnt always a bad thing