LIMBO (NSP, XCI) ROM

LIMBO is a puzzle-platform video game developed by independent studio Playdead and originally published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360. The game was released in July 2010 on Xbox Live Arcade and has since been ported by Playdead to several other systems, including the PlayStation 3, Linux, and Microsoft Windows.

Limbo is a 2D side-scroller, incorporating a physics system that governs environmental objects and the player character. The player guides an unnamed boy through dangerous environments and traps as he searches for his sister. The developer built the game’s puzzles expecting the player to fail before finding the correct solution.

Playdead called the style of play “trial and death”, and used gruesome imagery for the boy’s deaths to steer the player from unworkable solutions. The game is presented in black-and-white tones, using lighting, film grain effects, and minimal ambient sounds to create an eerie atmosphere often associated with the horror genre.

Journalists praised the dark presentation, describing the work as comparable to film noir and German Expressionism. Based on its aesthetics, reviewers classified Limbo as an example of video games as an art form. From the masterminds behind the mesmerizing journey of INSIDE comes a new tale of uncertainty and exploration. Prepare to venture into the enigmatic realm of LIMBO.

GAMEPLAY

The player controls the boy throughout the game. As is typical of most two-dimensional platform games, the boy can run left or right, jump, climb onto short ledges or up and down ladders and ropes, and push or pull objects. Limbo is presented through dark, greyscale graphics and minimalist ambient sounds, creating an eerie, haunting environment.

The dark visuals also serve to conceal numerous lethal surprises, including such environmental and physical hazards as deadly bear traps on the forest floor, or lethal monsters hiding in the shadows. Among the hazards are glowing worms, which attach themselves to the boy’s head and force him to travel in only one direction until they are killed. The game’s second half features mechanical puzzles and traps using machinery, electromagnets, and gravity.

Many of these traps are not apparent until triggered, often killing the boy. The player can restart at the last encountered checkpoint, with no limits placed on how many times this can occur. Some traps can be avoided and used later in the game; one bear trap is used to clamp onto an animal’s carcass, hung from the end of a rope, tearing the carcass off the rope and allowing the branch and rope to retract upwards and allow the boy to climb onto a ledge otherwise out of reach.

As the player will likely encounter numerous deaths before they solve each puzzle and complete the game, the developers call Limbo a “trial and death” game. Some deaths are animated with images of the boy’s dismemberment or beheading, although an optional gore filter on some platforms blacks out the screen instead of showing these deaths. Game achievements (optional in-game goals) include finding hidden insect eggs and completing the game with five or fewer deaths.

PLOT

The primary character in Limbo is a nameless boy in search of his sister, who awakens in the middle of a forest on the “edge of hell” (the game’s title is taken from the Latin limbus, meaning “edge”), where he encounters a giant spider who tries to kill him. After using a trap to cut off the sharp points on half of the spider’s legs, it retreats further into the forest, and the boy is allowed to pass. However, he is later caught in webs and spun into a cocoon. Shortly after freeing himself, he encounters a colony of other boys who actively try to kill him with traps, poison darts, and rocks; they later fall victim to the spider, whom the boy finally manages to kill after a short chase.

At one point during his journey, he encounters a female character, who he thinks might be his sister, but is prevented from reaching her. The forest eventually gives way to a crumbling city environment, followed by industrial and flooded environments. On completion of the final puzzle, the boy is thrown through a pane of glass and back into the forest area from the beginning. After he wakes up, he walks a short distance until he again encounters the girl, who, upon his approach, stands up startled. At this point, the screen cuts to black, abruptly ending the game.