Limbo

Reviewed by Jason Venter (July 23, 2010)

The first thing that you're sure to notice is the monochrome visual design. There's not a drop of color to be seen. You might suppose that Limbo would be an ugly game as a result, or that things would quickly blur together into a thoroughly forgettable mess. Nothing could be further from the truth, however. The lush forests and the imposing industrial areas that you'll explore over the course of your adventure are presented with exemplary attention to detail. Insects fill the air, mist rolls through the trees and clods of dirt fly into the air as the hero scrambles along ledges or wades through knee-high grass. Yet even with the signs of life all around, there's a striking sense of isolation. Something is wrong with the world and, for the right sort of gamer, that will feel very right.

Reviewed by Fedule (August 19, 2010)

Limbo is a neat little oddity of a game. It is at once fleshed out and involved but also unrelentingly minimalist. It's a 2D puzzle platformer in the truest sense - your task is to get from one end to the other, your tools are limited to movement, jumps, and "action" (usually grabbing things or pressing buttons). Everything is presented in a black and white style that manages to convey an impressive amount of detail despite being limited to soft, blurry (beautiful) silhouettes. You'll learn more...

Reviewed by Fiddlesticks (August 12, 2012)

I get the familial element thanks to scouring over Limbo’s title screen, which shows two dead bodies cast amid fly-ridden wreckage. By bringing in closure through finding this girl, it makes a sorrowful game like this a little easier to swallow. However, it would have been so cool, so unbelievably legitimizing to all the games out there that employed the “looping concept” that it makes no sense to me why Limbo wouldn’t do it here. I mean, c'mon, the game is called Limbo! Name me another game...

Reviewed by JoeTheDestroyer (May 10, 2011)

Hell is where the heart is.