EGTV: The Making Of... Limbo

Published 18 November, 2011 Duration 6:49

Playdead sheds light on its modern classic.

Comments (31) Latest comment 6 months ago

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  • -cerberus- #1 6 months ago

    Ooo, sweet! Would very much like to download this.

  • slow2run #2 6 months ago

    Certainly a modern classic imo. These clever chaps deserve all the money and recognition for this gem of a game.

  • fafaf #3 6 months ago

    This game will stay with me for a long time.

    To anyone who hasn't played it, just get it, play it and finish it. The longer you wait the more you run the risk of being exposed to its brilliant surprises. For example in this video, there's a bit shown that's one of the most affecting moments I've experienced in a game. I wouldn't want to see it on screen like that before I'd played it myself. And I'm not even talking about the ending which is what I just said x10.

  • SimonM7 #4 6 months ago

    People's affection for this game has to be extrapolated from the one evocative moment it offers, dismissing its very real problems of being a thematically garbled mess and overstaying its welcome by about an hour. An hour spent walking into invisible deaths that put the errors in its innumerable one-note trials. It's initially wonderfully derivative of Another World, but in place of thrilling momentum it trotts along at a mind numbing pace, lending zero satisfaction to clearing its myriad of out-of-nowhere death traps.

    It has maybe three instances of puzzles where you're given the opportunity to figure a thing out instead of the hopping to death A and going with then abundantly obvious solution B, and when it's finally over it throws you a random, vague, and most damningly; thematically incoherent ending that would make Saw 4-7's eyes tear up with pride.

    I hope one day people will look back and hang their heads in shame for even mentioning it in the same breath as Braid and World of Goo. For now we live in a world where Limbo has got to be the most upsettingly overrated game around.

    Insert obligatory "IMO".

  • riz23 #5 6 months ago

    Harsh words SimonM7 and generally unfair. Limbo is a great game albeit not without some issues I grant you. It's great nevertheless.

  • Yossarian #6 6 months ago

    Wow, SimonM7, way to completely miss the thematic point about the trial and error and 'out of nowhere' deaths.

  • Po1ymorph #7 6 months ago

    @SimonM7. Moron.

    Instant classic, loved it!

  • beatwolf #8 6 months ago

    lol SimonM7, there always has to be a complete idiot around like you hasnīt there. just die.

  • SimonM7 #9 6 months ago

    @Yossarian The thematic point of "limbo" and doing things over isn't lost on me at all, but from a gameplay perspective it's continually disappointing when the game merely asks of you to do the alternative to the thing that just killed you. The problem of a "trial and error" game isn't generally that it's out of tune with a game's themes, it's that it reduces the role of the player. Doing things "right" is stripped of its rewarding nature by carving its own obvious path using unfair deaths, and performing those actions doesn't even grant satisfaction with its unremarkable objectives and character control, failing to capitalise on the basic allure of a platformer.

    What's ultimately left is a game that, granted, has a clever device for explaining away its repetition, but one that is decidedly unrewarding to play on nearly all fronts. Except for those three-ish instances where it calls on you to actually puzzle things together.

    If the themes of being in Limbo remained on point beyond its opening part I might be a bit more forgiving. I've played plenty of indie games with dubious structure that don't control well but make up for it through coherent messaging. Limbo however quickly loses the plot entirely, and it seems almost artificially enlongated to stretch beyond and outside of its initial, rather modest meaning. When you start sensing the "World 1-1, World 2-1" approach to its backdrops it has gone so far outside of what it was originally establishing and building on that you no can no longer convince yourself that it's building towards anything.

    Somewhat tellingly it exits on a similar note to what was evocative about it to begin with, and the hour(s) that just transpired have no bearing on it aside from having gone on for longer than your enthusiasm for its striking visuals and haunting tone can possibly encompass. I hope that's vague enough to not spoil anyone, because I've no intention of doing that.
    Edited by SimonM7 at 19/11/11 @ 19:23

  • ShiroBen #10 6 months ago

    Modern classic? Are we calling it that? Good game, certainly worth playing once, but classic? I don't think I'd go that far.

  • Ashwood #11 6 months ago

    What's Limbo about? "Umm... I don't know. It's 2D, it's black and white".

    Ok, cool, thanks.

  • Porcupine_I #12 6 months ago

    @Ashwood: i always thought it was a sign of quality in anything if you were unable to describe it in a short sentence.

  • Bilstar #13 6 months ago

    Cool stuff, I liked that! More of this kind of stuff would be nice.

  • loop7 #14 6 months ago

    My fav PS3 game this year. The hidden exclusive level is brilliant!