![]() So, instead of trying to work out the game’s logic when you’re stuck, all you need to do is look around you, observe your environment and solve your problem using (mostly) real-world logic. At a time when in-game physics were very popular but still generally janky (in three-dimensional games at least), the precision of these effects in Limbo lead to many scenarios in which your brain is allowed to think in a much more natural manner, because the constraints of the world in Limbo are so similar to those of our own. Even now, good use of real-ish world physics in a puzzle game is something to take note of, and the fact that so many of Limbo’s puzzles are based on real physics concepts and that it executes on those ideas so well, is fairly remarkable. One thing that struck me while playing through Limbo again was how well thought-out the physics-based puzzles in the game were. I’ve always personally found this to be one of the hallmarks of truly great game design, and Limbo more than earns its place among the best of its kind. Limbo very skillfully does what most of the best platformers do it teaches you one basic skill set or game mechanic, and then each new scenario you encounter either teaches you another new mechanic or builds on one you’ve already learnt, so that by the time you’re in the game’s third act, you are completing significantly more complicated objectives than you were at the outset. All of this more than make up for the relatively short length of the game when it first came out, playtime averaged 4-6 hours, and even all these years later, another playthrough with foreknowledge of the game’s various puzzles and mechanics only took 2-3 hours. Limbo is an exceedingly clever, beautiful puzzle platformer with striking art direction, incredible ambient sound design, expertly directed scripting of in-world events and just enough storytelling by way of allusion and each of the aforementioned items to drive you to continue exploring and learn just what kind of sinister world the boy you control is making his way through. If you missed it, or if you simply forgot, let’s review the basics. ![]() For those of us who played back then, or on the myriad other platforms it’s been released over the years, the rest was history. This was not the sort of thing we were used to seeing in 2010, and simply by existing, Limbo made a strong case for itself. ![]() Many corners of the internet were in a fervor over this uniquely styled platform with its mysterious, moody atmosphere and visuals that genuinely looked as though they belonged in an artful animated feature. I still distinctly remember sitting down in front of my Xbox 360 to download and start Limbo the night it came out. ![]() Moreover, audiences were ready for fresh experiences that experimented with our conceptions about what video games as a medium could be. The late 00’s were an exciting time in games, when indie developers were gaining more exposure on bigger platforms and distribution channels were becoming more easily accessible. In the eight years since Limbo’s original release in 2010, which practically seems like another lifetime ago, we’ve seen a great deal of advancement in development philsophies, general gameplay refinements, and graphical fidelity continues to improve year over year at impressive rates.
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