LIMBO is the first game of the Summer of Arcade on Xbox. This game is made by a new developer named PLAYDEAD games. It is a very mysterious title with twists, turns, and gruesome deaths; but is it worth your money?
You start out LIMBO waking up in a mysterious forrest. You just hit the start new game button and there you are. No story, no cut scenes to give you information, just a little boy running through a dark and mysterious forrest. If you read the description before downloading you will see that this game is about a boy who enters limbo in search of his sister.

Did I mention this was a puzzle game? I guess I left that out, this is a very in depth puzzle game. You will look at something, think this is going to be easy, jump, then die. That is how this game works. They don't have things popping up saying "If you run into the light the slug on you head will make you turn around." Its more along the lines of if you die 5 times doing something you might want to try it a different way. With that said I didn't get aggravated with any of the puzzles. They were challenging but very fun. There are only 2 buttons you will push so it is really easy to pick up. Also for those of you who downloaded the demo and said, "this is too easy." It gets much harder as the game progresses.


I would have to say that my favorite thing about LIMBO is the atmosphere. It is very dark and has sounds you would probably hear in a forest environment. Bugs flying around, water trickling down a path, trees creaking back a forth. It really sets the mood. It makes you feel like you are all alone in this large environment.




HOW DOES IT LOOK? LIMBO has a very nice art style. The blend of shadows with different shades of black in the foreground and background make this game look spectacular. It also plays into the puzzles. Either making it so you can barely see the bear trap in your path or, having a light illuminate a pitch black path so you wont be ready for whatever is coming. It is a great way to keep players on their toes and is done remarkably. The death animations are also top notch. Watching your character get caught by a bear trap and seeing his head pop off like a pimple is gruesome yet very satisfying.

HOW DOES IT SOUND? LIMBO has small moments of music that lighten the mood these don't happen very often but are great when they do. There are also sounds all around you, these small noises bring you into this world, they help you with puzzles to give you an idea of when the perfect time to move would be. The sounds of limbo are great and add to the whole experience. The sound effects of the environment bring you into the game.

HOW DOES IT PLAY? The game plays very well. There are as I said two buttons. The A button, which is jump, and the drag button, which is X or B. This makes the game very easy for people of all ages and skills to play. My Dad (who never plays games and is bad at what he tries) sat there for over an hour playing through LIMBO. He said it was so captivating he couldn't stop. Also I don't want to scare anyone away by saying you will die over and over. The checkpoints in this game are VERY forgiving. After everything you do there will be a checkpoint. This just makes the game a bit less frustrating and nice.


HOW LONG WILL IT LAST? It took me around 3 hours to finish. For my Dad it took him about 5. It all depends on how quickly you can figure things out and how good you are at platforming. Everyones different.

HOW IS IT PRESENTED? If you are dying for a Braid like experience, or just want a beautiful game give this a shot. It is 1200 msp, or $15. In my opinion it is worth every penny. It also has a lot of replayability and a difficult achievement to strive for called No Point in Dying. (Complete the game in one sitting with five or less deaths.)