Playstation’s LIMBO reviewed

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Sam Predebon, Arts & Entertainment Contributor

Every month Playstation Network (PSN) releases two free games to download for those who pay for the PSN service. I’ll be here to review both games and tell you if they are worth a download, or if they’re just a waste of space. This time, I’ll be reviewing the game LIMBO.

Limbo (stylized as LIMBO) is a puzzle platforming game made by the Danish developer Playdead. In LIMBO, you play as a young boy traveling through various deadly areas in an effort to rescue your sister. Chances are, if you played the game already, you had no idea there was an actual story behind this game. LIMBO doesn’t focus on story much, its main focus is scenery and gameplay.

The art style of the game is pretty cool; the player is constantly in a black, white, and gray world of shadow. There are few details in the environment, but that isn’t a shortcoming of the game at all. It’s actually one of the main points that draw the player in. Because there is no detail, or even background music for that matter, the player focuses on the challenge at hand. Due to the heavily shadowed scenery, the game gives off a vibe of uncertainty and creepiness. The player is constantly on edge because a swift, and usually brutal death, can happen at any time. It’s a great experience.

The controls are tight and respond as the player would expect them to. It’s not overly complicated either; there are only two actions, jump and grab. There are some downsides however. There’s a lot of “timing puzzles” where the players need to time properly or they need to redo the entire puzzle. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t be a problem, but there are a lot of puzzles that are overly complicated and require precise timing. If you fail, you usually die. Also, there is no tutorial, which shouldn’t be a problem, but considering how many things in this game can kill you, it would have been nice if Playdead had thrown warnings into the game in some form. A big thing to keep in mind is that there is death from impact, which can really frustrate the player in you’re not careful.

All in all, the game is really good. It challenges the player and isn’t so much a game as it is an experience. In my wonderfully professional opinion, I’d give it a 7.5/10. Download if you have the space, but don’t go out of your way to get it, especially if you don’t like some classic platforming.