Limbo

The first rule of Limbo is to not talk about Limbo… I almost regret watching the previews and reviews of this title because it becomes a mild disappointment when I recognize a section. I will say this though, this game is going to be in the Game of the Year discussions, and if it’s not something is terribly wrong with the people who are involved in such things… There have been more clever moments in the first hour of this game than every other game I’ve played this year (I’ve played a lot of games this year).

This thing is the definition of polished, it looks amazing with the lighting effects and the shades of grey, there were not real instances where I wasn’t certain what was in the foreground/background. There are different environments but the creep factor sort of wears off when you get beyond the woods, which is too bad. The controls are simple and feel (for the lack of a better word) right. From the gamer’s perspective (re:mine), the gameplay was incredibly intuitive, challenging, but never frustrating. I’ve never had a game make me feel so accomplished, smart and/or stupid and any combination thereof from one minute to the next like this one has. The girlfriend was watching me play for a bit at the start, and there was a whole lot of  her saying “Ewwww!” immediately followed by me saying “AHHH!!” in a true “eureka!” moments. I like a good puzzle game, but I don’t recall one that has had this sort of effect on me.

You would be doing yourself a huge disservice by not buying this game immediately if you have a 360, and the developer would be doing themselves and everyone else a disservice by not bringing it to other platforms. Everyone who doesn’t have nightmares (or at least can’t recover gracefully from them) should want to, and be able to play this game. It’s twisted, and gruesome without the gore, and because of this, even the parts where nothing is happening keep you on the edge of your seat.

I should probably save something for the review…