Shout out from Perpetual Geek Machine! I can't wait to listen to the episode!

I haven't felt this awesome since the beginning of last year when I was mentioned in the show notes of the 100th X3F Podcast!

This is another review of the XBLA game Limbo. To see the main review by Byrdie, click here.

Limbo is REALLY open to interpretation. So open that it would probably piss a lot of people off. The story telling in the game is so vague, that you would probably miss the fact that "you are looking for your sister" up until the very end of the game (halfway through if you REALLY pay attention) unless you read the game summary. The open end-edness  of the game is one of the largest selling point of the game, so if you want a story that is concretely there, don't get this game (I'm pretty sure that the only word that ever appears in that game is HOTEL. No spoke dialogue. Heck, no vocal sound effects whatsoever).

You'll also have to put together with the world of the game. The game world itself is rather empty as well. The game has a really chilling vibe that is actually very appealing. The world is full of death (your own and the one's of others) and other things that would make you cringe (spikes, electric boards, and brain-sucking leeches). There's also a weird satisfaction to the game when you overcome the things trying to impede your progress through the game. I say that because most hinderences in the game are dealt with gruesome deaths.

The game has fairly difficult puzzles and the game can explains it's own mechanics pretty well (after a LOT of trial and error, though). This difficulty then SPIKES about 2/3rds into the game and will drive you pretty close to the edge to looking at a walkthrough if you are not a usual puzzle gamer. The game is REALLY short looking at it (about 3 hours at least) but the puzzles near the end can get you stuck for a pretty long amount of time (not including optional puzzles that will gain you the achievements in the game).

FINAL VERDICT: If you are really into the "deeper meaning" kind of games, this is definitely for you. If you've wanted a different gaming experience, this is also for you. This game is fairly reminisent of Braid in that it's a puzzle-platformer with a vague underlying story, but it doesn't have the brilliant impression that Braid gave me. To me, this game is trying to be really smart, but fails to give you even a hint of what the game wants to mean. It was a nice experience, but I don't think it's worth the $15 price point. To call it a masterpiece is really a bit of an overstatement.

Written by Kaillif Ammen, Gamertag: Gloqwi