Limbo according to the unofficial doctrine of the Catholic Church a world of shadows, where sinful souls are condemned after death to wander aimlessly in all eternity. Limbo is neither Heaven nor Hell, a pale monochrome and featureless no-life. This is visually represented in the game by the colours being restricted to a dark grayscale that generates a somber and gloomy mood.
The world of Limbo is sparsely populated and the obstacles that you need to overcome are for the most part different traps and puzzles. The journey begins in a primeval forest but soon you have to conquer man’s battery against Mother Nature – cities, factories and machines, much like in Flower.
The charm of the game lies approaching the challenges in three steps. First you need to assess the boundaries of the puzzle.Finding everything and figure out how it works. Then you need to find out how to solve the puzzle by loads of trial and error attempts. And finally you need to practice performing that exact chain of movements in a rather tight time scale.
The game is a multidirectional but classic platform game where you encounter the puzzles in a predetermined order. There is no freedom of choice and only one solution to every obstacle but the attraction lies in finding that one solution and continue this beautiful narrative. The emphasis lies in besting the next trap and the story is never really a major part of the game. There is no dialogue and no communication and yet, this game never leaves your mind.
Definitely one of my favorite games of 2011. The marvelous art style combined with the unique puzzle/platform game play really impressed me. Without saying too much, probably one of the best endings i’ve experienced also!