limbo game review

Limbo: seven years later, still as hypnotizing

For many publishers, the success of Nintendo's little Switch is an opportunity to bring some of their old successes out of their boxes, so that new players can rediscover them. At the end of June, Playdead took the opportunity to dust off its Limbo. A title as unique and captivating as ever.

A successful Switch port (by Epyon, 07/12/2018)
We will not surprise you by telling you that the Limbo port works extremely well on Switch. The Playdead game was not greedy for a penny and its handling was extremely simple, limited to the use of the joystick and two buttons. Good news, even if the Switch is much less powerful than a PS4 or an Xbox One, it is largely capable of running Limbo, and its small buttons are never really mistreated anyway. The game sometimes requires a little precision in the jumps, but the Joycons respond to perfection. The only criticism that we can make, however, comes from the screen of the Switch itself. A design flaw pointed out at its exit by most hardware specialist publications: the small screen of the Nintendo console is protected by a thin layer of plastic, placed only a few millimeters from the slab. The result is that the Switch is particularly prone to the problems of ugly reflections, and if in most of the titles that we already knew, it was not a problem, in a game like Limbo, it is sometimes good annoying.

The game was made of shades of black and gray, it is not uncommon to miss some important details. If you plan to play in portable mode, therefore monitor your environment and install yourself so as to be sure that you clearly see all the elements displayed on the screen. But in any case Limbo is a must, and this Switch version does not change anything.

THE COMPLETE LIMBO TEST (08/03/2011)

Limbo: seven years later, still as hypnotizing
Limbo is above all an atmosphere. Immersed directly in the game, without the clutter of tutorial or introductory sequence, the player takes direct control of the hero, a young boy, as he wakes up in a forest. And hop, forward all to the right. Not an ounce of color here, only black, white and all the possible shades of gray. On the screen the effect evokes the beginnings of cinema while a camera with variable focus reminds us of some old photographic shots on which we would not always have managed the depth of field very well. Small final touch: a grain coming "to enrich" a little more this esthetic rendering. At first glance, Limbo adopts a naive style, but in truth, this minimalist aspect hides a real violence and that nobody is mistaken: Limbo is at times frankly glaucous. We will not say how to avoid any spoiler, but certain things that happen there would surely cause scandal if we saw them in a game with a more classic realization. The captivating atmosphere of the game also owes a lot to the soundtrack. It too is reduced to its simplest expression: no music, only the sound effects related to what is happening on the screen. Here falling water, there a cog which sets in motion, and above all, the different sounds emitted by the hero when he is impaled, crushed, burned etc.

If it is dense in its atmosphere, Limbo does not forget to be dense in its gameplay. Basically old-school, it only uses two buttons in addition to the stick to move around: a jump button, an interaction button, to pull or push objects. Simple, yes, simplistic, certainly not. To get a good idea of what to expect, take Another World and mix it up with the first Oddworld. You get a game of platforms in which we progress by trial and error, frequently facing particularly tricky traps that put the reflexes to the test, millimeter jumps and sometimes even timed, all accompanied by puzzles which quickly become real brain teaser. We often die in Limbo, very often even, before understanding what is expected of us, despite everything, the game places its checkpoints to perfection and even the grumpiest never feel frustrated. Deceitful in its platform aspect, Limbo is also devious in his puzzles. Often based on physics, they get more complicated as the game progresses, involving more and more elements. Always well thought out, they especially have the good taste of almost never repeating themselves.

We can say: we take a full foot playing Limbo. It's beautiful, surprising, different and fresh even if the inspirations are not new. However, there are two major flaws. The first will annoy some but not necessarily everyone: Limbo has no story, nor any other form of storytelling. If you are wondering, too bad for you, you will not have an answer. We can see it as a choice or as a source of frustration, to everyone his opinion. The other big problem is the lifespan of Limbo. Depending on your ability to solve puzzles, count between 3 and 4 hours of play. However, Limbo is not really one of the cheapest games offered for download with its price of around ten euros. So certainly, these are 3 beautiful hours, but all the same.

The notes
+ Positive points
A splendid artistic direction
Immediate handling
Smart puzzles
An atmosphere to cut with a knife
Very successful minimalist soundtrack

Negative points
A bit short
Watch out for reflections in portable mode!

Once again, in 2018, Limbo proves that a game does not need 4K or any visual effects to be intoxicating. With its well thought out mechanisms and above all a captivating atmosphere, the Playdead game has not aged and it is with great pleasure that we rediscover it. If in addition, you can play it on the duvet with just a helmet on your ears, and a cup of hot tea close at hand, what more could you ask for?