Hard to believe that there was a time where Indie games were an unknown and niche industry a decade ago. There were a couple of titles that helped it bring into the gaming mainstream, one such title is Limbo, a simplistic but interesting puzzle platformer created by studio Playdead.
It was released in 2010 for the Xbox, but has been ported to other devices since, and has received positive reviews from both players and gamers alike being seen as the example as a game as work of art, and declared one of the best games of the decade if not all time.
I have spent most of my summer playing this game to see if that claim holds up. My experience has been mostly positive with a couple of kinks. but how does it hold up in detail?
Plot
For starters, it´s pretty linear and doesn't have much of a story, to begin with, not that is a bad thing. You play as a young boy who wakes in a dark forest. From there the boy has to travel a dangerous environment full of things that are trying to kill him and obstacles to overcome. The only goal is to find his sister, who is lost in Limbo somewhere.
The story is pretty much ambiguous, I´m still trying to figure out the meaning of the ending. This has led itself to a lot of speculation and fan theories.
However, sometimes less is more, as this game relies more on its atmosphere and level design to cause an impact.
Characters
Throughout the Boy´s journey there is no shortage of enemies that try to kill him, and no ally in sight, making this a lonely and terrifying experience.
First, we have the spider that is by far the creepiest monster in the game. You meet him early on in the game and have to spend several levels outrunning him. Fortunately, that doesn´t last for long, as you can defeating him by removing its legs one by one and roll it like a ball to be impaled by spikes.
I did laugh at this one. You can see my gameplay footage here.
Then you have a tribe of hostile children, they will shoot spears on-site and create traps that will kill you if you aren´t careful. The best way to defeat them is to lure them into a trap.
Then you have the brain parasites, these little guys have a nasty habit in burying inside their host's brain, making you lose any control over your character. Unable to change directions, the only thing you can do is jump and slow down.
They do have one weakness, light. Touching it makes them change directions. They are also a favorite snack of the toothed black worms. The best way to defeat them is by jumping at the right time to avoid obstacles.
Environment
The game has a very dark and eerie atmosphere. There about three types of settings in this game, a forest, urban, and a factory area.
The graphics are in 2d with black and light colors. Some places barely have visibility, making certain puzzles challenging.
This type of design takes a lot of inspiration from noir movies and german expressionism. One of the creators himself has even used his arachnophobia as an idea for the spider enemy.
While the first part of the game is full of scripted and enemy avoiding events, the second part, however, relies more on puzzle-solving and you will spend a lot of time alone.
Gameplay
As previously mentioned this a puzzle platformer. the controls are simple, you can control the character left or right, and jumping. But, you can´t kill anything, forcing the player to use their wits to get around enemies.
Sometimes the running pace is too slow, which can be frustrating at times since a lot of puzzles rely on timing, and if you were to jump a couple of seconds too late if often results in death.
I found the puzzle to be extremely creative and complex but in a fun way. You never what to expect as soon as you progress, and added with the dark setting creates some tension for the player.
A lot of the game is often trial and error, be prepared to die a lot. Death itself is a game mechanic, the creators want players to be discouraged of making the same mistake all while providing entertaining death animations, calling this type of gameplay, trial, and death. However the game avoids punishing the player too much, the game autosave after you solve each one, so feel free to fail as many times it´s needed.
It requires some patience and determination, but the puzzles aren´t that hard to figure out after a couple of tries.
Some of the more creative ones involve pushing buttons to reverse gravity, manage to timely jump to avoid, and sabotage automatic guns.
If you´re playing this game through steam, they are a bunch of collectible eggs spread throughout the level that will give an achievement, and even a secret puzzle level.
The game also allows you to go back and replay any chapter after you solve it, making this game highly replayable and allows you to go back and find anything that you might've missed.
Soundtrack
There isn´t a lot of music in this, instead, this game relies on environmental sounds, like for example the snap of a trap, the buzz of electricity, the mechanical sound of gears moving.
There are also long stretches of silence, giving that sort of sad and creepy feeling.
Conclusion
I can see how the game got its reputation as a creative puzzle game. Not every game requires intense graphics or complex gameplay to be good.
Its dark atmosphere, puzzles that use the enviroment, and the open-ended story gives it an air of mystery and does a good job of catching the player's interest.
I thought some of the deaths were funny, and while some of the puzzles were frustrating at times, I did enjoy how the game forces me to think outside of the box. I think this is a game that should be on everyone´s games to play before I die list. if you haven´t already, you should check it out or revisit it if you have.