GDC 10: Limbo: You have to play this game

I was going to preface this article with a request asking you to excuse my lack of professionalism. I have absolutely no intention of writing something objective and balanced about upcoming platformer Limbo. In fact, my only goal here is to share with everyone possible how excited I am about this videogame.

Copenhagen-based group Playdead worked on Limbo for over three years. Actually, the game designer was previously a graphic illustrator, and he’s been working on imagery for what would eventually become Limbo for about six years. I met Playdead here in San Francisco during GDC this week. You’d think that people that put over three years of their life into a game would be excited to talk about it. These guys were cool and quiet, though. They had me sit in a dark room, kept quiet, and just let me play Limbo. I’m here to tell you that you need to experience the same thing. You have to play this game.

Limbo isn’t your typical platformer. First off, it’s black and white. It’s actually mostly black. Your character, a boy looking for his lost sister, is a totally black silhouette on a black landscape in front of mostly gray and black backgrounds. No color here. You’ll never see any part of his face other than two bright white dots that are supposed to be his eyes. The backdrop is made of vague but strangely photo-realistic imagery. You’ll never quite make out what you’re seeing, but you’ll also never fail to be impressed at how beautiful it is. The most striking aspect of the look is the lighting. With black being the primary color, the lighting seems impossibly realistic.  These elements combine to create an overall look that is both dark and spooky, but also hauntingly lovely. In the early stages of the game, one section had sunlight filtering through fog — I still can’t get that imagery out of my head. I want to say what you’ll expect me to say at this point. Here it is anyway: You’ll never fully appreciate how beautiful Limbo is until you witness it in person.

At this point I know what you’re thinking. No, I really do. You think that I’m so impressed by the unique look of Limbo that I’m glossing over game play. You’re wrong. It turns out that the game play is the most impressive aspect. This 2D left-to-right platformer has you walking in a forest, down hillsides and hopping over ponds and rocks. It all seems pretty normal until you come across your first clever platforming puzzle. At first you’re doing simple things like moving crates — nothing serious. As the game progresses you’ll encounter increasingly difficult puzzles, working up towards ones that are deviously tricky. Forget sliding boxes. Even though I only saw about 40 minutes of the game, I came across mechanical puzzles, gravity based brain-busters and zombification/body control. I looked over to see the guys from Playdead grinning at my struggle to figure some them out. I had to ask for help a couple of times. They were laughing at me.

What I like most about Limbo is how the experience is so beautifully controlled. Though there’s no dialogue or text, a story begins to unfold, sometimes dropping in very surprising twists. It’s all told visually, with no reliance on anything but silhouettes and the rare sound effect. It’s a slow reveal that will hold you through its 5 hours of continuous game play. There’s no load screens to take you out of Limbo’s world. No scores, no life bars, no menus. I was also told that there are also no Achievements connected to the primary story, which means you won’t be interrupted or removed from the experience.

On sound, there’s also an absence of music. Instead you’ll hear startlingly natural environmental sound effects like wind blowing through treetops. This is all accented by really loud booms and clanks that accompany the puzzles. Or your death.

You die often in Limbo. Death is what happens when you work out a platforming puzzle incorrectly. Death is really what makes this game. Revealing exactly how you die would ruin much of the fun you’ll have when you play it for yourself, but know that you die in varied and often hilarious ways. I found myself screaming in surprise at many of my deaths and the Playdead guys seemed to enjoy watching my reactions. Impalings, crushings, limb ripping are only a taste of what will happen to this poor boy on his quest for his lost sister. Luckily, you’ll quickly respawn to a spot right before you died, with no penalty.

I’m fully aware that my impressions have done little to explain Limbo. Even the developers of the game say that they have a difficult time explaining the game to others. It really is one of those titles that you have to see and play for yourself to appreciate. At this point, all I can do is insist that you play it for yourself.

Limbo will be released this summer exclusively for the Xbox Live Arcade.