I've got to get this off my chest!
(See, this is what happens when you don't have any close friends around who're are hardcore gamers to discuss things.)
Limbo is a really fantastic game. I love it because--while it tries to tell an interesting story that leaves things up for interpritation--at it's core it never loses sight of what it really is--a video game. It does many other things really well, like being goregeous to look at, but the confidence shows through the gameplay as your push through its puzzles. It does this without being pretentious or annoying.
The platforming mechanic has been tweaked (seemingly) to perfection as it renders a responsive and fun feel for the player. The interface--or the lack there of--doesnt feel contrived because it's never needed. This sort of speaks to the preceived minimalisitc design philosophy of the overall game that, at times, screams out at you through the missing HUD.
At the heart of the gameplay are the environmental puzzles and it's here where the game really shines. To me, the parts in Limbo that make the player stop, look around and really think are the most important. These situations initially seem dire, but I found that they always had a practical solution in the end. They just made sense once I figured them out (I should probably be clear here and say that the puzzles make sense in the context of the world in Limbo.)
But you see that's just it! Limbo does a fantastic job of making you think outside of the box without make you feel bad. It remains fun without compromising itself. Most importantly, when you get stuck in one of the several complicated puzzle (and trust me, you will), figuring it out is always always always one thing--rewarding. I'm going to urge everyone to not look up the answers when you get stuck because it's not needed. The game provides you with the right tools (your brain + in-game environmental hints) to find every solution. Stick with it. There were two incident where I was tempted to fall back in my chair and give up, but I stuck with it and the solution was always there. Trail and error ya know?
Look this game isn't going to change your life and I dont mean to imply that it will, but what it will do is create a really fun, challenging and rewarding experience for you for 4-5 hours, but you've got to give it a fair chance. That chance will cost you $15, and ultimately it's going to be up to you to determine if that's something you can swollow. But in terms of entertainment it just boggles my mind that some people would rather pay $15 for a crappy 3D movie rather than play Limbo.
