A strikingly creepy puzzle-platformer, how does Limbo hold up 15 years after its release?
What Is It? Limbo is a 2010 indie puzzle-platformer from developer Playdead. Limbo was a revelation at the time; an early indie game that grabbed you instantly with its utterly unique art style. How does the game hold up for someone playing it for the first time about 15 years later?
You are immediately thrown into the grayscale world of Limbo. As a shadow of a person with bright, white eyes, you will likely categorize your character as a child, although nothing in the game ever confirms that. After picking yourself up off of the ground, you start walking. As you wander your goal is simply to progress. Obstacles will stand in your way often with puzzles attached to them. Your goal is to make it to the end; to survive, maybe.
The basic platforming is fairly minimal. You are armed only with a small jump that triggers with a slight delay. You will use this to cross gaps and reach ledges you can pull yourself up on.
The puzzles are the primary mechanic of the game. These are most often environmental puzzles such as dragging crates to a spot so you can reach a ladder that is just out of reach otherwise.
That’s mostly it. There is a chase sequence or two mixed in, but the vast majority of the game combines puzzles and platforming. The game succeeds in these minimal constraints by slowly iterating on the basics to provide increasingly complex situations you must survive. You will be hitting switches to reverse gravity by the time the game ends, for example.
You can see the credits in about three hours. There are a handful of hidden orbs throughout the game and a stretch goal trophy around finding minimal deaths in a single playthrough if you want more Limbo.
The Best Part: The intensely creepy atmosphere the game projects from the start. There may be some official lore around it, but you are never explicitly told during the game that you are a dead child, but it sure does feel like that is the case! Other shadowy children will shoot darts at you, you will battle giant spiders, get chopped into tiny pieces from massive saws, and so on. Having the entire game in grayscale and leaving the finer details vague all come together to provide an atmosphere that is equal parts unique and unsettling.
The Worst Part: I’m not one who spits on older games just because “newer games have done it better” (see the countless glowing reviews of retro games on this very internet website!), but Limbo did feel dated to me in terms of gameplay. To be fair, the gameplay was never the standout feature or why it received so much attention, but this particular brand of puzzle-platforming has been done many times since and Limbo shows its age in this regard.
The Verdict: Limbo is more of an experience than a game to me, and I don’t think that is a negative. The actual gameplay is minimal, but fun. There are some tricky puzzles to solve and some legitimate platforming required. The primary appeal of the game will be in the visuals, atmosphere, and open-ended story, but it is good to know the gameplay is competent as well.
I didn’t leave my time with Limbo thinking this was an all-time great for me. Much of that likely has to do with when I played it; over 15 years after its initial release. It is pretty easy to imagine how groundbreaking the game would have been back then, but that sense of uniqueness has faded over time. That’s just fine, though, as Limbo still provides a very fun time that can be finished over a weekend or one long sitting. Sometimes, a fun, creepy, stylish three hours is exactly what you need, and I wholeheartedly recommend looking at Limbo next time you find yourself having that particular urge.
How to Play: PlayStation 3/4*/Vita, Xbox 360/One, Switch, PC, Linux, iOS, Android
*console played on for this review
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