Is Limbo a Good Game?

Playdead’s Limbo and Inside are a duo of games many of you have likely seen many times by now. But as for playing and actually beating them, I’m guessing much less of you have done so. Focusing on just Limbo now, why is that? It's not a bad game per se, it's just…. There’s some issues. It's absolutely still a memorable game, but for some, these problems might mean they’d rather watch someone else play it instead. So tone down those color gradients and let’s see what the deal is with Limbo.

10. Graphics

Welcome to the eerie monochrome world of Limbo

Pretty much any screenshot of Limbo will show you what it looks like. This is a monochrome world, without a speck of color that isn’t blacks, whites, or greys. This is 100% a stylistic choice here and not budget limits, as it fits the world to a tee. A lack of color can add to the creepy factor, especially when the grey fog rolls in. This game knows what it's doing stylistically. 

9. Characters

The humans are creepy and show how detailed only two colors can be

The characters all take the form of these shadowy humans, who aside from the boy you play as are largely background. We never find out much about these people, even the one we play as, although many are seemingly hostile. 

But regardless of their intentions, these humans are rather strikingly designed for being so simple. One would think it would be hard to make features on them distinct with such a limited color palette, but this game pulls it off. You can clearly make out an apple, a pickaxe, and several other things. This further serves to really add to the atmosphere of this world.

8. Music

A very simplistic cover for simple music

Unsurprisingly, Limbo’s soundtrack is very atmospheric and further serves to build the feel of its world. There’s not a whole lot of it, but what’s here does the job well and adds to the scene. Listen to see what I mean, just a spoiler warning for some images in the video so maybe just listen.

Limbo OST Complete Original Soundtrack

7. Gameplay

Expect lots of platforming and tricky puzzles here

Limbo is a puzzle platformer without much means to actually damage enemies. As such, you will spend much time running from things trying to kill you and solving the many puzzles. More on the first one later.

And those puzzles? The worst part of the game in my experience. Too many of them are far too cryptic, and I had a hard time solving them without outside aid. This served to slow the pace of the game, turning what was otherwise a fairly short game into a longer affair. I’m not sure how this could be solved, but it's definitely the main thing holding Limbo back for me.

6. Fun Factor

Yay, getting stabbed, what fun!

When you’re not stuck on a puzzle for far too long, yeah, this is an enjoyable game. The visuals and music are pretty, the game controls well, and it's creepy when it needs to be. As long as something’s not being annoying, it's a pleasant experience. Just those moments of annoyance do pop up and ruin the fun from time to time.

5. Replayability

I have no idea what’s going on here either

There’s kind of reasons to go back here? Certain areas of the game do have little hidden collectibles that are required for full completion, so if you’re into that it's an option. Plus there are larger secrets like the room pictured above that are…. something, that is there. That will be touched upon a bit later as well.

4. Enemies

This spider is somehow one of the most durable enemies in gaming

Limbo has a few enemy encounters throughout its short runtime, such as a section in a village run by children trying to kill you with blowdarts and spears. But easily the most memorable enemy in the game is the spider.

As someone who is terrified of spiders, this one both is and isn’t awful to look at. Due to the simplistic style, it's not as detailed as others would be. But it has just enough detail and very realistic movement. Just enough to make this thing a nightmare to run from. And run you will, until you finally find the means to very, very slowly kill it. Take that spider! Where’s a blowtorch when you need one?

3. Difficulty

Come visit the hotel Hotel, we may have vacancies, power is not guaranteed 

Limbo is not a terribly hard game (aside from some of the puzzles). Some of the platforming can be a little tricky, but if you have experience with platformers it shouldn’t be that bad. Just watch where you’re going and you shouldn’t have much trouble here. Assuming the anxiety of the chase sections doesn’t get to you.

2. World

These people may be helpful? Only one way to find out

Limbo’s world is, as I’ve alluded to, a fairly dark one, both in tone and visually. Nearly everything you encounter will try to kill you, and often your only defense is to escape.

One thing that is confusing though is the sense of scale. Much of the world seems fairly reasonable in size compared to you…. except the spider. This spider raises so many questions. Is it giant or is everything else tiny? Why are you the only one it seems to want to harm? This is a game that raises questions it doesn’t answer clearly, and that’s a big part of its appeal. 

1. Story

Limbo has a story, it's just not right out in the open like the boy is here

Limbo, on the surface, has a simple story: the boy you’re playing as is trying to find his sister. It is upon exploring the world and narrowly escaping death that the questions arise.

Through a game with no real dialogue, we are left with more questions than answers. Does the boy find his sister? Why is the world so hostile to him? What is the deal with that spider? There’s a lot of questions here, and the secrets you can find in the world only add to this.

But this may be Limbo’s strongest asset: it's a game that’s asking for people to solve it. And solve it they have, as this game has many lore videos of people trying to figure out what’s going on. And this would become standard with Playdead’s game going forward. They would be known for fairly simple puzzle platformers hiding something dark beneath the surface. Oh wait, it's called Limbo…. yeah now it makes a bit more sense now.

Score: 8/10

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