Limbo: bleak and mesmerizing (PS4)
Before 2016's Inside, an emotional rollercoaster of a puzzle platformer, developer Playdead had already crafted a fantastic and atmospheric side-scrolling adventure named Limbo.
I first bought it as part of a three-game pack on the Xbox 360. It came with Trials HD and Splosion Man.
While the other two titles were good, Limbo was the real reason I'd bought it and the reason I kept it.
I now also own it on PS4 and that was the version I played to refresh my memory.
Limbo is instantly recognisable to this day thanks to its somber monochrome art style, which Playdead uses to paint a picture of a bleak and dangerous world.
You take control of a small child and within the first 60 seconds or so Limbo makes clear just how fragile this boy is.
Pretty much everything is lethal in this world and the boy can take only one hit - often perishing in the most brutal of ways.
Like its successor Inside, this game doesn't bury you with plot or reams of background text. You just need to keep advancing and stay alive.
You're free to interpret anything else you find in your own way and it's crystal clear which direction you're expected head in.
I love this kind of game design, because it really doesn't need to be over-explained.
Limbo doesn't even burden you with instructions on how to use your action button to interact with
various different elements in the world either.
You try them out and if they kill you, they kill you. You re-spawn a few seconds later but now you're wiser and are likely forming an idea to move you further down the path.
Thankfully checkpoints are plentiful and you'll never usually be more than 30 seconds or so back down the road.
The various puzzles begin easy, as you'd expect, but gradually ramp up in difficulty and complexity, introducing new tools and mechanics the boy can interact with at a gentle pace.
Despite feeling very slightly sluggish on the odd occasion - perhaps an intentional design choice - the controls are good and intuitive.
The game's soundtrack is minimal, the majority being (from memory) ambient noises which heighten the suspense in a number of scenes.
And this brings me back to the somber nature of Limbo. As is the case with games such as Hollow Knight; it's bleak, in a beautiful way.
Perhaps it's just my taste in entertainment (I do love a good dark or bleak film/game every now and then) but I really enjoyed the atmosphere throughout the game.
There is a lingering sense of dread about what could be coming next, particularly thanks to the infrequent glimpses of other people - and those we do see appear potentially sinister or hostile to say the least.
Limbo isn't a particularly long game. This latest playthrough was done in one go of a few hours, and I didn't remember all of the solutions to the puzzles so I wasn't exactly sprinting through it.
There are some well hidden secrets to be found however, if you enjoy going for 100 per cent completion.
Overall, Limbo is a fantastic game which I'd thoroughly recommend. Best enjoyed in a darkened room and with headphones in order to really get lost in its wonderfully heavy atmosphere.
Have you played Limbo? Let me know your thoughts below!
I first bought it as part of a three-game pack on the Xbox 360. It came with Trials HD and Splosion Man.
While the other two titles were good, Limbo was the real reason I'd bought it and the reason I kept it.
I now also own it on PS4 and that was the version I played to refresh my memory.
Limbo is instantly recognisable to this day thanks to its somber monochrome art style, which Playdead uses to paint a picture of a bleak and dangerous world.
Pretty much everything is lethal in this world and the boy can take only one hit - often perishing in the most brutal of ways.
Like its successor Inside, this game doesn't bury you with plot or reams of background text. You just need to keep advancing and stay alive.
You're free to interpret anything else you find in your own way and it's crystal clear which direction you're expected head in.
I love this kind of game design, because it really doesn't need to be over-explained.
Limbo doesn't even burden you with instructions on how to use your action button to interact with
various different elements in the world either.
Thankfully checkpoints are plentiful and you'll never usually be more than 30 seconds or so back down the road.
The various puzzles begin easy, as you'd expect, but gradually ramp up in difficulty and complexity, introducing new tools and mechanics the boy can interact with at a gentle pace.
Despite feeling very slightly sluggish on the odd occasion - perhaps an intentional design choice - the controls are good and intuitive.
The game's soundtrack is minimal, the majority being (from memory) ambient noises which heighten the suspense in a number of scenes.
And this brings me back to the somber nature of Limbo. As is the case with games such as Hollow Knight; it's bleak, in a beautiful way.
There is a lingering sense of dread about what could be coming next, particularly thanks to the infrequent glimpses of other people - and those we do see appear potentially sinister or hostile to say the least.
Limbo isn't a particularly long game. This latest playthrough was done in one go of a few hours, and I didn't remember all of the solutions to the puzzles so I wasn't exactly sprinting through it.
There are some well hidden secrets to be found however, if you enjoy going for 100 per cent completion.
Overall, Limbo is a fantastic game which I'd thoroughly recommend. Best enjoyed in a darkened room and with headphones in order to really get lost in its wonderfully heavy atmosphere.
Have you played Limbo? Let me know your thoughts below!
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