Some I solved instantly, some I stared at for what felt like hours (OK, it was minutes, but it felt long). In a perfect world, the game would be an equal mix of these two feelings, with some atmosphere building stretches of walking through the blighted, shadow-heavy landscape.īut of course the game can’t balance forever on that knife edge, because it’s impossible to guess who will have problems with which puzzles. Seeing a clever, gruesome death once or twice before I perceived the way forward was just as gratifying, albeit in a different way. The sense of relief and exaltation when I made it through a puzzle/death trap in one go was the best. There were several occasions where I was moving forward, thinking as fast as I could even as the silhouetted world creeped me out and fired my imagination. The game soars at those moments when you’re right on the edge of understanding what you’re supposed to do. OK, that section of Limbo I just described didn’t take me 100 tries, but it probably took me 10 or 15, and I can tell you with dead certainty that be attempt five or six, once I’d solved the puzzle and it was just down to hand-eye execution, I wasn’t feeling anything but frustration. Also, try and drop one crate on another crate and then climb on top of them before the buzzsaw gets to you so you can jump onto the ledge 100 times and you’ll see what I mean. Just sit there and say “Limbo” 100 times and you’ll see what I mean. We’re all familiar with the experience of repeating a word over and over again until it starts to lose all meaning for us. Its aesthetic and gameplay work in perfect synch with one another, and time and again it produces those moments of pure frisson that only a great game can give.īut then there’s the other thing you end up doing “time and again” in Limbo - repeating the same puzzles until you get the timing just right. Some might even argue that the game’s trying too hard to be taken as serious art, but I think that’s a pretty ridiculous argument. And of course I’m not the only one hurling the “A” word at Limbo. Yes, yes, Rick’s going on about art and games and stuff again. This is a model example of an artistic endeavor unique to gaming. At first, second, and third look, Limbo drove right into my brain, eliciting a full spectrum of experiences. And that horrifying, damnable spider from the early part of the game? Right now it has my vote for villain of the year. The shadow-heavy world lingers just on the edge of being inscrutable, but never leaves you in doubt about the important things. I felt intrigued by the mysterious world and this strange boy I was controlling. From moment one the game stirred emotions in me, and I think that’s what art needs to do to be art. Just look at the thing! It’s all super-artsy and stuff, with its evocative yet minimalist art style and bleak, moody, creepy, disturbing look. There’s no doubt in my mind that Limbo is art.
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