LIMBO (PC, 2010)
Graphics-8.5 Sound-8 Control-6.5 Challenge-7 Story-7
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-8 Fun-7 Originality-6
Overall Score-7
+
Great atmosphere (draws from christian and greek religion - limbo, river styx; dark, morbid and sometimes disorienting)
Simple story told well (show don't tell mentality, similar to Another World, Metroid etc.) with some more cryptic parts to figure out
Good art direction and animation
Good physics engine overall
Good sound/ambience design
Context sensitive action button
Hidden items (leads to a hidden bonus stage - which isn't worth it)
+/-
Can't duck or walk backwards (never really needed but it could add diversity to the gameplay)
Can't use weapons
Physics are a bit inconsistent (sort of makes sense considering the theme though it can be offputting - wooden boxes can crush the boy, the boy can pull large metal bars on the ground, sometimes simply being touched by a hazard kills you when it doesn't look like it should)
Very frequent checkpoints (removes tension and challenge from many segments, sometimes inconsistent - action sequences are more forgiving than longer puzzle sequences)
The game seems designed to make you die as an excuse to show you various creepy ways to kill the boy,
-
Control delay (PC version - about .3 seconds at least, easy to accidentally jump twice or jump right after climbing a ladder which usually means death) - Try with new PC?
Trial & error (plenty of puzzles/action sequences require you to die, which is countered with tons of checkpoints)
Inconsistent interaction (for example the thrown stone by a kid near the beginning or the various smaller sticks lying around)
Some ambient noises are overly loud
Some poorly designed puzzles (the stone throwing kid distracts from a pretty obvious solution for the wire trap activation, blurred graphics makes some important things hard to see - style over function, no overview of the situation on the second magnetics puzzle (the one with the two huge metal blocks)
The tempo slows down quite a bit in the second half of the game with some tedious block pushing over large distances,
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-8 Fun-7 Originality-6
Overall Score-7
+
Great atmosphere (draws from christian and greek religion - limbo, river styx; dark, morbid and sometimes disorienting)
Simple story told well (show don't tell mentality, similar to Another World, Metroid etc.) with some more cryptic parts to figure out
Good art direction and animation
Good physics engine overall
Good sound/ambience design
Context sensitive action button
Hidden items (leads to a hidden bonus stage - which isn't worth it)
+/-
Can't duck or walk backwards (never really needed but it could add diversity to the gameplay)
Can't use weapons
Physics are a bit inconsistent (sort of makes sense considering the theme though it can be offputting - wooden boxes can crush the boy, the boy can pull large metal bars on the ground, sometimes simply being touched by a hazard kills you when it doesn't look like it should)
Very frequent checkpoints (removes tension and challenge from many segments, sometimes inconsistent - action sequences are more forgiving than longer puzzle sequences)
The game seems designed to make you die as an excuse to show you various creepy ways to kill the boy,
-
Control delay (PC version - about .3 seconds at least, easy to accidentally jump twice or jump right after climbing a ladder which usually means death) - Try with new PC?
Trial & error (plenty of puzzles/action sequences require you to die, which is countered with tons of checkpoints)
Inconsistent interaction (for example the thrown stone by a kid near the beginning or the various smaller sticks lying around)
Some ambient noises are overly loud
Some poorly designed puzzles (the stone throwing kid distracts from a pretty obvious solution for the wire trap activation, blurred graphics makes some important things hard to see - style over function, no overview of the situation on the second magnetics puzzle (the one with the two huge metal blocks)
The tempo slows down quite a bit in the second half of the game with some tedious block pushing over large distances,