Limbo

Hi!

I'm subscribed to the comedy group Mega64's channel on YouTube, and a few days ago they posted a new video. In case you aren't familiar with Mega64, they do comedy skits related to various video games, where they take a game and sort of put it into real life in a public place. The guys first started doing this around the time Jackass first came out so that's probably an explanation for the format of the skits. The harrassment that ensues is usually pretty funny as long as you as a viewer is familiar with the game in question. Anyway, the video in question was for a game Limbo that I hadn't played so I looked it up and decided to give it a try.



Old school 2D-games really is my cup of tea, and that's what this game is all about. Two of the games I've written about previously here - Donkey Kong Country Returns and Super Meat Boy - both have dark levels where the foreground just is a pitch black outline, and the background very toned down. This seems to be a trend with current platformers as the whole Limbo game uses this graphics style to a very good effect. The game is extremely moody even though it uses little to no music and more ambient sounds, and it's completely in black and white. The character design as well as the animation is spot-on. The gameplay is a mix between platforming and solving puzzles. In many ways it feels like a 2D version of Half-Life or Portal (obviously without the portals and/or guns). My biggest gripe is that the game is very short, some reviews state that it clocks in at around five hours, when I played it through in one sitting yesterday it felt more like three to four hours. Then again it's an independent game that you download, while you certainly don't get as much replay value as Super Meat Boy dishes out, the experience is... less frustrating, I guess? Anyway, it was a welcome game to fill out the time waiting for Duke Nukem Forever (delayed again!) and one that I recommend.

Laters!